In order to meet the needs of Burlington's vision to enhance the downtown, students in the School of Urban and Regional Planning completed a market analysis for adaptive reuse of a historic building while also developing an overall plan for encouraging private sector development in partnership with a local non-profit.

Students in the School of Urban and Regional Planning gave four recommendations to the City of Iowa City and the Iowa City Downtown District about waste management in local alleyways in order to increase the use of the sustainability potential of these areas.