Students who are part of two IISC projects in Dubuque this year, one focused on affordable housing and the other on alternative transportation, led a community engagement event in the city to hear directly from citizens.

Four UI graduate students combine their interests in economic development, sustainability, and transportation to create a concise plan for affordable housing in Dubuque.

Lorin Ditzler received her MS in Urban and Regional Planning from the UI in 2011. She was part of one of the earliest IISC teams during Fall 2010, working on a project in Decorah. One of her current planning projects is in Bondurant. Today, Lorin serves as associate director of Keep Iowa Beautiful and as a planner with a Des Moines-based public art consulting firm.

The Iowa Community Integrated Geography Organization (ICIGO) is a student organization that is a perennial partner for IISC. They have mapped everything from food deserts and utilities, to insects and watersheds.

Graduate students in a UI Humanities Lab course worked with the Bondurant Historic Society to produce archival research and provide documents that capture the fast-growing community's past.

Farnaz Fatahi Moghadam officially entered the School of Planning and Public Affairs this fall but has already distinguished herself.

When the University of Iowa’s Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC) visited Dubuque in early September, the day was filled with surprises. “Dubuque is an inspiring place,” says IISC director Travis Kraus. “I know we’ll be able to help the city move some of its goals forward while also learning from their innovative team.”

During the 2020-2021 academic year, the University of Iowa’s Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC) partnered with Manchester to complete 16 projects. One of these was a project undertaken by four Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) students for improvement to Shelly Park, which sits directly on the Maquoketa River. This summer, their plans were realized when the newly renovated park was officially opened.

“Unlike many Iowa communities that need to focus on smaller populations and what planners allude to as ‘shrinking smartly,’ Bondurant is in a unique situation of rapid growth,” says Travis Kraus, IISC’s director. The needs that come with this growth provide interesting challenges and learning opportunities for UI students who will work with Bondurant during the 2023-24 academic year. They will complete 15 projects and bring a wide array of academic skills to the city, including archival research, art, engineering, and planning.

I have completed more than 40 public murals around the country, though the majority are in Iowa. I’ve experienced “Iowa Nice” to be a real thing. In Clinton, the mayor drove me around and gave me a tour of the city after finishing a project there. While painting, people stop to chat and bring you cold drinks and snacks. In Webster City, the mayor had a dinner party for me, and personally installed the panels with a lift. If I’m painting in a big city, these things don’t happen—you just show up and do your job.