Iowa City is already a great place to live. But great cities are never really finished.
So here are five ideas that I think could make Iowa City more interesting, more connected, and even better to live in.
1. Expand the Ped Mall
The Iowa City Pedestrian Mall is one of our city’s greatest assets (drop the mic). Instead of treating it like a completed project, why not view it as the beginning of a larger pedestrian-centered downtown?
I’m not suggesting we ban cars from the entire city center. But we could identify another block or two that could become pedestrian-only, seasonally closed, or designed as a shared street where people—not vehicles—have priority.
Yes, people will fight over the loss of a few dozen parking spaces (duh, we love our cars). Parking may be Iowa City’s most cherished natural resource.
But a handful of street spaces are not making or breaking downtown. Iowa City’s parking ramps already offer the first hour free, and Iowa City Transit remains fare-free. I ride the bus downtown regularly—it's easier and free, why not!?
Downtown businesses could also jointly operate a valet service during evenings and major events. Instead of every restaurant solving parking independently, the district could solve it collectively (this idea is huge, the opportunity here is real).
The result could be more outdoor dining, public seating, trees, markets, performances, and space for people to simply gather. The Ped Mall works because it creates an experience. Let’s create more of it—starting right where it currently stops, the corner of E. Washington and N. Dubuque.
2. Give More Neighborhoods a Center
Many Iowa City neighborhoods are almost entirely residential. You can live there, but you still have to get into your car to buy coffee, meet someone for lunch, pick up a few groceries, or take a child to daycare.
We should encourage small mixed-use centers within more neighborhoods.
Think less “shopping center” and more neighborhood coffee shop, bakery, daycare, corner market, restaurant, salon, or small professional office. These businesses create places where neighbors naturally meet one another.
Not every commercial use belongs in every neighborhood. Nobody is requesting a tire warehouse between two houses. But appropriately scaled businesses can make neighborhoods feel more complete and more connected.
This also fits the direction Iowa City is already considering. The City’s strategic plan calls for compact neighborhoods with diverse housing types and land uses.
New neighborhoods should be planned with these centers from the beginning. Existing neighborhoods should have a reasonable path for adding them when the location, design, and surrounding streets make sense. Mixed-use isn't just for new neighborhoods, we should incorporate it into existing too.
A neighborhood should be more than a collection of roofs. It should have a heart. How to help attract and encourage more light commercial? More on that below, see "5".
3. Use More Roundabouts—Where They Make Sense
Roundabouts are not appropriate for every intersection, but Iowa City should consider them more frequently as streets are rebuilt...and new neighborhoods are developed.
They can keep traffic moving without forcing drivers to sit at a red light when no one else is coming. More importantly, they slow vehicles and reduce the number of places where cars can collide at dangerous angles.
Roundabouts are sometimes unpopular when first introduced because Americans approach them like an advanced calculus exam. After people become accustomed to them, they generally work. The key is using them strategically.
Intersections with recurring crashes, unnecessary delays, or growing traffic should be studied for roundabouts before another traffic light is automatically installed. Smaller neighborhood roundabouts could also be used to slow traffic and create landscaped gateways into different parts of the city.
This isn’t about adding circular concrete everywhere. It is about designing intersections that are safer, more efficient, and hopefully a little more attractive.
4. Make Infill Easier
Before Iowa City continues expanding outward, we should make better use of the land and infrastructure we already have.
There are vacant lots, oversized parking areas, underused commercial properties, and small development gaps throughout the city. These spaces could accommodate housing, shops, offices, townhomes, or mixed-use buildings without requiring another extension of roads, sewers, and city services.
The problem is that infill is often harder and more expensive than building on untouched land. Small sites can involve demolition, unusual lot dimensions, environmental issues, neighborhood opposition, and more complicated construction.
The city should help offset those challenges. That could include streamlined approvals, reduced parking requirements (huge), flexible zoning, permit assistance, temporary tax abatements, or grants for infrastructure and environmental cleanup.
Infill should still respect the scale and character of the surrounding neighborhood. But “respecting character” should not mean freezing every neighborhood in time.
The right infill project fills a physical gap while adding housing, businesses, customers, and tax value to an area that already has streets and services.
5. Reward Properties That Improve the Community
Iowa City should expand incentives for homeowners and businesses that visibly improve aging properties and commercial areas.
That could include matching grants or temporary tax abatements for projects that restore historic buildings, renovate vacant storefronts, improve accessibility, add upper-story housing, replace deteriorating façades, increase energy efficiency, or transform unattractive commercial properties.
The incentive should be connected to a measurable public benefit. This is not about giving every business owner a tax break for installing expensive countertops in a private office. It is about rewarding investments that improve the street, preserve a building, create housing, strengthen a neighborhood, or bring an empty property back into productive use.
The city already offers certain rehabilitation grants and tax incentives, but they are limited by geography, funding, and eligibility. Why not create a broader and more visible program? Iowa City often spends heavily when a property or district has already deteriorated. A smarter strategy may be encouraging owners to reinvest before decline becomes a larger public problem.
An example of a city that used targeted tax abatements and matching grants with huge success is Cincinnati. Sometimes the best way to generate more tax revenue in the future is to give a little up in the short term. If a project doesn't get built, there's nothing new to tax. The goal is to be on the future--even if that means accepting a short-term loss.
None of these ideas require Iowa City to reinvent itself. They build upon what already makes the city work: a strong downtown, distinct neighborhoods, historic architecture, public transportation, local businesses, and residents who care—sometimes very loudly—about what happens here. That passion is a good thing.
But preserving what we love about Iowa City cannot mean refusing to let it change. The goal should be thoughtful growth: filling gaps, improving streets, supporting local businesses, and creating more places where people naturally come together. Great cities are not preserved in amber...they are continuously improved.
