The Iowa City Downtown District is a story in of itself, a place steeped in local flavor and history, alive with participatory art and music, a living room to the University of Iowa, a home to literary giants, and an extraordinary community experience. We’re more than just great shopping and restaurants. If you’ve never been, you should be here.
News & Entertainment
Downtown Lunch Show Summer Kick-off!
The summer start of the KCJJ Friday Downtown Lunch Show has started! The Downtown Lunch Show with KCJJ will be held every Friday from 12pm to 1pm, sponsored by the ICDD and the City of Iowa City. This week, Jim Mondanaro will host at the Downtown Mondo's Saloon. At this week's program special guests Wendy Ford from the City of Iowa City will discuss the Building Change Program and John Engelbrecht will unveil the BenchMarks 2.0 final ideas. ICDD businesses interested in hosting future Friday lunch show should contact the ICDD at info@downtowniowacity.com
"Biker's Paradise": Flat as a Pancake
Bike Score from the popular Walk Score website has now released the new rankings for "most bikeable" cities. In their rankings, which were released to coincide with National Bike to Work Week, Iowa City received eighth "most bikeable" city under medium sized cities with a score of 77.1 out of 100. For the first time ever, the Bike Score team also scored individual neighborhoods. In Iowa City, Downtown Iowa City was found to be the "most bikeable", receiving a 95 out of 100 points. The Bike Score methodology ranks locations based on four equally weighted components: Bike lanes, hills, destinations and road connectivity, bike commuting mode share. To see the Bike Score in your neighborhood visit Bikescore.com
Downtown Ambassadors on the Streets
The ICDD has partnered with the City of Iowa City to launch the Downtown Ambassador Program, which will welcome and ensure guests and community members feel invited and safe Downtown. Downtown Ambassadors interact with business owners, help maintain and keep Downtown clean by providing litter removal, and work with the Downtown beat police officer on safety concerns. Check out the story on KGAN.
Litter Prevention Campaign
Cigarette litter has been an ongoing and increasing problem for our downtown businesses. The ICDD has responded to this issue by applying and winning a Keep America Beautiful Cigarette Litter Prevention grant. The grant will go towards a public information campaign about littering and ash receptacles at key transition points throughout the District.
Building Change Grant Recipients Announced
Through the Building Change program, the City of Iowa City offered incentives to upgrade buildings Downtown and in the Northside Marketplace. The City of Iowa City received 16 proposals for the Building Change Program in March 2013, for a total of more than $1.3 million in improvements to downtown buildings. A committee of staff from Economic Development, Community Development, Urban Planning and Housing & Inspection Services reviewed the applications and determined that eight proposals were eligible and could be funded in this first round. Check out the 2013 grant recipients!
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