Week Without Driving Diary (III)

A very walkable block!

For most of its one mile length, Washington Avenue SE is the very model of a walkable residential street. It's a little out of my way, but on such a pleasant day as this, it's a nice way to walk from my home to my church or my office. It has houses close to the street, fronted by windows and doors not blank walls, and such trees that survived the 2020 derecho provide a comforting canopy. It's not long on destinations for a purposeful walk, but along my way there's an elementary school and another church. For those challenged by circumstance or (as in my case) curiosity to participate in Week Without Driving, streets like these make such a project thinkable. On the other hand, I didn't meet anyone else walking down this street this mid-morning.

America Walks rates Cedar Rapids's walkability higher than the national average, which suggests walking is available for people who can't or prefer not to drive ("How Many Americans Live in Walkable Neighborhoods?" 2025).

	NATIONAL	IOWA	CEDAR RAPIDS
Least Walkable	22.90%	26.30%	13.90%
Below Avg	36.60%	47.20%	27.50%
Average	29.80%	22.20%	46.50%
Most Walkable	10.70%	4.30%	12.20%

Monday, October 5 (sunny, 73F)

Bused/walked to: Ground Transportation Center, St. Paul's United Methodist Church

Biked to: Dairy Queen #4 [replaced car trip], CeMar Trail

City employees are getting into the swing of Week Without Driving. Haley Sevening and Trevor Sippel were at the Ground Transportation Center at 7:00 this morning with coffee, juice, doughnuts, bagels, bananas, and apples. By the time I got there on the #2 bus a hair past 8, most of it had been gratefully consumed, but I did score a banana and some coffee.

Haley Sevening, Trevor Sippel, a bus rider, and the last doughnut

They reported crowds heaviest early in their shift--all buses arrive about 7:00, 7:30, and 8:00, and depart 15 minutes later--and judged that most morning riders were staying downtown rather than transferring to a different bus.

Days like this are less of a challenge to non-drivers than those featuring bitter cold, excessive heat, rain, or snow. Most bus stops in residential areas consist merely of a sign:

4th Avenue at 12th Street SE

I can see why someone wouldn't want a full-fledged shelter on their parkway, but a lot of stops could be more comfortable and dignified than they are.

My bike and handy freezer bag at Dairy Queen

This afternoon I went on two short bike rides. The first was to the Dairy Queen, which can be a challenge without a car, even though it's less than a mile from my house. Today the weather was near-perfect for ice cream transport in a freezer bag (see above), though the interface of 16th Street and 1st Avenue remains tricky in any weather.

CeMar Trail from Mt. Cavalry Cemetery

Later in the afternoon, I rode over to take pictures of the CeMar Trail, which was supposed to open officially today, but a rainy September intervened.

More Week Without Driving coverage coming! Check back daily!! And if you're in town, take advantage of free transit rides, and/or a $5 credit on rental of a Veo bicycle or scooter with code CARFREE26.

Tuesday, October 6 (sunny, 78F)

Bused/walked to: Craftd coffee shop, Bentley Watch Repair

Smulekoff Building, home of Craftd

I got around town by bus today, until I didn't. I began taking the #2 bus from the stop a block from my house to the Ground Transportation Center, which is across the street from Craftd, where I was meeting a friend for coffee. I walked around Downtown while I waited for John, including going across the river and by the Mott and Chelsea buildings, which hold a weird fascination for me. While we were having coffee, I got a phone call from Bentley Watch Repair in suburban Hiawatha to say that the watch I'd left there awhile ago was ready to pick up. So after our coffee, I took the #5 bus to the Twixt Town transfer point, where I met the Northeast Circulator, which dropped me practically at the doorstep of the watch shop. The trip took about 40 minutes, as opposed to maybe a ten minute trip in a private car, but otherwise, so far, so good.

What I was going to say about today, before my unplanned trip to Hiawatha, was that the bus works well for me because both my house and my major destinations are close to the center of town. Conversely, the farther you are from downtown, even if you're near a bus route, the less functional the bus is, because of the infrequency of buses and the circuitous routes. (This is not a hard and fast rule. John lives at the Roosevelt Apartments downtown, and occasionally needs to go to Mercy Medical Center, which is less than a mile away, but because of the way the routes are laid out there is no bus route that serves that trip.)

