Students from the Urban and Regional Planning Department completed a housing plan for Sioux City, IA with the main goal of coordinating reinvestment in distressed areas.

This project focused on the Leeds Neighborhood, located in northeast Sioux City. The commercial corridor within this neighborhood serves as the northeast entryway into Sioux City. The corridor contains a mixture of small retail stores, restaurants, and service establishments that serve the local neighborhood. As new national brand commercial developments continue to develop to the south of the Leeds neighborhood, the future character of its commercial corridor has been called into question. Students from the Urban & Regional Planning Dept.

Graduate students in the School of Urban and Regional Planning conducted a project that aided Sioux City in fulfilling its recently-designated Blue Zones ProjectTM requirement of developing an active transportation plan.

Student in the School of Urban and Regional Planning conducted a project that evaluated the workforce of Cedar Rapids and determined the gap between supply and demand for quality workers. Students sought to understand the reasons for both attracting and retaining new workers.

Students in the School of Urban and Regional Planning conducted research on best practices for creation of a SSMID for Cedar Rapids, IA. Students held public meetings and worked with CV/NB Main Street staff to acquire the necessary support to pass a SSMID.

Students analyzed a land use plan against development in the northeast section of the city, and, where appropriate, enhanced the concepts contained in the plan.

The City of Muscatine has, in the past, encouraged commercial development in the northeast section of the city. In preparation of the development, Snyder and Associates created a land use and infrastructure plan, which the city implemented. Now, after city and private investment that resulted in parcels being developed, there is a desire to revisit the original land use and infrastructure plan.

As part of the Senior Design Capstone Course of the  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the students had the opportunity to complete a site design for the Center Complex and the structural design of the Welcome Center for the city of Muscatine. The students coordinated with the City in the building design specifications so it is capable of hosting all the desired programs envisioned by interested parties.

Students surveyed best practices of community riverfront redevelopment efforts similar to what was being looked at for the redevelopment of the section of the Mississippi River in Muscatine. The students solicited community input to identify the best uses for the land, ultimately producing a plan for the riverfront.

Students developed four design alternatives for the South Port in that were in line with the sustainable vision of Dubuque and based upon significant community input. 

Following the redevelopment of the North Port, city officials in Dubuque wanted to identify improvements for the South Port, which is comprised of 33 acres of semi-industrial land.

Students studied factors that affect a household's locational choice and developed seven recommendations for the City of Dubuque to fulfill its vision of creating a choice of livable neighborhoods and opportunities would attract and retain households, especially young professionals and families.

Students combined geophysical-based renewable energy capacity mapping with return on investment to evaluate how renewable energy can impact Dubuque's sustainability vision.

In order to sustain growth and demand for energy, the City of Dubuque was interested in developing policies for economic development that incorporated renewable energy.

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.