Iowa Ideas conference 2024

 

 

A vigorous exchange of ideas about public issues characterized the panels I virtually attended at this year's Iowa Ideas conference organized by the Cedar Rapids Gazette. It's the ninth edition of the conference, but my first. Previously classes or professional travel kept me away; our obscenely summer-like weather almost kept me away this year, but after a day trip to Backbone State Park I eventually showed up to three panels. All were in the Economic and Community Development track.

Backbone Lake during the Iowa Ideas conference

1. The Future of Public Transit

Participants:

Nate Asplund, Railroad Development Corporation

Mike Barnhart, Horizons Family Services

Darian Nagle Grimm AICP, Iowa City Transit

Cindy Gerlach and David Lee for the Gazette

Iowa City is trying a more ridership-oriented approach to their bus service. Nagle Grimm said they have tried to make service faster, more frequent, and more reliable; coordinated operations with the neighboring city of Coralville; begun a two-year fare-free experiment; and improved comfort and lighting at bus stops. She said ridership has increased 43 percent, or about 500,000 rides, since August 2023. which has required more buses as well as making up the (only) ten percent of system revenue that came from fares.

Iowa City's Court Street Transportation Center connects
several bus lines (Google Earth screenshot)

Asked "what you want Iowans to know" about transit, Nagle Grimm said we can no longer depend entirely on personal vehicles due to "unintended consequences" (readers of this blog will not require elaboration), so we need to "invest in a true multimodal system." Barnhart noted ongoing unmet needs of rural residents and suburban seniors. Asplund, hoping for a return to commuter train service, said bicycles and trains go together "like Reese's Peanut Butter Cup," which I think means that trains can extend the reach of cycle commuting while bicycles solve the last mile problem.

2. New Life in Old Buildings

Participants:

Pete Franks, The Franks Design, Glenwood IA

Jordan Sellergren, Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission

Heather Wagner, Eastern Iowa Arts Academy

Megan Woolard and Brian Shewry for the Gazette

This panel was made up of an architect, a preservation advocate, and someone planning a move into a century-old school, so nice things were said about historic preservation. Wagner cited the benefits of allowing compact development, less consumption of new materials, and lower upfront costs. Franks added that maintaining familiar buildings increases people's connection to and pride in their communities, helping to counteract the widely-touted epidemic of loneliness. Of course, as Franks pointed out, buildings can be degraded to the point that it not economically feasible to salvage them, and not all building uses can be quickly exchanged. (He notes firehouses make great restaurants, though.)

Arthur School (1914), seen from the parking lot of
Trailside School (2024)

The panelists discussed the public in largely supportive contexts. They understand the value of older buildings, and sometimes have a personal association. Wagner mentioned one man who wanted to be reassured that the cafeteria mural he'd helped paint would still be there. (Yes.) On the other hand, public support for Wagner's Eastern Iowa Arts Academy to renovate and move into the former Arthur Elementary School was predicated on it not being housing or retail. Good luck solving the housing crisis, or reintroducing walkability, with those attitudes.

3. Collaborative Economic Development

Participants: 

Nancy Bird, Greater Iowa City Inc

Stephen J. Van Steenhuyse AICP, City of Mason City

Jill WIlkins, NewBoCo

Megan Woolard and Eric Caldwell for the Gazette

The three panelists from different worlds had remarkably similar views on the subject of collaboration in economic development. Van Steenhuyse from city government said government couldn't "do it all," so relied on partnership with business and other organizations; Wilkins from the nonprofit world said their operation relied on partnerships with city governments, chambers of commerce, businesses, and school districts; and Bird from a business group said "economic development is naturally collaborative." The unstated assumptions were that there is some activity called economic development which is separate from the growth of specific businesses, and that this activity was done collectively and cooperatively.

Mason City's Historic Park Inn dates from 1910,
and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
(from their website)

Moderator Woolard asked in several ways about what made collaboration successful, which brought out another characteristic, which is that the activity is done intentionally. Bird started by stressing clear goals and identification of stakeholders. Wilkins talked about inclusiveness and openness in defining the set of stakeholders. Van Steenhuyse talked about commitment to the action or goal, while regretting that Mason City lacks a clearly-defined coordinating leader like Greater Iowa City.

