Iowa City Comprehensive Plan Analysis

The Iowa City Comprehensive Plan reproduces a vision for the future of the community along with their policies and strategies for long-term goals. The results of the Plan are substantial for the quality of life of the population, given that they reflect directly in the opportunity for development and growth. Moreover, the community was engaged to participate in the process of the “Iowa City 2030” (IC2030), the opinion of the population and business owners were the main point to revise the 1997 Plan. The idea was to make the Iowa City a stronger community, focusing on the social sustainability. The Plan involves three different long-term factors: the economic, environmental and social aspects. The factors correlated can enhance the quality of

Moreover, it describes the planning process, guide the community how to achieve the goals and list principles to maximize the conditions for the community continue growing. The IC2030 shows the population profile of Iowa City and how it is responding to the loss of population in the Midwest rural areas; with surprise numbers, Iowa City keeps growing. According to the 2010 Census, Iowa City faced an increase of 9.1% in comparison with the 2000 Census. The indicators show an increase in population between 18 and 24, which is expected number given that the city contains a level of the higher education population. However, an indicator present that Iowa City is facing a declined in population between 35 and 54 years old, which demonstrate weakness. One of the incentives that should be made to fix this weakness in invest in more affordable housing and good schools. These two factors would help families with children moved to Iowa

The Comprehensive Plan to the South District was updated in 2015 since it is the oldest within all ten districts. The Comprehensive Plan is to follow the standard vision of land use, environmental, urban and infrastructure design. It also, ensure that the region supports the social sustainability plan. The focus of the revision was to create a better connectivity for the community with the alternative transportation. The goals were to make the region more walkable. Besides the transportation integration, the Plan is concentrated to increase the diversity of housing opportunities and promote the interaction of community in social aspects with the investment in the access to parks, and commercial areas. Lastly, the plan observed the opportunity of the new school to enhance the environment for families with children. As the IC2030, the South District Plan focus into address goals and strategies for future development and redesigning existing projects, yet ensure that the area remains preserved. Furthermore, the plan is similar with the IC2030, which helps the community to develop the sustainability vision of the original plan. The broader perception of the neighborhood is a strength of the South District Plan.

The South District has a diversity housing options: single-family manufactured housing and multifamily, which allows people of different income