Study: Indiana's Regional Cities Initiative Helping

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — An early study shows that an Indiana initiative aimed at making areas more attractive to talented young workers is having a noticeable difference.

The Journal Gazette reports that Ball State University conducted an initial study on the Regional Cities Initiative.

Under the initiative, three areas were chosen to each receive a $42 million grant to push projects that improve quality of life. The goal is to get more people to move to the areas.

The Ball State researchers projected that Regional Cities-related investments initially will attract 7,960 new residents to the three participating regions.

But Morton Marcus, a retired Indiana University economist, said he has mixed feelings about the initiative. He's not sure the program is supporting the right projects.