Cedar Rapids Northwest Neighborhood set for makeover

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Northwest neighborhood is no stranger to change, but compared with the flood of 2008, this next wave will be a welcome one, said Al Pierson, president of the Northwest Neighbors Neighborhood Association.

About 1,300 fliers went out inviting neighbors to help kick off a Northwest Neighborhood Action Plan with a gathering Tuesday evening. Residents and business owners will have a chance to help mold improvements that will be implemented over the next 10 years - such as streetscapes, walking and bike connections, gateway markings and urban design concepts.

'Development in this neighborhood has been sorely lacking after the flood,” said Pierson, who owns Pierson's Flower Shop on Ellis Boulevard NW. 'When the levee is placed in the neighborhood, it is going to change a number of things.”

The city is kicking off the neighborhood action plan at an open house from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Harrison Elementary School, 1310 11th St. NW. Participants will be able to help shape goals and strategies on place-making through parks and green space; connectivity of pedestrians, cars bikes and public transit; land uses; neighborhood character through buildings and designs; and streetscapes, such as landscaping and lighting.

The neighborhood is bounded by the Cedar River and First Street NW on the east side, 13th Street NW on the west, First Avenue SW to the south and Ellis Lane to the north.

The Northwest neighborhood is the first of eight recognized neighborhoods that will undergo this city-led action plan, which was a recommendation of EnvisionCR, the latest city comprehensive plan. The City Council adopted it in 2015.

Kristy Sanchez, a planner in the community development department, is helping coordinate the effort. A follow up community meeting is slated for later this spring, and the plan should be finalized in the fall, she said.

Recommendations of the action plan would be implemented over a decade, she said.

'We have a bunch of plans coming together,” Sanchez said of various city initiatives for greenways, bike trails, sidewalks, historic preservation, flood protection and more. 'The purpose of the meetings are to show, here's what they are and here how they affect your area.”

The plan is to take on new neighborhoods every year, depending on how this first action plan goes, she said.

The timing of the action plan will come midstride in the Northwest neighborhood as it's in the midst of major changes.

Pierson describes the neighborhood as having blue-collar roots and a 'melting pot” of diversity for race and income levels.

Several years removed from the 2008 flood, which claimed many homes here west of the Cedar River, dozens of residents already have moved into new homes built through the ROOTS housing program. Enrollment at Harrison school has rebounded since falling after the flood, Pierson said.

A $6.2 million condominium complex and the new Northwest Recreation Center are in the works. A memorial in Time Check park is being planned to remember those who lost homes in the flood, and major levee will change the look at feel of a swath of the neighborhood while also protecting it.

'People are definitely looking forward to this,” Pierson said. 'This change is nothing compared to what the Cedar River did to our neighborhood in 2008.”