Talking downtown retail

 

Two years ago, at another one of the Gazette's invaluable Business Breakfasts, Andy Schumacher noted that when his restaurant Cobble Hill opened in 2013, he noticed that downtown office workers went home at 5 and that only sometimes would another crowd come downtown to replace them in the evening. He thought that more housing, at a variety of price points, might help to generate the round-the-clock buzz of a 24-hour downtown.

I thought about Andy's comment this morning, when we gathered to hear another panel talk downtowns in the Geonetric Building cafe. While today's speakers were focused on the retail sector, on this post-Euclidean blog, retail establishments are one element of a diverse neighborhood ecosystem. Context matters. "We're all in this together," as Red Green used to say. 

Today's panel (L to R): 
Tasha Lard (Iowa City South District SSMID), Teresa Jensen (Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust), Deanna Trumbull (Iowa River Landing), Mark Seckman (Marion Economic Development Corporation), Betsy Potter (Iowa City Downtown District)

Moderator Zach Kucharski, executive editor of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, began by asking panelists what was working. There was a variety of good news to report: downtown Iowa City has filled all available retail space; Uptown Marion has a "coolness" that's attracting retail stores and restaurants; Iowa River Landing in Coralville is enjoying "great" traffic and sales; the city government in Cedar Rapids is working with downtown businesses to increase customer traffic; and the new South District in Iowa City is promoting and creating opportunities. Both Tasha Lard from the South District and Mark Seckman from Marion celebrated their working relationships with their cities' governments.

The retailers' concerns included needing space to grow (downtown Iowa City), persistently high interest rates, finding workers, the ongoing competition from online retailers, and in some cases shop owners' unhelpful closing hours. When Zach Kucharski asked about the importance of amenities, parking came up high on the list of customer concerns. The "place making" model of Iowa River Landing does anticipate visitors will park once and walk around the area, and downtown Iowa City has an unusual situation adjacent to the University of Iowa campus. Still, everyone had something to say about parking.

Kucharski's question about amenities had offered parking, events, and housing as examples. There were a number of successful events mentioned, Marion celebrated their new public library building and renovated central park, and Teresa Jensen brought a list of suggestions for downtown Cedar Rapids: redoing the 2nd Avenue bridge, occasionally closing 3rd Street, widening variety of live music, coworking spaces, food trucks, and more murals. Nobody talked about housing.

Teresa Jensen responds to a question from moderator Zach Kucharski

Which brings us back to Adam Schumacher's comment from two years ago. While a number of panelists did talk about "24/7" retail areas, and working to appeal to different crowds at different times of the day, pretty much everyone took their working environment as external, something beyond their control. As a result, with the exception of Iowa City's campus-adjacent downtown, retailers were focused on bringing in visitors from elsewhere in their cities--hence the need for parking and big one-off events. 

To be fair, the panelists mostly represented support organizations with little if any power even over types of stores or closing hours, much less their cities' land use and housing policies. Any influence they do possess is persuasive, through conversations with entrepreneurs, city officials, and citizen-shoppers. Still, they could be using those conversations to promote the type of urban context in which local businesses could be sustainably thriving. (Continuing to be fair, I was not able to ask the panelists about this; their answers could have been illuminating, and I surely owe each of them a shot at a guest appearance on Holy Mountain.)

A 24-hour downtown area that mixes retail, office, entertainment, and residential uses is the most economically, environmentally and fiscally resilient approach. Parking is a game at which you never can win, because unless we want to become a nation of big-box stores and strip malls, the appetite for more parking spaces is insatiable (cf. Grabar 2023)--like the candy the witch gave the boy in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. The core of Cedar Rapids is replete with surface parking, such that one can walk from the Geonetric Building to Coe College through parking lots. (This is actually true--I've done it.) And while Betsy Potter from Iowa City suggested "parking education" might be a way to mitigate this insatiable demand, one engages in that at one's own risk.

