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General Process

How Does Iowa Great Places Work?

Iowa Great Places is built around two important concepts/processes: 1) community visioning in local areas and regions and 2) collaboration between State agencies and local areas.

Community Visioning

In order to become an official Iowa Great Place, each neighborhood, community, county, or region (you define the geographic area!) wishing to participate must go through a community visioning process. This process takes time and dedication! It involves inviting a broad and representative group to come together to discuss and plan the future of their Place. It entails revisiting the past to discover important events that impacted the development of their Place. It requires asset mapping and articulation of what makes a particular Place unique and authentic. It produces a common vision for the future of a particular Place and a plan for making that vision a reality.

Each Place will conduct their visioning activities in a different way. But the outcome is the same: consensus about where the community is going and a plan to get them there!

Once your vision and plan are developed, your Place can create and submit a Great Places proposal. The Great Places proposal asks you to articulate how your Place embodies the seven (7) dimensions of a Great Place and provides details about your community’s vision and plans for implementation. The proposal asks the State of Iowa to partner with your Place to make your vision a reality.

While developing your community vision and Great Places proposal, Iowa Great Places staff and coaches from various State agencies are available to assist and consult. These persons can help guide the visioning process and offer an objective critique of your plans.

Collaboration: State agencies and local areas

If your Place submits a proposal and is named an official Iowa Great Place, you will present your vision and plan to relevant State agencies, who will then offer technical assistance and financial leads. The goal is to establish a positive and productive relationship between State agency employees and local representatives. For a period of three years, the State commits to assisting Great Places in whatever capacity possible. Some additional benefits of Great Places designation:

Additional consideration on all grant applications submitted to State agencies directly related to projects/activities described in the Place’s proposal/Memorandum of Understanding with the State of Iowa
Greater access to state historic tax credits
Greater publicity
Access to Iowa Great Places grants (pending legislative approval each fiscal year)

Unfortunately, due to administrative constraints, not every Places that submits a proposal can be named a Great Place. In fact, most of our Great Places have submitted a proposal in multiple years. Do not let this deter you! A Place that plans for its future and reaches community consensus should move forward regardless of designation. Iowa Great Places has witnessed countless examples of communities coming together for the first time and reaching their goals as a result. For this reason, we believe strongly in the community visioning process and are happy to assist any neighborhood, community, county, and/or region wishing to begin this journey!

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