Curious Iowa: How does a neighborhood come to be?

Those living in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City can organize with support from their neighbors to form neighborhood associations that work with their city governments to represent their interests in decisions.

But Dorothy DeSouzaGuedes, who wrote to Curious Iowa, had several questions about how neighborhoods come to be: Can any resident start a neighborhood association and receive funding? How are neighborhood boundaries and names determined?

“Once you're connected and you know what's happening with the city, not just where you live because you can get that bigger picture, you feel more connected,” DeSouzaGuedes said. “ … We should want our residents to feel connected, to truly feel part of a community and to be engaged.”

Curious Iowa is a series from The Gazette that seeks to answer Iowans’ questions about the state, its culture and the people who live here. We spoke with Cedar Rapids and Iowa City neighborhood officials and association leaders to understand how neighborhoods take shape.

How neighborhood associations form

Jeff Wozencraft, a Cedar Rapids city planner, said residents can call the city once they have a group of individuals engaged in forming an association. The group should consider neighborhood boundaries, take steps to form a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to have fiscal backing and develop bylaws and organizational structures.

The city will support them as much as needed in launching the association, depending on residents’ preferences. That might mean taking examples of other associations’ bylaws or leaning on other groups’ expertise for drawing neighbors to meetings, creating events or marketing their group.

“But then we really want the neighborhood association to take the ball and roll with it,” Wozencraft said. “It's not a city organization or a branch of city government. It is a community-driven group.”

Over time, Cedar Rapids offers city staff support — assigning a staff liaison to each association. Staff or guest speakers inform the association of upcoming city projects and other initiatives ranging from flood control to street repairs or crime statistics and support for those experiencing homelessness. Quarterly workshops are designed to build capacity within the associations and support group leaders.

There are two categories of neighborhood associations in Cedar Rapids, Wozencraft said. Certified associations have more criteria to meet and are eligible for reimbursable funds for events and other initiatives up to $10,000. Registered ones have fewer requirements and can receive up to $3,000.

DeSouzaGuedes, president of the Oak Hill Jackson Neighborhood Association, said it’s a challenge for her group not having any money in its account at the beginning of the year and sometimes reimbursements have taken months. She’d like to see at least $1,500 or some upfront funding given to groups so leaders aren’t sometimes fronting costs themselves.

Associations can raise outside dollars, too, as Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association does with its annual Art in the Park event at Redmond Park. City Community Development Director Jennifer Pratt said the Northwest Neighbors group has leveraged city funding to support a fundraiser. Some associations, like Bever Park and Cleveland, have worked with the parks department on physical improvements including tree plantings or trail bridges.

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Al Pierson, president of the Northwest Neighbors Neighborhood Association since about 2015, said the association has donated money to the West Side Rising Memorial stainless steel sculpture on O Avenue NW in Time Check. The city chipped in with a plaza on the street showing the history of the neighborhood on a plaque wall that shows 2008 flood levels.

For associations just starting, DeSouzaGuedes recommends forming a SafeCR committee to handle nuisance properties or landlords to field a top source of resident complaints. She also suggested mailing residents at least every other year, collaborating with other groups on existing events and having a phone number and PO box for the organization.

In Iowa City, Outreach and Engagement Specialist T’Shailyn Harrington said many times associations emerge to oppose something, whether that’s land development or another decision that may affect a neighborhood’s appearance or historical character.

There are no certain requirements for an organizational structure, she said, and associations range from being an organized group with a name to a tax-exempt nonprofit. Harrington said she tells leaders to seriously consider the federal requirements for forming a 501(c)(3) — having a board and bylaws and submitting tax returns.

She is creating tool kits at icgov.org/neighborhoods to provide an overview on these steps, such as speaking with neighbors and creating a steering committee or a pilot program to see if others want a group.

Associations are eligible to apply yearly for a grant of up to $3,000 for neighborhood projects. Grant funding can be combined with other income sources.

“The pandemic created silos and isolated folks, now it’s needing to reengage with people — get out, meet your neighbors and come together,” Harrington said.

City neighborhood structures

Both cities use different structures to support neighborhood associations. Cedar Rapids’ city staff liaisons work with each group on a rotating basis, while Iowa City has its outreach position.

DeSouzaGuedes said she would like to see “more people power” behind Cedar Rapids’ associations, including a dedicated and not rotating staffer. But she said her staff liaison and the police department have been helpful to work with and responsive when she has questions about city happenings.

Although Cedar Rapids’ associations predate the 2008 flood, Pratt said the staff liaison system started in 2013. Amid flood recovery work, she said city staff had a lot of interaction with neighborhoods, which reinforced their importance in allowing staff to understand neighborhood issues.

In the past, there was a city employee devoted to working with the associations. But she said the city favors its current service delivery model using the liaisons because it gets more city staff into the neighborhoods building relationships. Plus, other city staff or area service providers can attend meetings to speak on community issues.

“It's virtually impossible for that one person to know everything going on in the city,” Pratt said. “They can know who to go to, but it is cool to have some of those subject matter experts out in the neighborhoods as well.”

Pierson said having multiple points of contact has been helpful to the flood-devastated neighborhood’s redevelopment.

“It helps us to keep our finger on the pulse of what's going on, who wants to do what, what might be happening next,” Pierson said. “ … I find that the city departments, the directors of the departments listen to me very, very closely. They always are interested in my opinion here. The City Council is also very receptive to things that I want to see done.”

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When federal American Rescue Plan Act funding was released, for example, Pierson asked for a portion of the city’s $28 million share to accelerate flood protection on the west side of the Cedar River. The council in 2021 committed $10.2 million to two westside projects.

In Iowa City, Harrington said her position is housed within the city manager’s office on the communication team. She works with each association and supports her colleagues’ programs by sending that information to the associations so there’s no gap in communication.

The groups engage differently, with some meeting once a year. Others, like the South District, lure the entire city to the neighborhood as a business district with minority-owned small businesses and collaborations with other groups.

“What I have asked of all the association leaders is to ensure that I stay in the loop of the happenings in their neighborhood so I can ensure I pass along opportunities for them, that I can send in other outreach staff from other city departments so we can leverage that support and collaboration for folks,” Harrington said.

How names, boundaries are set

A neighborhood’s name and boundaries are a matter of the neighborhood developing an identity, city officials in both Cedar Rapids and Iowa City say, but it’s up to residents to drive the conversation.

In Cedar Rapids, there are 14 recognized neighborhood associations, but there are wide swaths of the city that aren't covered within those boundaries.

Walkability was a consideration in boundary-setting in the 1990s, Pratt said. Wellington Heights’ group used to walk around the neighborhood handing out meeting invites and a monthly letter. Areas like Czech Village that have been around since the 1880s have had time to develop that unique identity, Wozencraft said, while newer subdivisions don't have that tradition.

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“Once you start to get people say, ‘No, I don't live in Bowman Woods,’ then you draw the line because I think that is an important aspect — one of building the identity that people have the same concept of what the neighborhood is, and then reinforcing that through the neighborhood association,” Wozencraft said.

Within the last 30 years of associations existing in Iowa City, Harrington said boundaries have shifted — they may get smaller or leadership dies down — so a larger, more active neighborhood might take over those boundaries. She pointed to the historic Lucas Farms neighborhood, where within that there is a smaller neighborhood called Oak Grove. Other neighborhoods might come to be because of historical markers, like Summit Street and Longfellow.

“It comes down to what residents decide,” Harrington said.

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Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com