Interurban provides capacity-building resources to empower communities to transform, renew, and innovate. We work directly with local organizations to design and implement neighborhood revitalization plans, build development program capacities, and support real estate and commercial district renewal efforts. Our hands-on technical assistance produces actionable resources that support a wide range of stakeholders, including nonprofits, governments, foundations, and anchor institutions.
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Helping Heartland communities envision and deliver transformational projects in underinvested neighborhoods by linking community and economic development.
Local Partner Engagement
Interurban works directly with local organizations to support the design and implementation of community economic development programs and projects.
Who We Support
Local and regional economic development organizations, community foundations, local government, anchor institutions, faith-based organizations
What We Do
- Neighborhood and commercial district renewal
- Housing revitalization planning
- Development organization capacity building
- Technical assistance on real estate and development projects
- Main Street program strategic planning and business support program development
Latest Updates
Job Posting: LEAP_UEA Neighborhood Redevelopment Project Manager
Job Posting: City of La Porte Downtown Project Manager
Interurban Partners With EDC of Wayne County to Revitalize Historic Starr Neighborhood
Resources
Meet Bill Taft
Director of Interurban
Taft, an award-winning business and community development leader, is passionate about helping communities thrive and providing opportunities for growth and prosperity in underserved areas. Taft led LISC’s nationwide economic development response to the pandemic, providing $240 million in relief funding to over 8,000 small businesses located in every state and mobilizing commercial revitalization efforts in Philadelphia, LA, Detroit, and Chicago. In Indiana, he is best known for his leadership in the Super Bowl Legacy Initiative, the Great Indy Neighborhoods Initiative, and the FOCUS urban commercial revitalization program. In addition to his longtime non-profit leadership, Taft is a managing partner of Full Circle Development, a social venture that builds entry-level homes in urban Indianapolis. He also serves on the boards of Indiana University Indianapolis, Matchbook Learning, Heart Change, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church.
Bill's Latest IBJ Forefront Columns
About
Interurban, launched in 2025 at the Indianapolis-based Sagamore Institute, partners with local organizations to first think strategically about their community’s assets, needs, and opportunities and then effectively deploy investments that improve local quality of life.
William (Bill) Taft, founding Director of Interurban, brings decades of community and economic development expertise. Taft previously served as the national Senior Vice-President for Economic Development, as well as the Indianapolis director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). Before joining LISC, he served as president of Southeast Neighborhood Development Inc. (SEND) in Indianapolis and Director of Main Street Richmond, Indiana. Taft mobilizes a team of data-equipped experts in real estate development, affordable housing, urban planning and design, entrepreneurship, and organizational development.
Interurban’s flagship project centers on the development of affordable housing in La Porte County, Indiana. Taft and the Interurban team are working closely with a community foundation, local government officials, economic development experts, and other local leaders to plan, fund, and construct affordable and workforce housing in underserved areas of the county. This three-year engagement will result in four housing projects and increased local capacity to replicate similar investments.
Why "Interurban"?
Interurban’s name is rooted in Indiana’s rich history of investing in innovative economic development that connects communities. In 1912, The Indianapolis Star reported: “Indiana has the greatest group of electric railway lines in the world, and Indianapolis is the largest interurban railway center in the United States.” The interurban rail network was built by entrepreneurs backed by hundreds of small investors to connect people from both large and small towns with greater opportunity. The rail lines drove job creation and prosperity in areas of Indiana that might otherwise have been left behind by the rapid technological and social advancements of their time. Today, Interurban seeks to recall this bold entrepreneurial spirit, connecting communities to the strategies and tools they need to thrive in our modern era.
The Traction Terminal on the corner of Market and Illinois Streets in Indianapolis, 1905 | Source
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