Craig and Amy Lovegrove consider themselves very lucky.
Married in March of 2014, the couple in their early-to-mid 20s had been living with Amy’s parents before they decided to find a place of their own.
After just a month of searching, the couple and their 2-year-old daughter Lilly found an affordable, two-story, market-rate apartment in Vinton Woods, a complex in the south central part of the city, which fulfilled nearly all of their needs. Their particular apartment rent is a little higher than the average in the city, but they get free cable and gas, which provides heat in the winter.
“We feel safe,” Craig said. “We live right across from the complex offices. They do community barbecues. There’s a nice little park, and there are a lot of elders around. It just feels like a friendly environment.”
The Lovegroves’ smooth path to finding affordable housing that was both comfortable and sufficient is far from the norm in this city.
“We feel very blessed to have found this place,” Amy said. “We had some friends that lived here, and they always had nice things to say about it. First we wanted somewhere safe, and then the price was good.”
In years past, the Lovegroves may have had to look harder and longer to find a place to rent.
Debra Cook recalls that when she took over as the executive director of the Kokomo Housing Authority, finding places to live within the city for people who qualified for Section 8 housing was a major challenge.
Qualifying residents sometimes spent two or three years on a waiting list, waiting for subsidy-assisted dwellings to come available.
Nowadays, that waiting list is down to six months or less in most cases.
What’s changed?
“I think that market was so underserved for so many years,” Cook said. “That’s why you had two- and three-year waiting lists for affordable housing. I think the development of new affordable housing has been a very positive thing for the community.”
Another major catalyst in the shortening of wait times has been KHA’s move to an online pre-application process. The agency is able to pull in applicants and perform screening much faster than in the past.
“You can immediately start to prescreen and see if they qualify rather than making them wait on a list,” Cook said. “There could be a lot of factors that could exclude them, income being one, as well as some criminal history, but it depends on how long ago. They could have left another housing authority owing money or having been kicked out.
“We have great housing at a great price. It’s amazing,” she added. “But, we need more low-income housing. You can get a decent house if you make the average wage. We have a lot of people who work service jobs and don’t make great wages, and they have that need. There are a lot of people trying to make it. Most of our residents, 60 percent are disabled or elderly, so they can afford only what they can afford on a fixed income.”
It may be hard to believe, but Kokomo is one of the most affordable places to live in Indiana.
According to a study conducted by STATSIndiana, Howard County has suffered a negative 8.7 percent wage growth rate over the last six years when inflation adjustments are factored in.
But that doesn’t tell the entire story. In 2008, the average county resident made $869.50 per week, which ranked fifth-best among Indiana’s 92 counties. The study revealed the average resident now makes $873 per week, making it the ninth-highest among Indiana’s counties.
Part of the reason wages haven’t grown quite as fast as here as they have in other areas has to do with turnover at the county’s top employers.
Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research director Michael Hicks estimated that 70 percent of manufacturing jobs between 2008 and 2014 changed hands, likely due to the replacement of baby boomers with millennials.
“Thinking about wages, if they’re going up it's good, but if new hiring is coming in in a-two tiered system, the grandfathered guys remain in higher wages and the new hires on the lower,” Hicks explained. “It’s not a reflection of a declining economy. You wouldn’t have those hires if you had to pay everyone the higher wages – younger people will make less than older folks in any industry. If a big growth of younger workers happens, that could explain [the negative wage growth].”
Indiana Department of Workforce Development spokesman Joe Frank agreed.
Frank explained the state has had some pushback from people saying although many jobs have been added since the recession years of 2008-10, those jobs pay lower wages than the ones they’re replacing.
Studies have shown, however, that close to 60 percent of the jobs added since the recession pay above-average wages, Frank said.
“And, not only that, but the biggest sectors coming back are manufacturing and healthcare, which are sectors that are typically above-the-average wage jobs,” Frank said. “Additionally, you have a lot of backfill right now from retirements. That organically has an effect on wages. Also, keep in mind that Indiana has the fourth lowest cost of living in the United States. So, during the Great Recession, it drove down property values quite a bit. Cost of living follows property values quite a bit, which will also organically drive down wages.”
