{"id":126500,"date":"2021-02-03T06:29:43","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T11:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/?p=126500"},"modified":"2021-02-04T21:37:22","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T02:37:22","slug":"iowa-master-plan-aspires-to-energize-small-city-downtowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/iowa-master-plan-aspires-to-energize-small-city-downtowns\/","title":{"rendered":"Iowa master plan aspires to energize small city downtowns"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A new master plan for Davenport, Iowa, is offering a model for energizing small-city downtowns across the United States.<\/span>
Image courtesy Downtown Davenport Partnership<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Offering a model for energizing small-city downtowns across the United States, a new master plan<\/a> for Davenport, Iowa, is attracting attention from state and federal leaders drawn to its ideas for stemming brain drain and boosting livability, diversity, and urban vitality.<\/p>\n

The master plan was unanimously adopted by the city leaders last week.<\/p>\n

The new study, Davenport 2030: A Resilient City<\/em>, was commissioned \u201cto create a bold vision for how we want to see our downtown\u00a0grow over the next 10 years, specifically focused on economic\u00a0development,\u00a0placemaking, how to drive more investment, and ultimately win over the next\u00a0generation,\u201d according to the nonprofit\u00a0Downtown Davenport Partnership (DDP).<\/p>\n

DDP, a division of the\u00a0Quad Cities Chamber of\u00a0Commerce, is focused on the strategic growth and\u00a0beautification of the historic downtown Davenport. \u00a0As administrators of the downtown\u00a0Self Supporting Municipal Improvement District (SSMID), DDP provides leadership\u00a0and advocacy for downtown economic development, planning, complete streets\u00a0and clean-and-safe initiatives, events, marketing, and cultural vitality.<\/p>\n

Central to the plan is flood protection for the riverfront municipality, as well as ways to nurture its inclusive, unconventional profile among Midwestern locations, appealing to entrepreneurs and artists alike. Part of the Quad Cities metro area of Iowa and Illinois on the banks of the Mississippi River, Davenport has dealt with increasingly frequent flooding in recent years, even as its economy and population have grown.<\/p>\n

The new master plan would build on Davenport\u2019s downtown revitalization wins over recent years, which has drawn on music history, ag-tech finance companies, and the\u00a0Figge Art Museum by David Chipperfield, among other recent wins. The city has been cited for livability, affordability, and attractiveness, which the new master plan aims to improve further. New ideas in the master plan, reported in a recent\u00a0Quad-City Times<\/em><\/a>\u00a0article, include:<\/p>\n