Iowa City, Coralville growing outward but still looking inward

IOWA CITY – It won't come as a shock that the Iowa City metro area is growing outward, but that doesn't mean city officials are giving up on the middle.

Johnson County's population increased 17.9 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to recently released census data.

A closer look at the numbers shows that much of that growth occurred on the edges of towns, while the few areas that saw declining population were mostly closer to the centers of Coralville and Iowa City.

Iowa City and Coralville officials said they're committed to developing areas within existing parts of the cities, a concept known as infill development.

“It's more efficient. It's better for the environment to do infill than to just keep growing out,” said Ellen Habel, assistant city administrator in Coralville. “People, I think, are looking more toward being closer to town.”

Tracking population shifts within a county is possible by examining census tracts, which are small statistical subdivisions.

Some of the biggest population increases in Johnson County in the past decade were in tracts covering northern Coralville (57 percent), western Iowa City (21 percent) and two in southeast Iowa City (19 percent and 15 percent), according to an analysis of census data by the non-profit organization Investigative Reporters and Editors.

North Liberty, the second-fastest growing city in the state, and the areas to its east and west also saw large population gains (a combined average of 87 percent).

Only a few tracts had population decreases, including central and eastern Coralville, the area near Roosevelt Elementary school in Iowa City and east and south of downtown Iowa City.

All of those were single-digit percentage drops except for eastern Coralville at minus 11 percent, which would have included the neighborhoods hit by the 2008 flood. The flood affected 400 homes and led to the demolition of 255 housing units, Habel said.

The city will replace some of those, including with a 92-unit condominium complex currently under construction on Fourth Avenue. The city also is interested in developing the nearby area south of Fifth Street after flood-mitigation efforts are completed.

Those  projects, along with the Iowa River Landing district being developed south of Interstate 80, are all examples of infill, Habel said.

In Iowa City, perhaps the best example of infill is the plan to redevelop the Riverfront Crossings district south of downtown into a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood with residential, office and retail uses and green space.

Projects there will occur mostly one at a time over many years, with the public and private sectors taking part.

The city also wants more owner-occupied housing downtown. Jeff Davidson, Iowa City's planning and community development director, said recent census counts have shown that while there are more housing units in the downtown area, the average household size has decreased.

Infill developments come with challenges. Confined spaces, demolition, and environmental studies and mitigation are all possibilities, Iowa City Manager Tom Markus said.

“I think it takes a much more creative entrepreneur, and it certainly takes, in many cases, the participation of the city government,” he said.