Elwood, Indiana
Elwood, Indiana is located in the heart of Hoosier Land approximately 47 miles north of Indianapolis. The city is located in Madison and Tipton counties and has a population of 9,737. It is a very small city with a total area of 3.5 square miles.
Households and families
As of the census]of 2000, there were 3,845 households, and 2,660 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,743.1 people per square mile (1,059.0/km²). There were 4,179 housing units at an average density of 1,177.3/sq mi (454.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.33% White, 0.05% African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.68% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.64% of the population.
There were 3,845 households out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.9% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,986, and the median income for a family was $36,239. Males had a median income of $31,527 versus $19,947 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,402. About 11.7% of families and 15.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.0% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.
Red Gold, one of the nations largest tomato processors, has a plant in Elwood, as well as tool and die shops and other small manufacturers. K-Mart has the largest retail store in Elwood but any major shopping requires a short 20 mile trip to Noblesville.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
After spending about a year in Elwood, I decided to do a web page on the housing. While there are many very nice homes in Elwood, there are also quite a few that fall into the bad and ugly category. Many of these homes appear to be abandoned or otherwise neglected and allowed to deteriorate, some to the point of no return. I took a short trip up to Marion, Indiana and found the situation to be much the same up there. I am sure that some of this is due to the current economic situation where so many people are unemployed. On the other hand, many of these houses appear to have deteriorated over a much longer period of time.
Are we losing our cities? Have we lost the ability to find jobs, buy houses, have families and prosper? Is everything being made in China? My next door neighbor here in Elwood lost his job after being a machinist with a local company for 38 years. I was talking to him about the housing here in Elwood just last week and he said people are just walking away from houses and letting them fall into bankruptcy. There are currently 93 houses in Elwood in foreclosure.
The other day I was looking at images in Google in and around my hometown of Struthers, Ohio and came across this site called Urban Ohio.
It depicts the rise and fall of the steel industry in Youngstown, Ohio as well as many more cities up and down the Mahoning River in Ohio........it's all gone folks !! Go to Wal Mart and see if you can buy a toaster or any other kitchen appliance that is made in the USA, check out anything in the store that's made of steel and you will see that Made in China sign on it. It's no wonder we don't have jobs, we don't make anything in the USA anymore.
The house that I bought in Elwood fell somewhere in between the good and the bad in that it needed a lot of painting and decorating work inside and out but for 22K, and a house payment of only $268 which includes taxes and insurance, I don't think you can beat it anywhere in the country.
As you can see, the garage was in dire need of paint and the rain spouts repaired.
The Garage as it looks today
All of the old leaded base paint was removed and two new coats of white paint made the garage look 100 percent better. I also insulated the inside of the garage so that I can work out there year around.
The front and back of the house had a combination of vinyl siding and rock
Weeds and clover were everywhere. There is a stone sidewalk out front but the weeds had it almost hidden from view. Several weeks of landscaping and the place now falls much closer to the good category.
The house as it looked this past summer of 2010
| Now scroll down and lets take a look at the Good, the Bad, the Sad, and the Ugly of Elwood, Indiana |
