Efforts to attract new families to our Village should be focused half and half on renters and homeowners, according to new data from the 2008 Community Survey. According to the survey, about half (49%) of all families with children who have lived in Shorewood for 5 years or less rent rather than own their home. In total, 52% of this group live in single family homes, 34% in duplexes, 12% in apartment buildings, and 2% in condos. As residents stay in Shorewood for longer periods of time, they are more likely to become homeowners. By the time families with children have been in Shorewood for 16 years, nearly 9 in 10 (87%) are homeowners.
I bring this up because the Village Board tends to focus on policies to promote homeownership for young families as a way to boost the number of school-age children. Think Marketing Shorewood (focused on real estate agents and homebuyers) and the Neighborhood Initiative for the most recent examples. It must be mentioned here that school enrollment has increased recently, according the Village Board, so some part of the Board's policies are working. I also need to emphasize that I am not implying there is anything wrong with the goal of bringing new homeowners with children to the Village. However, if our overarching goal is to boost enrollment, there is more that can be done by expanding our efforts to include renter families.
