As the IBJ reported recently, Indianapolis was chosen to take part in a collaborative venture with other cities to improve transportation. The Transportation for America’s Smart Cities Collaborative encourages cities to work together and use innovative technology and policies to improve city transportation. As we’ve mentioned previously, renters in urban areas appreciate transportation options as part of the reason they may relocate or even stay in their current lease. By being on the forefront of adopting advances in transportation, Indianapolis will continue to welcome renters to the Circle City.

The IBJ reports that within the next year, Indianapolis officials will join with 21 other municipalities and “share best practices in transportation with a focus on reshaping the use of right-of-way and curb space.” The city collaboration focuses on creating goals for design, management, and more, as well as the price of “long-term transportation infrastructure development.” The Circle City already has some plans in mind: saying that they will devote time and capital to the creation of what they call “mobility hubs.” According to the IBJ, these mobility hubs would set up different transportation options in crowded walkable areas– from ride shares, to bus lines, to bike sharing stations, and beyond. The city also said that they’ll utilize IndyGo and make use of existing infrastructure to create an “effective city-wide” transportation system.

As we’ve reported, Indianapolis has seen impressive growth within the last few years, thanks to a comfortable cost of living and career opportunities in the health and tech sectors. The city growth also equals an increase in renters, including those who will appreciate convenient transportation options. A separate piece in MultiFamilyExecutive.com noted that urban populations are on the rise; interestingly, they also attribute part of the urban growth to city workers who are tired of long daily commutes to their jobs. As the MFE article notes, within urban environments there are usually more transportation options that renters appreciate. They also go on to point out that companies are choosing to capitalize on what they refer to as the “transportation effect.” Companies have taken note that workers are moving into urban areas to reduce their commutes, and have re-located their facilities to be closer to urban centers and transportation that workers use.

As Indianapolis works over the next year with other cities to find ways to improve and implement changes to city transport, that will likely pay off in positive effects for the local multifamily market. The more improvements made to the city’s transportation, the more city workers may be interested in taking advantage of what the MFE article called the transportation effect – which will result in a rise in renters. Similarly, renters who already live in urban Indianapolis will take advantage of updated and improved transit and be more likely to stay in existing leases and/or stay local. Indianapolis’s selection to participate in the city collaborative transportation effort will pay off for the city, its employees, employers, and its residents and renters.