Kokomo seems to be a proving ground for that theory.
According to a study conducted by Tikijian Associates, an Indianapolis-based multi-housing investment adviser, the City of Firsts appears to be among the cheapest places to live in Indiana.
Tikijian studied 10 of the largest metropolitan statistical areas in the state, excluding the Gary and Terre Haute areas, and found Kokomo’s rent prices are easily the lowest among the metropolitan areas studied.
The average rental unit in Kokomo costs $574 per month. Anderson at $580 was the second cheapest on average, followed by Fort Wayne ($603), Evansville ($637), South Bend/Mishawaka ($673), Indianapolis ($738), Muncie ($741), Lafayette/West Lafayette ($789), Columbus ($821) and Bloomington ($893).
According to Apartment List, the median price tag for two-bedroom apartment in Indiana is $650. The national median rent price in the United States in 2013 was $905, according to the Department of Numbers. That nationwide median price has risen more than $40 since 2005.
Indiana’s median rent price was $730 in 2013, which is actually down from the $744 median price the state saw in 2008.
Some of Kokomo’s cheaper prices have to do with the fact that it’s not a traditional college town.
“Keep in mind this: part of what [Indiana University Kokomo] is doing is transitioning into a more of a traditional destination campus,” Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight said. “A lot of times having more full-time students living in your city can throw those numbers off. Some people work part time or not at all when they’re going to school full time.”
Like Cook, Goodnight realized the city had a need for attractive, yet affordable, options for rental housing.
In 2013, 30 percent of residents in Howard County rented the place they lived in, and almost half of those renters were spending 35 percent or more of their income on rent. Federal rent subsidies aim to keep housing costs at 30 percent of income.
In his most recent State of the City speech, Goodnight surmised there are about 8,900 people who work in Howard County but reside elsewhere.
Usually, if a worker doesn’t live where they work, neither do their significant other, children, siblings, etc.
“We need people living here to drive the economy and support small businesses,” Goodnight said. “Western and Kokomo schools just hired new teachers. If they’re new to the area, they are not going to build or buy a house until they become familiar with the community. We need quality apartments for them to live in as they get to know our city and hopefully make that substantial investment over the next two or three years.”
With that in mind, the city has attempted to attract housing unit developers to build the type of complexes necessary to entice those commuters to put down roots in the city.
The efforts have been successful, with 246 new housing units in place in various parts of the city over the past few years.
And, it’s been all types of housing. Jackson Street Commons provides housing for homeless veterans. Kingston Square is designed for low-to-moderate income families. The Annex is marketed toward full-time students. The Residences at Washington Street is geared towards senior citizens with low-to-moderate incomes who might qualify for tax credit housing. And, the Lofts at Union Street above the parking garage are higher-end, market rate apartments.
Additionally, two new projects are in the works. The Apperson Way Apartments will add 69 units near downtown at the intersection of Apperson Way and Jefferson Street. And, 88 duplex, townhouse-style units will soon begin going up near the intersection of Markland and Park avenues at the old Kokomo River Estates location.
“The end game is to make Kokomo the most attractive place for people to live, regardless of your age or work status,” Goodnight said. “There are cities in Indiana that are nice places to live for retirees. There are some that are nice if you’re young and single. I want our city to be open to all demographics. We want those who are just getting out of college and beginning their journey. We want retirees who have worked all their lives and are looking for a nice place to call home. And, we want everything in between. We want families.”
Although vacancy rates remain low at nearly all apartment complexes in the city, the emphasis on new affordable housing projects has prompted some market rate facilities to spruce up their dwellings.
Despite having more than 90 percent of its units filled for two years straight, Turtle Creek Apartments recently finished renovations to its commons areas, including new light fixtures, paint and carpet. Upgrades to other portions of its complex are also in the works, including things like cabinetry and countertops.
“We’ve taken that upon ourselves just because we’ve done so well in recent years,” Turtle Creek property manager Tarei St. Claire said. “For years before I came here, the occupancy was kind of stagnant. The money really wasn’t there to do the upgrades. But, now that it’s continuously there, we are really excited about it. Everything is looking great.”