18 INDIANAPOLIS REGIONAL CENTER PLAN 2020 PLANNING DOWNTOWN�fS FUTURE TODAY LIVING DOWNTOWN 6.  HOUSING The population within the Regional Center's boundaries (also see Regional Center Census Tracts map) was 16,963 persons in 1990 with 10,768 housing units.  In 2000, it was 19,640 persons with 9,745 housing units.  The increase in population is largely due to an approximate doubling in group quarters (such as nursing homes and jails).  The actual number of housing units declined over the 10-year period as some housing became dilapidated or was demolished and as some projects were emptied to await renovation (the Census only counts habitable units). Occupancies did improve over the period from a vacancy rate of approximately 22 percent in 1990 in the five Census Tracts entirely within Regional Center to approximately 14 percent in 2000.  Housing production also has been increasing since the 2000 Census with 991 units completed or under construction.  This equates to 330 units per year. IUPUI has constructed an 800-bed dorm complex, which is an important step in helping increase the University's student presence in the area.  The IUPUI Campus Planning Framework includes proposals for a total of 1,880 student beds.  Students at other area colleges (Indiana Business College has a Downtown campus and Ivy Tech State College a near-Downtown campus) also are potential customers for Downtown housing.  The three schools combined have approximately 37,215 students. It is expected that the recent growth in housing units will continue.  A number of projects have been announced.  Recently, the City also has requested developer proposals for the reuse of the site of Market Square Arena for mixed- use, which includes a housing component.   Responses have been received and include from 178 to 485 units. The housing successes have not been without difficulties, however.  Constraints have yielded lower-density projects in some instances and certain lands proposed for housing have been developed for other uses.  For example, the 1990 plan recommended land for 1,850 new housing units along the Canal from New York Street to 11^th Street.  Since that plan, there has been a number of impressive and significant apartment complexes constructed along the historic Central Canal and the area is essentially at build-out for housing sites, but the number of new units is just under 1,000 or 850 units less than originally recommended. Concept sketch from the Regional Center South Urban Design Workshop of new urban housing Very important to the area's growth and improvement are the people who choose to live Downtown because of the urban setting and lifestyle offered and who are advocates for the area.  This will need to expand to other stakeholders so that the area's housing and neighborhood components can overcome the impediments that face them.  It also will be important that more areas be made available for housing and that new projects generally be realized at densities higher than have been in the past. Additional study is needed to identify the types of government assistance that should be made available to developers and investors to increase the pace of housing construction Downtown.   This includes identifying how to reduce the impact on projects of higher property taxes in Center Township and the potential need for using the City's bonding capabilities to construct parking garages in areas where high-density housing (housing generally at 50 units per acre or greater) is appropriate but difficult to achieve due to parking constraints.  While exploring the need to assist in the provision of parking, including parking garages, it is important to recognize that improved mass transportation can help reduce this need. The Continental at Vermont Place Canal Square Apartments Concept sketch from the Regional Center South Urban Design Workshop of knowledge worker housing