Downtown Cedar Rapids may have 99 problems, but insufficient parking is not one
(parking areas in red; screen shot of project by former Coe College student)

A 24-hour downtown has vibe that hasn't been killed by swaths of parking. Many of your customers are right there, pretty much all the time, so you don't have to lure them in with events or hope that enough of them are in the mood today to get in their cars and "go shopping." A store I can walk to, especially one that sells the necessities of life, is part of my neighborhood, to which I have more connection than some website. Stores we don't have to drive to are stores at which we don't have to find parking, a load off our minds as well as a load off the city streetscape.

But Cedar Rapids, Coralville, and Marion, and even much of Iowa City, are far from being this sort of town. A lot has to change, both physically and psychologically. In the meantime, retailers and those who support them have to operate in the towns we have built over the last 75 years. I understand that. Whether you're in sales or politics, you have to be responsive to public demand, which is largely shaped by how people have learned to navigate the world as it is. But some gentle nudges in the right direction would serve us all well.

The next Business Breakfast will be in Iowa City on July 9; they return to Cedar Rapids September 10.

Book Review: Co-Crafting the Just City

 

James A. Throgmorton, Co-Crafting the Just City: Tales from the Field by a Planning Scholar Turned Mayor (Routledge, 2022).

Yuval Levin, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a former aide to Newt Gingrich and George W. Bush, gave a talk to the Bipartisan Policy Council this week previewing the next Congress which very likely will have one if not both houses under Republican control. Levin's talk was based on his 2013 book, The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left [Basic Books], which argues that Burke's and Paine's responses to 18th century monarchy define contemporary political divides. A lot got lost in the space-time continuum, particularly how the party of Trump can cast itself as the defender of institutions--see Gardner and Arnsdorf 2022, any account of the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, or for that matter Waldman 2014--but it was possibly helpful in understanding contemporary conservatives' self-image.

So it was refreshing to pick up the memoir of James A. Throgmorton, who served as mayor of Iowa City from 2016-2019. Even on that island of leftism in our state, Throgmorton and his allies on the City Council were not blowing up the city's institutions in the name of liberation, but rather trying to extend the promises of those institutions more inclusively: When I was mayor in Iowa City, the vision of fostering a more inclusive, just, and sustainable city acted as my "north star," and, to move in that direction, we took actions to reduce race-related inequities, increase the supply of affordable housing, adopt an ambitious climate action plan, improve relationships between city government and diverse marginalized communities, pursue more inclusive and sustainable land development codes/policies, and more (3). Nothing got smashed... no one got beheaded!

James A. Throgmorton and friends, from sppa.uiowa.edu

After an introductory chapter discussing his background and presenting his approach to the book, Throgmorton takes us year by year through his seven years on the City Council in the 2010s. He covers policy issues as well as details of the life of a Council member. Along the way, he explains his frustration with what he sees as a more managerial culture on the Council; he made it his mission to use his position to try to make the city more "just," and eventually found the capacity to encourage allies to run for and win a Council majority. The chapters are well-enough organized that neither the broad coverage nor the important details get overwhelming. His habit of referring to others involved in Iowa City politics by their first name and last initial (Rockne C., John T., Mazahir S.) is odd and gets distracting, although I myself frequently do it in correspondence.

In his quest towards the just city, Throgmorton focuses on city design issues--understandable for a planner--particularly increasing the population density of the downtown area, and on racial equity and inclusion. In his first two years on the City Council, "None of the economic development efforts [undertaken] focused on improving the lives of Iowa City's lower-income residents, especially those who were black" (54), yet Iowa City was not exempt from the wave of awareness that blacks around the country have less and encounter the police more and differently. 

Here Throgmorton clearly identifies an "oppressed" group for which the police department and a lot of other institutions clearly are not working. Yet, consistently, his response and those of his allies on the Council is not to smash the institution but to reform it, or to attempt to ameliorate racial disparities. In 2014, amid protests against the shooting of Michael Brown in Missouri, and release of a study clearly showing racial disparities in Iowa City's own police practices, Throgmorton argues to the city council for a three-pronged approach: (1) build stronger bonds based on mutual trust (between City government and the city's black community); (2) address the deeper inequities in education, employment, income, housing, incarceration, and so on presented in the equity director's two reports; and (3) devise programs that could potentially be funded with revenues generated by a revised [local option sales tax] (102).

