Density in Cedar Rapids: The Fuller Fourteen

Number 1! Census tract 18, still Linn County's densest (Source: density.website. Used without permission.)

 

The 2020 Census data are out, and while there are doubtless some anomalies in the data, it is clear that some areas of some metros are becoming more dense. The Census Bureau has a Data Viewer that makes it quick and easy to compare population density across tracts. It is interesting to compare these new data with the excellent aggregation of 2016 estimates at density.website, or with the last census at sites like this.

I used the 2016 estimates in my survey of urban neighborhoods last summer. The top five tracts by population density were (1) 18, northeast Cedar Rapids along 1st Avenue from 16th to 29th (see above); (2) 17, most of Wellington Heights on the southeast side; (3) 4, northeast of Uptown Marion; (4) 14, downtown and northeast Cedar Rapids below 16th Street; (5) 23, northwest Cedar Rapids along 1st Avenue from the railroad tracks to Edgewood Road.

These five tracts continue among the leaders based on the 2020 census, but they have some new dense friends! This table contains all the tracts with density above 4000 people per square mile. This is an arbitrary and convenient cutoff, but there is also a significant dropoff below 4000. The next highest are 3642, 3344, and 3110, so these 14 are definitely in a class by themselves.

2020 RANK	CENSUS TRACT	LOC.	2020 DENSITY	2010 DENSITY	NOTES
1	18	NE	6284.5	6043	#1 in 2016
2	17	SE	5854.0	6118	#2 in 2016
3	22	SW/NW	4907.9	3289
4	4	Marion	4800.6	4774	#3 in 2016
5	1.02	Marion	4496.1	4392	NEW! (was part of #1)
6	23	NW	4495.5	4414	#5 in 2016
7	10.02	NW	4480.3	4747	#6 in 2016
8	2.12	NE	4471.4	4222	NEW! (was part of #2.07)
9	14	NE/SE	4320.2	4465	#4 in 2016
10	10.05	SW/NW	4170.8	4221	NEW! (was part of #10.03)
11	2.09	Marion/NE	4126.3	3624	NEW! (was part of #2.03)
12	10.04	SW/NW	4062.1	3841	NEW! (was part of #10.03)
13	11.01	NW	4055.0	3731
14	19	NE/SE	4023.3	4308	#7 in 2016

Do I wish there were only twelve such tracts, so I could refer to them as the Dense Dozen? Yes, reader, I confess I do.

Number three! Census tract 22 is storming up the charts (Source: density.website. Used without permission.)

Five of the "Fuller Fourteen" are newly-created by the Census Bureau for 2020, but it is possible to compare them with the same area in 2010. 

Three tracts stand out for high levels of growth/densification, none moreso than #22 across the river from downtown, which includes the burgeoning Kingston Village area with its condos and row houses. Its 2010 status reflected heavy flood damage two years earlier. It grew by nearly 50 percent over the decade, rising from the depths to land on third place on the list. It is also tied for third in the county in diversity, according to USA Today's Diversity Index. Also growing fast are the newly-created #2.09 east of C Avenue NE between Boyson and Robins Roads crossing into Marion (+13.9%) and #11.01 east of Edgewood Road NW between F and O Avenues (+8.7%). Notably quite a few of Cedar Rapids' fastest growing census tracts are on the west side, as are its most racially diverse tracts.

New condo development in tract 22

Some areas remain on the density charts despite losing population over the decade. Tract #19, including downtown and some of the MedQuarter and the Moundview neighborhood lost 6.6 percent of its population and fell seven notches on the density countdown; tract #17, including the Wellington Heights neighborhood and some blocks to the east, lost 4.5 percent of its population but remains the second-densest tract. Based on the intermediate numbers from density.website, the losses in #17 occurred early in the decade and it has grown somewhat since then; the losses in #19 have occurred since the 2016 estimates. I live in tract #17 and work and go to church in #19, so I hope it wasn't anything I said!

Some degree of density is key to a walkable neighborhood, because you have to have the numbers to support schools, stores, and other destinations within walking distance, as well as reasonable public transit. Density doesn't necessarily mean crowded, nor does it necessarily mean walkable.

