Editorial: Housing study is a smart move for Carmel’s maturing community

We’re watching with interest the moves new Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam is making in her first months on the job, particularly in the area of housing.

Finkam, the city’s first new mayor in nearly 30 years, has created a nine-member housing task force that as a first course of business is tackling the issue of the “missing middle”—typically middle-class housing options that include duplexes and small multiplex buildings.

Missing-middle housing is meant for people who don’t want to live in a large apartment complex (of which Carmel and the other northern suburbs have many) or in an expensive, four- or five-bedroom home (of which the area also has many).

IBJ reporter Daniel Bradley goes into detail about the task force and missing-middle housing in a story on page 1A this week. He also looks at some of the controversies that can accompany its development.

At this point, Finkam and her team are gathering data. The task force is still far from recommendations, and the mayor doesn’t have proposals on the table. But we appreciate that this look at housing is among her first moves.

As Bradley writes in his story, Carmel and other suburbs grew quickly at a time when homebuyers and community interest trended toward single-family houses. As a result, large subdivisions blossomed. Over time, however, homebuyers’ interests have changed, as have the economics of local communities.

Retirees are often looking to downsize, but they want plenty of amenities and walkable neighborhoods. Young adults are more likely to remain childless than in previous generations or put off having children a few years, eliminating or delaying the need to buy larger homes. And rising prices have left many middle-income families struggling to buy single-family homes in places like Carmel, where the median sales price in February was $537,500.

So Finkam is smart to take a look at those trends and at Carmel’s housing stock to see if the city has gaps to fill.

That won’t be easy.

She is bound to run into opposition from some Carmel residents who like the community just as it is and see no reason to think about affordability or serving a different demographic. In his story, Bradley quotes a letter in which one resident writes that “Carmel is not obligated to provide housing to everyone who thinks Carmel is nice and wants to live here.”

But every community’s economy depends on low- and middle-wage workers to keep its restaurants, retailers, hotels and other businesses operating. And it won’t serve the city to have retirees or young professionals look elsewhere for housing if their options in Carmel are too limited.

Finkam has the right idea in taking a good look at the housing situation early in her term so she has time to address any needs quickly. That’s one of the advantages that come with a new mayor—a fresh look at a community’s challenges and opportunities. We’re eager to see what results.•

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