Many people around the country are rediscovering the appeal of urban neighborhoods and the opportunities presented by being close to the Central Business District, work, and entertainment. Downtown Wichita has experienced its first significant housing activity in many years with the construction of apartments in Old Town and the proposed Eaton Hotel renovation. Residents are once again showing confidence in the urban core.

The Midtown Neighborhood, north of downtown roughly between 9th and 25th Streets, has been able to attract homeowners partly for this reason, as well as because of the unique historic homes in the area. Residents have been willing to invest in the neighborhood's older homes and rehabilitate them. These urban pioneers may also be interested in homes in the Center City Neighborhood and may help to create a critical mass of activity that will help attract other buyers who want new homes.

The Center City Neighborhood has suffered from high vacancy rates (both homes and residential lots), low homeownership rates, and a general trend over the past few decades toward suburban living. Due to recent residential development in and around downtown and with leadership from the City and other groups, the potential now exists for the neighborhood to reverse these trends.

A significant number of demolitions created a large number of vacant lots in the Center City Neighborhood. New houses can be built on these vacant lots and attract urban pioneers and empty nesters who want to live in an urban neighborhood, but who also want the modern conveniences of a new home. Some of these residents are likely to be employed in one of the many businesses located within the neighborhood, the government complex, or Via Christi Medical Center.

The City and the Center City Organized Revitalization Effort (C.O.R.E.) have expressed a desire to add a significant number of housing units to the Center City Neighborhood in part because of C.O.R.E.'s mission of "fostering community in the center city through planned residential projects that would be inclusive, diverse, and cosmopolitan." In particular, homeownership would help stabilize the neighborhood and provide new housing opportunities for residents of Wichita who prefer to live in a more urban neighborhood.