Not revolutionary stuff. After he became mayor in 2016, there were more grants for affordable housing, the police are encouraged to further reduce disproportionality in contacts with blacks and whites, and five city departments tried out a Racial and Socioeconomic Equity Toolkit (133). A 2018 meeting with a group of black mothers yielded more suggestions:

First, there is not much for kids to do in Iowa City to stay out of trouble, regardless of color. he City could provide a place black youth could go for structured activities other than the City's two large recreation centers. Second, the place and activities would have to be well-managed, with on-site guidance and leadership being provided by African-American residents who would be part-time employees of the City. Third, the City could work with leaders in the black community and faculty at the university and Kirkwood Community College to help black youth gain a deeper understanding of African-American history. And fourth, the City could help small or new community organizations learn how to write successful grant applications. (152)

All this is much more Burke than Paine, assuming we can translate Paine's attitudes toward the 18th century British and French monarchies into 21st century civil rights policy. Moreover, Throgmorton's most consistent adversaries are defined, not by ideologies hearkening back to debates over the monarchy, but "neoliberal 'Boomtown' advocates (a.k.a. the growth machine)" at the local level, as well as "the conservative Christian, ethno-nationalist, free-market fundamentalist regimes that dominated state and federal government" (192). Does he contradict himself? I don't think so. The political manifestation of conservatism in America today is an awkward mix of "rigid orthodoxy for them, unbridled liberation for us," which neither sounds remotely like Burke nor acknowledges human sinfulness. There's a lot of short-term political advantage in it, too (see Rampell 2022).

To be fair, Throgmorton's book is about local government, which has for a long time been more pragmatically-focused than the national politics Levin describes (see Barber 2013). In his concluding chapter, Throgmorton describes the hard work required of a local mayor or council member, and the level of knowledge required, particularly to be a change agent (192-199). The pace of change makes it a long game, while the electoral cycle is short (199-204). The concept of "co-crafting" (207) acknowledges any city's complexity, the limited power of any individual to effect change, and the collaborative nature of any policy effort. Like Strong Towns' Chuck Marohn, Throgmorton does not cite Burke but shares his ambivalence towards easy fast answers.

P.S.--Throgmorton's account of politics in Iowa City during the 2010s is thorough and reflective, with lessons for citizens and practitioners everywhere, and so we can forgive his overlooking arguably the most galvanic night of June 30, 2015 (see also Cole 2015).

Iowa Downtown Conference 2021

Exhibitors in the basement of the Graduate Hotel

Tuesday, August 3

"Remember to excel," was the advice to downtown officials and volunteers from across Iowa from Randy Wilson. Wilson, of South Carolina-based Community Design solutions, gave the keynote address to get the Iowa Downtown Conference started in earnest Tuesday morning. The address was given in the historic (1912) and beautifully restored Englert Theater in downtown Iowa City; the conference was put on by the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

Looking good! Englert Theater, Iowa City

Wilson reminded those in attendance of the critical importance of first impressions. People start forming impressions of each other within three seconds of meeting, he said, and that's probably true of places as well. To sustain our efforts to build great places, he urged "the power of remembrance" (celebrating and recording successes accomplished) and "the power of excellence" (neither getting too complacent nor too frustrated, while engaging as many people in the community as possible). He talked about how his work in Lake City, South Carolina (pop. 7000), contributed to a nine-day art festival called Artfields that started by reaching out to schoolchildren. I really appreciated Wilson's emphasis on inclusion; it separates the notion of a common life that aminates this blog from purely economic development.

Wilson was preceded at the microphone by Debi Durham, executive director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, who celebrated resilience and successful placemaking projects that had occurred despite the bizarre nature of the past year. She reminded downtown advocates to "tell those stories." There were also heartfelt welcomes from the city, the downtown business association, and the theater itself.

