Good Data for Good Decisions about Resident Retention Analysis on Resident Retention

Th e northern neighborhoods of Lafayette, Indiana, are plagued by high resident turnover, but the city strives to build a community where residents will want to live for an extended period. Th rough revitalization of these neighborhoods, the well-being of the community and the livability of the area for residents could be increased. Th e purpose of this study was to identify geographical and quantitative trends associated with these transient residents. In partnership with the City of Lafayette, the study analyzed geographical and numerical data about local households to understand these trends and aid in the city’s eff ort to increase resident retention in the northern neighborhoods by identifying areas to focus retention eff orts on. Th e study focused on analyzing household data to identify locations with patterns of households at high risk of low retention. Th e method used to identify these locations was plotting each household on a map of the studied neighborhoods and fi ltering households by diff erent factors determined to signifi cantly aff ect retention to derive geographical trends. Analyzing these trends showed that young low-income home renters were more likely to live in their home for shorter amounts of time. Geographical visualizations were produced focusing on these home renters and the northern neighborhood’s likely transient residents, and geographical areas of these potentially transient home renters were identifi ed. With these specifi c areas identifi ed, it was recommended that the community partner, the City of Lafayette, focus resources on eff orts of retention and revitalization in these specifi c areas of the northern neighborhoods of Lafayette.