Indiana counties included among top 100 fastest growing in nation

INDIANAPOLIS -- Three Indiana counties are among the 100 fastest growing counties in the United States in terms of housing units, according to new statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau.\nHamilton County is the 20th-fastest-growing county with a 19 percent increase in housing units from 2000 to 2003. Hendricks County ranked 21st and also has a 19 percent increase in housing.\nHancock County was 87th on the list, with 12 percent growth, according to statistics released Friday.\nAll three counties are adjacent to Marion County, where Indianapolis is located.\nHaving two counties in the top 25 and three in the top 100 for new housing starts points to significant gains, said Carol Rogers, a director of the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.\n"There are 3,141 counties in the United States," she said. "It's a pretty big pool."\nConstruction of housing units slightly outpaces population growth, she said, because most of the people moving into the new homes and apartments already were living in central Indiana.\n"Some of what you're seeing is a population shift," she said.\nThe nation's fastest-growing county was relatively small Lincoln County in South Dakota. Others in the top five were near Atlanta, Washington and Denver.\nSome new residents cite schools, a low crime rate and open space for settling in Hamilton, Hendricks and Hancock Counties.\nAttorney Edward McGlone moved from Terre Haute to Avon in Hendricks County after exploring several communities, including downtown Indianapolis.\n"This just seemed like the right place," he said of the home he built. "It's close to Indianapolis but has a small-town feeling. It is a nice area with low crime and a yard for our dogs."\nGrowth has been concentrated in the three fast-growing counties partly because public officials there have worked to encourage or at least accommodate it, said Steve Lains, chief executive of the builders association.\n"There are market-driven demands -- (builders and developers) are finding those communities to be attractive places to build homes," Lains said. "But there are also political considerations that take place."\nPlaces like Carmel, Brownsburg and Greenfield have leaders who "accept the inevitable growth while also doing things to retain the qualities that attract people there," he said, referring to access to utilities and other infrastructure.