City planning takes on hybrid approach

The people have spoken, and they all want something different.

After community feedback sessions and three open houses with the public, the city's Planning Commission has gotten hundreds of comments from residents about the future of Cedar Rapids.

Making sense of so many competing visions of the city can, however, make things complicated.

“When you have more than seven people involved,” said Brad Larson, a development planner with the city, “no one's going to agree on everything.”

But Larson said that after a six months of feedback, a general consensus is starting to take shape.

“They want more connectivity, they want the city to be more pedestrian-friendly and high-quality design,” he said.

In February, Larson and other city officials presented three models Cedar Rapids could follow.

The “automotive city” would keep cars and transportation as the central driver of how the city would operate in the future, encouraging sprawling, low-density development. That's what Cedar Rapids is now.

A “traditional city” approach would encourage more pedestrian mobility and mixed land usage, while a “green city” approach stresses a more dense development that leaves more room for parks and green space.

So far, Larson said, the community is trending toward a hybrid of the traditional and green models.

“We've synthesized (community feedback) into common strategies to give us a hybrid approach,” Larson said.

He said the new visioning won't inhibit future development; rather, city officials will incorporate the vision into existing ordinances and standards.

He also said it will take some time before residents start to see these visions pulled from the ether and put into practice. Before that can happen, the commission will put its findings to the City Council for their consideration come this summer.