INDIANAPOLIS -- You can call it a comeback. Indianapolis was recently named to a list of 10 cities where downtown is making a comeback by Realtor.com.
But a comeback from what, exactly?
According to the list, in the 1960s, people left cities for the growing suburbs. But people are starting to come back, thanks to redevelopment in the 1990s.
Indianapolis was No. 2 on the list, beat out by Pittsburgh.
Indy's walkability was cited as a reason for people wanting to live in the city.
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“Walkability is a huge draw," said Lynn Wheeler, a realtor from F.C. Tucker. "Downtown is definitively among the most premium real estate in Indianapolis."
The list used the following criteria for the rankings:
- Downtown residential population growth since 2012
- Number of restaurants, bars, grocery stores and food trucks per capita, and growth since 2012
- Number of department stores and independent retailers per capita, and growth since 2012
- Number of jobs per capita, and growth since 2012
- Home price appreciation since 2012 (we picked downtowns where the median price was no more than $400,000 in 2012, so they were really in need of revival)
- “Premium” of buying a home in downtown, compared with the median home price of the whole city
- Residential and commercial vacancy rate (the lower the better)
In Indianapolis, home prices have increased by 20 percent since 2012, and the population has grown by 10 percent.
The full list is:
- Pittsburgh
- Indianapolis
- Oakland, Calif.
- Detroit
- Columbus, Ohio
- Austin, Texas
- Los Angeles
- Dallas
- Chicago
- Providence, R.I.
