The Ball State Economic and Research Institute concluded that Brown County’s greatest potential for economic growth is not tourism, but as a bedroom community.
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- PDF of the article: What are best bets for future of local economy _ Brown County Democrat
Building Permits — Building Permit Information 2022 – page 4 – Residential Building Plan Requirements
“Among” the indicators for assessing the growth of a bedroom community is the trend on residential building permits. I pulled data from Stats Indiana.edu developed a median run chart for the years 1990-2023.
The chart identifies three interesting periods of time – 1990-2003, 2004-2010, and 2011-2024. I developed a separate chart for 2011-2024 that indicates a positive trend in permits. On the three different periods of time, the housing market Crash was in 2008.
The “So what?” The data just provides a baseline. Another important chart would be the trend in median home values. Once you have a baseline, the next step is to determine if there is a problem. If so, and new solutions are implemented, a final step is determining if the change resulted in an improvement.
Independent Voters of Brown County IN 