How has life expectancy between communities of the Indianapolis metro area changed over the decade, comparing life expectancy for the 5-year period 2009-2013 to the 5-year period 2014-2018? In our updated analysis of 104 ZIP Codes in the metro area (2014-2018), we identified the northern suburb of Fishers as our longest living community and just 17 miles away, within the Indianapolis city limits, is the shortest living community within the metro area. Though only 17 miles of distance separate them, their life expectancy is worlds apart.

A collaborative effort by Central Indiana Senior Fund, a fund of Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF); The Polis Center at IUPUI; the IU Center for Aging Research (IUCAR); and the IU Public Policy Institute’s (PPI) Center for Research on Inclusion and Social Policy (CRISP), addresses these concerns in a new report, The State of Aging in Central Indiana, published April 15. In addition to this report, the joint endeavor produces issue briefs on emerging topics and an interactive information portal.

Since 2008, the Indiana Geographic Information Office (GIO) has led the effort to obtain four framework datasets from Indiana counties to generate statewide GIS data layers. These four layers – address points, street centerlines, parcels, and administrative boundaries – are crucial to many activities such as economic development, emergency response, and planning activities. While the first county agreed to participate in 2008, it took until 2014 for all Indiana counties to participate in this effort. The latest Data Harvest, conducted in the second half of 2020, resulted in over 3.2 million address points, almost 3.6 million parcels, over half a million street centerlines and slightly more than 4 thousand administrative boundaries.