Over the last eight years, Yellow Springs has grown considerably in both geography and the number of folks who call these few square miles home.

Between 2017 and 2025, about 340 additional people became villagers, bringing the population to nearly 3,900. During that time, an estimated 184 new homes for sale and rent have been added to the local stock.

And more homes and people to fill them are on the way. By 2030, Yellow Springs is projected to have a population of 4,345 — the highest since the village’s peak in the 1970s.

However, unless local leaders take action, only an economically well-off few will be among those who can nab the new homes. The housing gaps in Yellow Springs — who can afford to live here and who cannot — persist.

This is according to the most recent data from Bowen National Research, which recently published its latest housing needs assessment for Yellow Springs — the second time the Columbus-based firm authored a housing study for Village leaders and local stakeholders, with the first being in 2017.

Like the last study, this pass on Yellow Springs’ housing needs included extensive demographic data and relied on market conditions, local policies and broader economic forces. Also included were a field study of multifamily rentals in town and community input via employer and stakeholder surveys.

Much of the data in this latest assessment — a 232-page document — echo what was shown in 2017. This iteration also includes new data germane to planned and ongoing residential development in Yellow Springs, such as the senior-focused Cascades project; Windsor Companies’ anticipated market-rate apartments on former Antioch College property; and the ongoing expansion of the Spring Meadows subdivision.

Village Council’s stated intentions of developing Glass Farm were not included in the report.

Despite those anticipated additions to the local housing stock, many of Bowen’s projections remain the same: Yellow Springs homes are getting more expensive, rentals are fewer and rents are on the rise. As a result, a sizable portion of the village population participates in the local housing market from the basis of economic precarity.

To wit, some notable data from the updated assessment:

• Yellow Springs has a growing number of cost-burdened households — with nearly 500 of the village’s total 1,884 paying more than 30% of their income toward housing costs.

• Of those 500 cost-burdened households, 178 are severely cost-burdened, meaning over 50% of household income is spent on housing.

• The median rent for the few apartment complexes in town has gone up by more than $300.

•  Less than half of Yellow Springs homes are owned by individuals younger than 54. 

Bearing this particular data in mind, the updated Bowen assessment dovetails with Village Council’s foremost goal of creating more affordable housing options, as well as addressing the swelling cost of living in town.

Through those lenses, Council is set to review the updated assessment at the group’s next work session, ahead of its regular meeting, Monday, Aug. 17.

Zeroing in on demographics, the new Bowen study substantiated what the previous one had identified: seniors largely dominate the local housing market.

Individuals 55 and older comprise nearly 59% of all households in Yellow Springs  — which is about 10% more than in Greene and Clark counties, and the state as a whole.

However, the updated study shows that that percentage has decreased by about two points since 2017, and by 2030, all other age groups in Yellow Springs are expected to grow in size. Before the end of the decade, householders between the ages of 25 and 34 are expected to increase by 13.2%, and between ages 45 and 54 by 6.6%. Additionally, those 75 and older will jump 16.8%, signalling a major generational shift in Yellow Springs. 

Owing to those changes, the new Bowen study recommends that all future housing development in the village “should include a variety of product types across a range of affordability levels with a particular emphasis on senior-oriented housing alternatives.”

Furthermore, to create more homes for young and old alike, the new Bowen study recommends that Village leaders look to the latest Comprehensive Land Use Plan and consider “the redevelopment of vacant/underutilized structures, the development of infill lots and leveraging the remaining developable sites for housing that meets the community’s needs.”

Irrespective of those needs being tailored to demographic shifts, the Bowen study expects that by 2030 the number of homes in Yellow Springs for purchase will increase by 98 and rentals by 147 — mostly owing to the ongoing and planned developments mentioned above, the largest of which are phases three and four of expanding the Spring Meadows subdivision with 190 additional units.

“While the accuracy of these projects can be influenced by factors like construction costs, interest rates or changes in government policies, the clear pent-up demand for housing alternatives within Yellow Springs will likely result in these increases for each tenure type if housing units that meet the needs of area households are introduced into the market,” the study notes.

Though more rental units are on their way, the present housing market favors home buyers.  More than 64% of households in Yellow Springs are occupied by owners — up from 60.7% in 2017 — and roughly 36% are rented — down from 39.3% in 2017.

In the study’s consideration of the village’s lasting discrepancy between rented and owned homes came data on economic disparity.

The new Bowen assessment points out that the vast majority of renter households in the village — 63.6% — earn less than $50,000 annually. On the other end of the spectrum, well over one half — 57% — of owner households earn more than $100,000.

“This illustrates the need for a variety of housing alternatives by affordability level,” the study reads.

The conclusion is in step with the 2017 study, which recommended that Yellow Springs create quite a bit more affordable housing — specifically, at least 100 new very-low-income housing units with rents less than $500 for those who make less than $20,000/year, none of which have been built in the last eight years; as well as at least 80 units of low-income housing units with rents $500–875 for those who make $20,000–34,999/year, 20 of which have been built since 2018.

Along similar lines, the latest iteration of the Bowen assessment calls for 96 new rentals for households who make less than $46,900 per year, 53 for those who make less than $75,040 per year and an additional 51 for all those other would-be renters making upwards of 81% of the area median income — amounting to a total of 200 recommended rental units recommended by this needs assessment.

Like the last Bowen study, this one also calls for additional for-sale homes to be added to the local market — 128 more, specifically. The largest portion of that gap are the purportedly needed 82 more for-sale homes for would-be homeowners with an annual income of more than $112,561. The second highest need identified was for homeowners who make $46,901–$75,040 annually — the study calls for 26 more of those homes. 

Taken together, the updated Bowen Housing Needs Assessment recommends that Yellow Springs create 328 more rental and for-sale units to meet the current and projected demand by 2030.

“Although projected household growth and potential external market support comprise a noteworthy portion of the housing gaps across all affordability levels, there is a higher propensity for the gaps among the lower affordability to be influenced by other factors,” the study concludes.

Those factors include the need for additional units to establish a balanced market, the replacement of substandard rentals and severe cost-burden situations.

“As such, addressing the rental housing gaps [in Yellow Springs] will likely require a combination of approaches, which may include the construction of new rental housing, the mitigation of substandard housing conditions among the current housing inventory and reducing housing cost burden situations through a variety of mechanisms,” the study reads.

Toward the goal of filling the local housing gaps, the study offers a number of actions and initiatives that the Village of Yellow Springs could take. Among them:

• Increase or incentivize density by modifying zoning ordinances,

• Determine Village staff capacity to take on additional work associated with housing strategies,

• Re-evaluate building and design standards and consider more flexible requirements for things like property setbacks and parking,

• Establish a rental registry and code enforcement considerations,

• Provide infrastructure assistance to reduce developer costs,

• Establish a land bank that can acquire, manage and redevelop vacant, abandoned or tax-delinquent properties and turn them into productive use,

• Offer home repair and weatherization programs,

• Create a first-time homebuyer program,

• And more than a dozen potential other steps.

The News will provide additional coverage of the updated Bowen Housing Needs Assessment following Council’s discussion on Monday, Aug. 17.