walk up from your parking lot and you have detached lawns and maybe you have a swimming pool, they’re really struggling from a leasing standpoint.” Younger demographics increasingly prioritize flexibility and mobility over homeownership, viewing rental housing as a strategic choice rather than a temporary solution.The median home listing price in Westfield reached $497,000 in early 2025, making rental options attractive for those who prefer investing capital elsewhere or maintaining career flexibility. “When there’s a mixed-use development and you have MEETING THE HOUSING MARKET SHIFT The shift toward downtown living signifies changes in housing preferences across central Indiana and beyond.“Really what we’re seeing across the entire, say, central Indiana market, and I think that this is true in anywhere that has these up and coming downtowns, is that people that are looking for rental homes, apartments, condominiums; they’re looking for that more walkable environment where they have immediate access to these businesses,” Fairman explains. “The traditional multifamily that we typically refer to as garden style, where it’s freestanding and you just 206 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 11
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