BSU students present preliminary findings

Forty-five percent of those employed in Portland live outside of the city limits.
That was one of the insights discussed during the preliminary findings presentation from Ball State University urban planning students during a public forum Wednesday at Jay County Public Library.
The meeting, part of a series regarding the creation of a new redevelopment plan for Portland, covered changes in Portland’s employment statistics, reviewed results from surveys submitted by residents and business owners and explained the city’s economic trends. Also mentioned at the meeting was a new moniker for the plan, now to be termed a “revitalization plan” to avoid confusion with the city’s redevelopment commission.
Students used data to help illustrate an overview of the city’s employment climate, providing a roadmap for aspects that could be targeted for improvement.
This year, according to estimates from Environmental Systems Research Institute, 5,313 workers are employed in Portland. Of that total, 2,392 live outside the city limits.
The total estimated income of those workers living outside of Portland is estimated at $43.5 million.
“There’s an enormous opportunity there for, not only a growth in income, a growth in the local economy and the local tax base, but also just sheerly the number of people who actually live in the city of Portland, because … there’s a problem in the city with depopulation and not keeping pace with the growth rate of Indiana as a whole,” said Ball State student Dustin House.

While Indiana’s population grew by 7 percent from 2000 to 2015, Portland’s population dropped by 3 percent in the same time period.
The students suggested that a new plan could prioritize attracting those who are employed in Portland to also choose to live within the city, helping to keep that income in the local economy and contributing to population growth.
One survey the students conducted asked those who work in Portland but live outside the city if they would consider living in Portland.
“More than 60 percent of the people said yes, which is a great statistic which means that people have a general positive outlook toward the City of Portland, which is a good thing for prospective families, prospective businesses… which bring more investment toward downtown Portland,” said urban planning student Brandon Burgoa.
The surveys also found the general opinion that respondents didn’t feel they would have much of a say in how the revitalization of the downtown is implemented. Fifty-eight percent of the 77 respondents reported they felt they are not given sufficient opportunities to contribute their views to the revitalization of Portland’s downtown. Community member Jim Sanders said he thinks the city’s residents and leaders need to take ownership of the plan and attend future meetings.
“We’re trying to develop an area, and we’re sitting here stagnant … and we need to change our attitude. Our government people, they need to get in here, they need to hear this, they need to be a part of the solution, instead of being a part of the problem,” said Sanders.
Also highlighted during the meeting were changes in Portland’s economy over the last 16 years.
“We see that manufacturing has just an astronomically higher share of the employment in the city. Manufacturing comprises 36.4 percent of the employment in Portland, whereas in Indiana as a whole it’s only 14.1 percent. So that’s more than double, and that’s a remarkable thing, especially in the year 2016. It’s the age of deindustrialization and yet, here it is, the industry is still here,” said House.
Portland’s median income has failed to rise at the same rate as the state average. At $33,726 in 2016, it has shown only an 8.6 percent increase over 2000’s median income of $31,045. By comparison, the state of Indiana’s 2000 median income was $41,567 in 2000 and rose by 17 percent to $48,737.
The full presentation will be posted on http://www.jaycountychamber.com early next week.
Professor Michael Burayidi, the head of the revitalization plan project, said the desire for respondents to be homeowners showed a connection to the city that could spark further growth. The students will return Nov. 9 to present preliminary proposals from their findings.
“Portland has a lot of potential … (Respondents) want to live in owner-occupied housing, meaning they want to come and stay, they don’t want to rent and then leave. Now what we need to do is find ways to really capture this population and incentivize them to live in Portland and become homeowners and part of the community,” Burayidi said. “I think that will be the critical task ahead for us.”