Beautifying Iowa, One Vision At A Time

5 May 2006 - 8:00am

The Living Roadways Community Visioning Program has enabled over 100 small towns in Iowa to improve themselves visually through small urban design improvements that can make a big difference.

"It may not be as glamorous as the huge, new community attractions efforts popping up around Iowa, but there is a program that's been working for years to help change the look of more than 100 small towns across the state.

Under Iowa's Living Roadways Community Visioning Program, small towns get help beautifying their city. Help that can include things like adding splashy new entrance signs, tiny roadside parks that dot main drags, recreational trails and prairie and tree plantings along main roadways.

'It has had a big impact on recreational opportunities, and safety, and pride of place,' said Julia Badenhope, an Iowa State University landscape and architecture professor who came up with the program about a decade ago."

Source: Associated Press, April 30, 2006
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Maybe it's time that planners take a cue from what's been going on in mainstream society. Maybe we could make decisions on project proposals more quickly if we just embrace the sound bite.