Back at the Graduate Hotel, where most of the conference took place, Ian Thomas of America Walks argued for walkability as the key "to boost economic vitality, social connection, and overall enjoyment in your town" (originally it was "in small towns"). Walkers need, or at least are encouraged by: safety, comfort, connectivity, accessibility and inclusivity, multi-functionality (not just "moving cars as quickly as possible"), and sense of place. These can be achieved by, for example, trees, bumpouts, mid-block crossings, sharrows (gulp!) and bike racks, seating, a public plaza, and the presence of people. He made additional comments on specific elements of each part of the streetscape, the need for community vision, and the successful case of Batesville, Arkansas (pop. 10,000), as well as using this video to commend "walk audits." Your humble blogger correctly answered two of his questions with "road diet" and "bike lanes," and also asked the first audience question; he is glad the Iowa Downtown Conference is friendlier than junior high school, or he would be writing this post from a toilet bowl.

Ian Thomas

(My question had to do with how cooperative was the Arkansas Department of Transportation with the Batesville realignment; apparently they were quite cooperative. A few years ago Iowa's Department of Transportation seemed even more amenable to road diets than some of the affected towns were.)

Other panels I attended:

• "Jefferson's Secret Sauce: Public-Private Partnerships": Chris Deal of Modus Engineering described cooperation on business recruitment, school financing, and downtown building rehabs. Interestingly, in the cases of the downtown buildings, the city was able to use ordinances to force neglectful owners to sell them the buildings for nominal amounts. Government financial aid (loans, grants, tax credits) can be mind-boggling; is this functional? necessary? One project they did used nine separate government financing sources. They referred to a "stack... like a lasagna."
• "Thinking About Main Street?" with Michael Wagler of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Cedar Rapids made that call 12 years ago, but I wasn't part of that, so it was interesting to think about the decision to sign up. Wagler said Main Street is distinguished by a process- rather than a project-based approach, so there's more continuity, transformation strategy with a lot of services/assistance, and accessible/accountable outcomes both quantitative and qualitative.

Outside the Graduate:
This is an amazing mural, but I'm not crazy about the walkway

Wednesday, August 4

The highlights of today were two walking tours. 

"Mixed Use Development in Existing Spaces" was hosted by architects Nick Lindsley and Nathan Griffith of Neumann Monson. They showed off two of their recent projects around the corner from the hotel on the ped mall.

118 E. College Street was built in 1899, and most recently was Vito's Bar. It is a narrow deep space that required a lot of undoing. They also returned a cornice and façade detail, although not exactly the same as they had been back in the day.

The ground floor has retail, with windows expanded.

They added open space to allow light within the building.

109-127 E. College Street is a set of three buildings that predate 1910. Additions to the back made in 1929 have been demolished to make room for a new 11-story building with 102 apartments, the rent from which is paying for the other renovations.

Building one

Building two; Riverside Theater will occupy the third floor

Building three

Rear view

What's being built

Ready to tour

"Placemaking" was hosted by Betsy Potter of the Iowa City Downtown District, focusing on efforts from the last six years. We saw some of the finishing touches the Downtown District has pursued.

"The Loop" is a temporary exhibit filling what had been a dead space

Ping-pong table nearby

Looping

Alley art and sign extension (previously illegal)

A block of North Linn Street has been closed for public seating that is eagerly serviced by nearby restaurants. 

I wish we could have done something like that here.

Coming soon: shade for this playground!

Next year's conference is in Pella. I will probably stay overnight and participate in evening networking activities, which I did not do this year. You should definitely subscribe to this blog, so you won't accidentally miss the coverage!

A brief word about transportation

I was able to use public transportation to get to and from the conference. Cedar Rapids's #2 line stops a block from my house, and the 380 Express took me from Cedar Rapids's ground transportation center to Iowa City's, which in turn is two blocks from the Graduate Hotel. The routes are more circuitous than I would have chosen, but otherwise riding was carefree, and the total financial outlay for two days was $7.00 (with the senior discount). The 380 Express has WiFi, which worked three of the four times I rode