So when I left the watch shop after my brief business, I was prepared for less than ideal transit choices. I could wait nearly an hour for the next circulator, or walk a few blocks and get the inbound #6 bus towards Downtown Cedar Rapids, which was due in about 40 or 45 minutes. Happily, the Hiawatha Public Library was nearby and is always a good place to kill time. I got to the bus stop, and waited, and waited some more. Cedar Rapids uses the TransLoc app to track buses, so I was able to follow the bus's progress on my phone. When it was only two minutes away, it suddenly detoured onto I-380, around my stop and two other stops. If this was a planned detour, there was no notice at the bus stop. Presently TransLoc informed me that the next bus was due, not in two minutes, but in 58. Because I am both retired (lots of free time) and able bodied (can walk), I walked the nearly four miles home (with a little relief from the #5 bus on 1st Avenue).

So, no big deal, and my step counting app is very happy today. But what if I were frail? What if I'd had children with me? What if I were counting on the bus to get to work on time? What if it had been raining? What if I were taking this week's challenge to Try Transit? You'd never get me near a bus again.

Speaking of the frail elderly, people with children, and anyone walking in the rain...

...this greeted me when I debarked from the #5 for the last half-mile's walk home. It took me less than a second to step around the obstruction, but the point of this week is to remember that not everyone can do that.

On today's War on Cars podcast, hosts Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon interviewed Nora Leerhsen, acting president of the Chicago Transit Authority. It was a wonderful, serious discussion of running a transit system in America's third largest city, and keeping constantly at the forefront of her mind the people for whom she's working. The pull quote: "When you take a transit vehicle with strangers, there's an inherent trust you're giving to one another, and that trust in each other is so essential to the health of our larger society and our democracy. When we start to send messages that that shared space is not a place to be, you're going to see our institutions and our societal structures start to dismantle. I believe in CTA, not just for Chicago, but really for our country."

Wednesday, October 7 (partly cloudy, 77F)

Bused/walked to: Gravitate Coworking Space

Walked to: Healthiest State Lunch at Greene Square

Healthy state residents gather at MedQ Park

While Haley and Travis--remember them from Monday?--took their Try Transit act up the road this noon hour to the Twixt Town Road transfer station, I joined the Healthiest State Walk group downtown. I first did this walk in 2022, back in the olden days when our town was observing Move More Week instead of Week Without Driving.

walking down 1st Street SE, October 2022

This year we started from two different places, MedQ Park and the McGrath Amphitheater. I was part of the MedQ group, led once again by Phil Wasta, executive director of the MedQuarter. 

Phil Wasta explains the rules

MedQ Park is only three blocks from our destination, but healthy people walk a mile, so that's what we did. On the way, we crossed seven streets; five of the intersections were four-way stops or traffic lights, while at two points we had to move quickly through the gaps. The drivers were always courteous, even though lunch hours are short.

The sandwiches and sides, once again provided by Craftd, were great and made for a convivial lunch. Unlike last year, the McGrath group got there ahead of us, and most of them were already gone by the time we got there--not very convivial! The women nearest me had both driven to the walk site due to time constraints, which I am in no position to judge. One of them suggested that the expectations of Week Without Driving might deter some people, and that a Week With Driving might encourage people to leave their rec rooms in search of company.

(Actually, Week Without Driving is not about discipline so much as mindfulness. I'm about 24 hours from needing to drive, so I will drive tomorrow, but I'll pause to think about what I would do if I weren't in such a fortunate position.)

In other news, the trail through New Bohemia is taking shape

I returned to New Bohemia after lunch, writing at Gravitate Coworking Space. Then, since today was at least as nice as yesterday, I walked home instead of taking the bus.

John Simmerman's Active Towns interview this week is with ironman Bob Babbitt, who among other things talked about sports programs for people with physical handicaps. Remember that any town that is good for people with handicapping conditions to navigate is good for everyone!

Thursday, October 8 (partly cloudy, 75F)

3-430    Try Transit, GTC

Friday, October 9 (morning thunderstorms, 78F)

5-8    Cider Stroll, Czech Village

Saturday, October 10 (mostly sunny, 83F)

Coffeeneuring begins!

SEE ALSO: "Week Without Driving (II)," 29 September 2025

America Walks Week Without Driving Page: Week Without Driving - America Walks

City Week Without Driving Page: Welcome to the City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Disability Rights Washington page: Home page - Disability Rights Washington

Kai Hall, "We're Organizing the 2026 Week Without Driving," Greater Greater Washington, 26 September 2026

Rocco Pendola, "America Chose Cars Over Quality Of Life," How It Works (and Why It Doesn't), 13 September 2026

Trail connection delayed, but not denied

Today, October 5, was to have been the grand opening of the last segment to be completed of the CeMar Trail, the one that connects Cedar Rapids to Marion. I've been waiting for this day for a long time. No longer will I have to cross dangerous intersections at Collins Road and C Street, and cut across the Collins Aerospace campus, in order to get to my favorite Marion barber and coffee shop.