Walk Score doesn't assign values to census tracts, and the scores are highly sensitive to specific location. For example, my friend Phillip and I both live in census tract #17, nine blocks apart; the Walk Score for his address is 75, whereas mine is 30. Nevertheless it's clear that walkability in densely-populated core neighborhoods is higher than that in more outlying areas even as those areas get more densely-populated.

Tract #18     43, 77

Tract #17     30, 75

Tract #22     62, 75

Tract #2.09   5, 37

Tract #11.01 8, 14

We can only hope that as density increases, the infrastructure and services needed for walkability will follow.

What this lacks is an explanation for why particular tracts are getting more or less dense. This is something we can explore in future posts.

SEE ALSO: Peyton Chung, "Which Neighborhood in Greater Washington Has the Highest Density? Hint: It's Not in D.C." Greater Greater Washington, 20 August 2021

Weird census outcome: Jefferson County, Iowa

 

Fairfield town square, 2019

When my friends and I visited Fairfield two summers ago, I was intrigued by the area's ability to buck the trend of depopulating small town Iowa (and much of the rest of America as well). At the time, based on census estimates, Jefferson County was one of seven Iowa counties that was growing faster in the 2010s than the United States as a whole. The other six were around Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, the state's two largest metropolitan areas.

Come the 2020 census data, released this summer, and the picture is about the same, with six counties growing faster than the United States' growth rate of 7.4 percent for the decade:

1. Dallas (west of Des Moines) + 50.7%
2. Johnson (Iowa City, south of Cedar Rapids) + 16.8%
3. Polk (Des Moines) + 14.3%
4. Warren (south of Des Moines) + 13.4%
5. Story (Ames, north of Des Moines) + 10.0%
6. Linn (Cedar Rapids) +9.0%

Missing from the list? Jefferson County. Incomprehensibly, it shows at 7.0 percent drop for the decade, making Iowa's seventh biggest loss for a county.

The annual Census estimates for Jefferson County show steady growth through the decade:

YEAR	POPULATION
2010 census	16,843
2011 est	17,096
2012 est	17,278
2013 est	17,629
2014 est	17,793
2015 est	17,906
2016 est	18,063
2017 est	18,219
2018 est	18,256
2019 est	18,295
2020 census	15,663

Based on those estimates, I confidently predicted in 2019 that "In 2020 it will surely break its census record; the previous mark of 17,839 was set in... 1870!" Instead, we're looking at the lowest figure since 1890. 

Barring a sudden mass exodus from Fairfield, or a boycott of the census by its residents, I can provide no reasonable explanation for this. I've reached out to my Fairfield contact to see if there's been any local response.

Jefferson County aside, the largest population increases among rural counties in Iowa are Sioux (6.4%) and Dickinson (6.2%) in the northwest Iowa Great Lakes region, followed by Marion (5.5%) and Clarke (5.0%), which are south of Des Moines. Southwest Iowa suffered the broadest population losses--far southwest Fremont County lost 11.2 percent--with the northern third of Iowa away from the Missouri River mostly negative as well.

SEE ALSO: "Small Towns, Rural Areas, and State Legislatures," 11 June 2019

Cemar Trail progress!

 

Trail connects to 33rd St Dr SE near 3rd Av

Laozi, who may or may not have actually existed, may or may not have said that "A journey to Marion begins with a single step." You can now take that step on the southeast Cedar Rapids portion of the CeMar Trail! (See the route on the Linn Country Trails map here.)

Crossing 32nd St Dr SE
(32nd St Dr is not to be confused with 32nd St SE, which is 
in a completely different part of town)

Approaching Raining Rose.
Who can cling to a raining rose?

The Cemar Trail will eventually--LCTA estimate is 2023--connect to a long-standing trail through Marion, and will arguably make the bike trip between the downtowns faster than the car trip. 

Approaching 1st Avenue and 30th St Drive SE

You can go under this bridge, but you can't go through it... yet. 

When the bridge under 1st Avenue is open, you can ride all the way to Cedar Lake (with some on-street bike lanes as you approach the lake.) Eventually, the connections will lead all the way to the Mississippi River!

SEE ALSO:

"Trails Opened, Trails in the Works, and Other Corridor Biking News," 1 November 2018

Kea Wilson, "Protected Bike Paths Saved Lives During COVID," Streetsblog USA, 10 August 2021

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