Village of Octavia

Introduction

This Chapter of the Housing Needs Assessment Study examines the existing conditions for David City, Butler County, the villages of Abie, Bellwood, Brainard, Bruno, Dwight, Garrison, Linwood, Octavia, Rising City, Surprise and Ulysses.

David City is the county seat and largest community within Butler County. The employment base in David City largely supports the agricultural sectors of greater Butler County and many of the surrounding villages. The major employers are the local hospital, schools, and agribusiness related industries. Because of David City’s location, size, and quality schools it is a major hub for people to live who work outside of the county.

David City is not different from a majority of the United States with a housing shortage. Based upon the information obtained through the survey and focus group meetings, there is at a minimum a perceived shortage of quality, affordable housing ($160,000 to $170,000) in the area.

This study examines the existing conditions both via data and physical conditions. As stated earlier, these data have come from multiple sources including US Census, HUD, the Butler County Assessors database, and more. In a number of cases these data have been field verified, especially on condition analysis.

Ultimately, the Demand Analysis will be based upon several factors including: • US Census data • HUD data • Condition of structure (structures needing to be replaced)