trail bridge across Indian Creek,
seen from Mt. Calvary Cemetery

Alas, I will have to wait a little while longer. It's wet here. September 2026 was one of the wettest ever: 11.12 inches, according to former state senator Rob Hogg, author of America's Climate Century [CreateSpace, 2013]. As a result, the trail's crushed limestone is gooey and would be permanently damaged if ridden by all us joyous riders.

still solid past 3rd Avenue

So, as the Linn County Trails Association posted on September 29: 

**Cemar Trail Ribbon cutting for October 5 canceled*** due to heavy rain. Reschedule TBD

Interest in the trail connection is intense, if comments at the Linn County Trails Association booth at the Downtown Farmers Market (and on the socials) are any indication. It will open, and may it be soon!

(source: linncountytrails.org)

SEE ALSO: "Happy Trails 2024-25," 21 November 2024

no clue why this is here (32nd Street Drive near Emerald Avenue SE):
trail goes for one block to the next intersection, all concrete

American Discovery 250 Relay

 

The United States celebrated its 250th birthday last summer, and while at times it seemed we were too busy hating each other to notice, some imaginative commemorations have taken place. One such is the American Discovery 250 Relay, on which various runners, walkers, and cyclists are carrying a copy of the Declaration of Independence the length of the American Discovery Trail from the Golden Gate Bridge to Cape Henlopen in Delaware. This weekend, the effort passed through Cedar Rapids. They began Saturday, October 3, in Waterloo; Sunday, October 4, the relay went from Cedar Rapids to West Branch, and then to Davenport the following day, before a well-earned day of rest on Tuesday the 6th.

Remarkably, neither the website nor the news coverage I sampled described the origin story of this effort. Dave Whitson is the Relay Director. Numerous partner-sponsors along the way include the Linn County Trails Association and our neighbors to the north, the Cedar Valley Trails Partnership.

After a rainy September, flooding in Cedar Falls threatened to delay the relay's progress (McGough 2026), but bicycle riders arrived at Sag Wagon on Cedar Lake about 2:30 Saturday afternoon.

Local contact Julie Kraft, director of organizational development for Connect CR, took custody of the three batons.

The three are named Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Here's a closeup of Life:

Each has a copy of the Declaration of Independence within.

After a short pause for refreshment...

...the riders, now including your humble blogger among them, went another mile down the trail to Greene Square in downtown Cedar Rapids. There, they were greeted by Mayor Tiffany O'Donnell.

Actors John Broda and Steve Ginsberg, who play Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin in Revival Theater Company's current production of 1776, executed flawless ceremonial baton handoffs.

John Broda hands Liberty to the mayor,
under the watchful eye of 1776 director Brian Glick

Mayor O'Donnell and the Pursuit of Happiness as well as
(L to R) John Broda, Brian Glick, Steve Ginsberg

The American Discovery Trail was created in 1990 as a concept which since has gradually become reality. The American Hiking Society hired a national coordinator to work with representatives of the states it crosses on trail routing and development. According to the official ADT website, it now "incorporates numerous local, state, and national trails, with most of them designed for walking, hiking, and running and for bicycle and equestrian use... Coast to coast is about 5,000 miles," if you take the southern route. The northern route, through Iowa and Illinois, is a mere 4,844 miles. though the relay will cover 6,850 ("The Route"). It passes through Cedar Rapids on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail, which goes from Solon to Waterloo.

Derek Stepanek of the Connect CR board at Greene Square

Walking and cycling across America is a great way to celebrate the country, particularly because you travel at a human pace and can appreciate your surroundings. The Trump administration has cut Forest Service staff, including those who maintain trails (Natanson 2025), and the Department of Transportation under Secretary Sean Duffy has reallocated funds to motor vehicle routes away from all other infrastructure (cf. Kahn 2025). This celebration is a good way to recall why those ideas were good ones, and worthy of attention once good sense returns to the federal government.

SEE ALSO: America 250 Relay — American Discovery Trail Society

Ethan Hewett, "American Discovery 250 Relay to Pass Through KMALand," kmaland.com, 3 April 2026

Dip your bike tires or your tired piggies:
The Atlantic Ocean at Cape Henlopen State Park,
terminus of American Discovery 250 Relay

10th Anniversary Post: Snout houses? In Oak Hill Jackson??

Not the suburbs. Really.

