This time, don’t be caught off guard

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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It's not every day that a city center is tasked with redefining itself.

But for the second time in as many decades, downtown Iowa City finds itself at a crossroads.

After city councilors passed, and voters reaffirmed in November, an ordinance barring underage patrons from the city's bars late at night, the face of downtown slowly has been changing from alcohol-fueled entertainment district to - what, exactly?

That's something for which no one yet has figured out the answer.

And the open-ended question has been reminding a lot of people of how downtown became so bar-heavy in the first place, when competition from big-box retailers and the new Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville weighed heavily on retail businesses in downtown Iowa City during the late 1990s.

The consensus is that the subsequent proliferation of what new Iowa City Manager Tom Markus calls “big-box bars” just sort of happened.

With that particular sector of the downtown economy shrinking, we're glad that political and business leaders are pledging not to be caught off guard by the transition - to deliberately plan the downtown district's next evolution. But we agree with Markus that the vision should be developed using data and driven by stakeholders, not city hall.

As studies have shown and residents will confirm, downtown Iowa City has a lot of potential and much room to grow.

A 2007 independent market study of the area concluded that it could support more than 630,000 additional square feet of new retail, restaurant and office space and another several thousand new housing units.

But just because the possibilities are exciting doesn't mean the planning will be easy. Developing a new vision for downtown will mean balancing some often diverse interests - including those of the University of Iowa and private business, local entrepreneurs and national businesses, and student and non-university residents.

And it will mean backing up big plans with enough resources to help make them a reality.

We're intrigued by the idea of developing more multistory, mixed-used buildings like Plaza Towers - which includes residential condominiums, a hotel, market, restaurant and health club.

And we want to hear more about a possible self-supported municipal improvement district that could, if downtown property owners approve it, collect money to be used for the common good of the district.

We look forward to more innovative ideas, and to hearing them discussed and debated.

So join in, stakeholders, bring your best ideas and use every tool at your disposal to make sure downtown Iowa City will foster business growth and meet the community's needs well into the future.

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