Click here to send us your questions about housing!
Housing is a key voting issue in Central Indiana, so we launched a FAQ to answer 14 common housing-related questions we heard from our community. The next step is to answer even more — with your input.
We decided to build this resource after reporting on housing issues for years and finding people still had big questions. Why aren't there more affordable family homes? Why are Indiana eviction rates so high? Why is rent going up?
If people continue to have the same questions, we needed to try something new.
In 2025, newsrooms at the Indianapolis Recorder and WFYI asked community partners at Indiana University's Fairbanks School of Public Health to help us find a new way to show people what's happening with housing in Central Indiana.
IU's Amanda Briggs and Shandy Dearth, Indianapolis Recorder’s Camike Jones, and WFYI's Farah Yousry, Whitney Smith and Sarah Neal-Estes scheduled three in-depth listening sessions for both newsrooms. WFYI community engagement specialist Lizzy McGrevy led the project.
Presenters came from IU Fairbanks School of Public Health, Fair Housing of Central Indiana, Indiana University, Indiana Justice Project, Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic, Indiana Justice Project, and Outreach Indiana.
Topics included life expectancy and housing, the impact of investors, homebuyer challenges, eviction law, renters' rights, how housing impacts youth, and what has worked in other cities. McGrevy conducted follow-up listening sessions and check-ins.
The Central Indiana Housing FAQ is the result.
We're committed to answering more of your questions every year. Please let us know what would be valuable to you and your neighbors. Thank you!