Ten years ago, when this blog and Cedar Rapids' post-flood rebuilding were both still young, I was surprised to see infill housing on 9th Avenue SE in a style more typical of suburban developments, with garages in front. My uncharacteristically short post--200 words!--caught the attention of Cedar Rapids Gazette reporter B.J. Morelli, and his piece caught the attention of the Linn County Republican Party, who responded with derision. If there's no such thing as bad publicity, I had hit the jackpot.

The argument against garage-front houses is partly aesthetic--windows are more pleasant to see than garage doors--but the strongest argument is functional. When houses greet the street with windows, they represent a human presence that is at once comforting, interesting, and sociable. David Sucher (City Comforts: How to Build an Urban Village [City Comforts Inc, 2016]) discusses the look of houses in his chapter on "Feeling Safe," alongside a picture of the Kentlands development in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Place the entrance to a residence so that the visitor knows where to enter and neighbors can see what's going on.... "Eyes on the street" provide security. Thugs know this and, as you may notice, avoid breaking into homes while neighbors watch. But hide the door and you give them an opportunity for crime. It is the continual and casual surveillance of the street outside by the people inside that provides security. (2016: 129)

Same block. A garage in front might actually be preferable to this barricade

Putting a wall in front of the house, even in the form of a garage door, emphasizes privacy over sociability, and removes the "eyes" and all other signs of human life from the street. Andres Duany and his coauthors (Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream [North Point, 10th anniversary edition, 2010], who I cited in the original piece, discusses garage-front houses as part of the typical suburban design.

Conventional suburbia fails to provide adequate street supervision, Most collector roads aren't fronted by buildings at all Houses tend to be located far from the street, sometimes behind walls. And, within typical subdivisions, houses often present little to the street but their wide garage doors. With such unsafe conditions, it is no surprise that so many suburban developers feel the need to surround their subdivisions with high walls and hire full-time security.... It is a vicious circle: the less safe streets feel, the fewer people walk, and the less safe they become. (2010: 74)

suburban street, Marion, Iowa

Most of the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area, I'd wager, consists of this sort of suburban design, including garage-front houses. This block is physically walkable--the subdivision is full of fine sidewalks--but the design of the houses say people live inside and get everywhere else by motor vehicle. (The Walk Score for this area is 24 out of 100.)

9th Avenue SE, by contrast, has a Walk Score of 83. It is close to Downtown and the New Bohemia commercial district, and residents can do a lot of errands on foot or by bicycle. A better design for this block would be something like this.

600 block of 9th Avenue SE, 2012 Google Maps screenshot

That is, in fact, what the street looked like before the 2008 flood, and maybe some of the houses were too far gone to rebuild. It looks like a street one could enjoyably walk down, though.

Today, on the other side of this street is a large vacant lot full of junk. This hardly encourages walking in the neighborhood (though it is possible, as witness the sidewalk?

What the residents see out their front doors

It's been eighteen years after the flood, and this is the highest, best use of land barely a mile from the center of town? Maybe we have bigger things to worry about than what these houses look like.

ORIGINAL POST: "Snout Houses? In Oak Hill Jackson??" 16 October 2016

Navigating homeownership

 

Navigating homeownership panel (L to R):
Jennifer Pratt, Stephanie Schumacher, Matt Skogman,
Ann Roushar, Zach Kucharski

(9/23/2026) Prospective homebuyers, both first-timers and "right-sizers," heard a lot to ponder Tuesday morning at the latest edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette's Business Breakfast Series, held at the NewBo City Market. Realty, finance, and community development were represented on a panel hosted by the Gazette's Zach Kucharski. 

The single family housing market has not been impacted by the surge in data center construction workers the way the rental market has. Nevertheless, there are not enough houses available to meet demand, said Matt Skogman, vice president of sales at Skogman Homes. He estimated the currently available supply at 400 or 500 houses, about one-third of the number available 15 years ago. Average prices have jumped at the same time, so that today's new construction is smaller and on smaller lots, and need appealing features to compete with slightly older houses. It's a sellers' market: Houses may stay on the market a long time if there are issues with the specific property, said Ann Roushar of Keller-Williams realty, who is president-elect of the Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors. Even so, people are buying if the house is "ready to go."

You could just buy this house. But if you mention this blog to your agent,
we'll have you over for dinner!

Interest rates have increased, but they represent only one factor in the cost of purchasing a home, said Stephanie Schumacher, senior vice president of mortgage lending at Hills Bank. Taxes, insurance, and utilities are not included in the purchase price; moreover, the costs of transportation and groceries affect the buyer's day-to-day cost of living in a given place. (See the Center for Neighborhood Technology's interactive Housing and Transportation Index map.) She advised getting pre-approved for financing before beginning the search, and keeping the lender informed of any changes. Matt Skogman noted maintenance and utilities costs are typically higher for older homes, but they can be larger and/or located closer to the center of town, if those are important to a buyer.

City housing policy considers the entire housing "ecosystem," not just the affordability of starter homes, said Jennifer Pratt, community development and planning director for the City of Cedar Rapids. She noted any "pinch points" farther up the housing ladder create backups throughout the system, so that people can't move out of starter homes. City programs for homebuyers or developers include first-time homebuyer grants, 0% construction loans for smaller developers, tax-increment financing to help with new construction, and forgivable loans for renovations. (See a complete list here.) Our zoning ordinance now allows accessory dwelling units by right anywhere in the city. She said the city consults regularly with home builders in order to plan future utility infrastructure, trails and parks construction.

Prairie Landing subdivision, on 80 acres in NE Cedar Rapids:
Matt Skogman estimated Skogman will build it out over ten years
(Source: skogmanhomes.com)

Buying a house is a big step, particularly with increasing costs of purchasing, financing, and maintenance, even in relatively low-cost Iowa. In a small city like Cedar Rapids, an edge-of-town development like Skogman's Prairie Landing is only six miles from the NewBo City Market. In a fluid housing market, we can envision moving as our needs change. (I've owned three houses, sequentially, during my time here.) 

Even so, it's worth thinking about the long-term maintenance costs of city infrastructure as we continue building outwards, and the cumulative financial and social costs of the energy needed for all of us to get all the places we are going to need to go. There's also at events like these the unspoken assumption that everyone should be in a freestanding house. I'm not sure that's true, or should be true, that we'll manage the future without significant investment in multifamily housing.

The next event in this series will be on Tuesday, December 8, at Merge in Iowa City. Topic and panel tba.

SEE ALSO:

City housing study (October 2025)

"Metro Housing Update," 7 February 2024

"Housing Policy," 1 July 2021

Notice the new tables and chairs at the Market!

Busse Branch Library opens

 

(9/21/2026) Cedar Rapids' new west side branch library opened this weekend. I was deterred from Saturday's opening ceremonies by pelting rain, but Jane and I got ourselves there Sunday afternoon for a guided tour. The 40,000 square foot facility replaces the Ladd Library, which had been located in a former Target on Williams Boulevard.

The tours started in the staff areas, which having been library staff in the 1970s and 1980s was mildly interesting and reassuring to us...

Staff lounge

...but I was mainly there for the placemaking details, which would be in the public facing areas. A pretty decent number of people were using the library already.

Children's area, with whimsical indoor landscaping:
Trees light up, hanging lights are shaped like moths

The Busse Branch struck me as a smaller version of the downtown library, capable of providing a variety of services to west side and other metro residents. 

The Allsop Auditorium, like downtown's Beems Auditorium,
can host speakers, films, and chair yoga classes 

The meeting room, like the auditorium, is named for the Allsop family,
whose gift honors Bob Allsop, who found the Ladd Library to be a lifeline
("Welcome to the Busse Branch" 6-7)

The Opportunity Center, a popular feature of the Ladd Library, will have small group classes, and individuals can get help with job searches and other technical stuff.

Opportunity Center

Other features highlight the edge-of-town location. There are reading circles for sitting in the light either inside or outside.

Outside the windows is an outdoor reading "room" and,
soon, the Bloomhall Discovery Garden

All the windows are fitted with frits to deter bird strikes.

Frits are those dot things

The landscaping is in process...

Should look great by next summer

...but clearly the intent is to make both the facility and the grounds physically attractive.

The library is located well away from downtown, but its neighborhood is hardly suburban. Closest by are trailers and small apartments.

Excellent library access!

Beyond the immediate neighbors, access is mostly going to be by car. It's not far in any direction to the great tangle of stroads comprised of Wiley, Williams, Edgewood, and 16th. Three bus lines (8, 10, 12) run close by, and for cyclists the Edgewood Trail runs along Wiley Boulevard.

Adult non-fiction shelves

Young adult area

Reading nook

This is a great addition to the Cedar Rapids Public Library, and I anticipate it will provide great service to a wide variety of patrons. It is named for the Lavern T. and Audrey Busse Foundation, and is the second library in town to be named Busse. (Mt. Mercy University also has a Busse Library.)

SEE ALSO:

"High Hopes for New Westside Library," 20 June 2024

"New Downtown Library," 25 August 2013

Cindy Hadish, "Photos: Opening Weekend of New Cedar Rapids Public Library Busse Branch," 20 August 2026 [scroll down to see your humble blogger on a humble tour]

"Welcome to the Busse Branch," Open+, Fall 2026, pp. 6-7