Community MattersISU Extension Community and Economic Development 1

Community MattersVolume 5, Issue 1

2011

a Quarterly Publication for Iowa Leaders from Extension Community and Economic Development

Page 4 Central Iowa towns find common thread to successful future

Page 5 Training next generation of leaders in Delaware County

Page 6 PLaCE program builds connections between Extension and communities

Page 8 GPS + iPhones = better data for safer routes and healthier kids

Page 10 Story County tops state, nation in perceived health, access to health care

In This Issue

continued on page 3

Governor Terry Branstad discussed Iowa's interesting blend of urban and rural populations during the opening remarks.

By Sandra Oberbroeckling Community Relations Specialist

Almost 350 Extension professionals from across the nation gathered in Des Moines May 2–5 for the 2011 National Urban Extension Conference. The conference, hosted by Iowa State University Extension, addressed the needs of urban communities and the challenges facing land-grant institutions as their outreach efforts expand to include urban, multicultural communities, as well as the traditional rural clients.

The need for urban extension is particularly significant in Iowa. The 2010 Census data show that the metropolitan population in Iowa has increased by more than 10 percent, while the rural population has declined.

“In Iowa, the shift to urbanization continues,” said Tim Borich, ISU Extension Community and Economic Development program director. “The population is becoming more and more concentrated to about a dozen counties.”

“While our history and traditions remain in rural Iowa, we need to address the shift within our Extension programming,” he added.

The theme of the conference was “The New Extension Commons: Connecting People and Programs.” Topics addressed ranged through local food systems, green infrastructure, housing needs, programming through social media, and using volunteered geographic information (VGI) to map communities.

During the opening lunch, Governor Terry Branstad welcomed participants and

Urban Extension Conference Explores New Ideas for Outreach Programmingdiscussed Iowa’s interesting blend of urban and rural populations and the state’s changing demographics.

In her talk, “Breaking the Iron Cage of Poverty,” keynote speaker Donna M. Beegle, president of Communication Across Barriers, discussed strategies for breaking poverty barriers and explained how poverty defines different life situations (e.g., generational poverty, working-class poverty, immigrant poverty).

James Oliver, associate chancellor and assistant dean/regional director at University of Illinois, gave the keynote address the following day, during which he shared how Extension needs to reposition itself to meet the needs of a more urban clientele.

Extension is also adapting to the prevalence of social media in day-to-day interactions among both urban and rural populations. Bill Schrier, chief technology officer for the City of Seattle and director of DoIT, presented the positive and negative impacts of social media on citizen and constituent engagement, citing many examples from his experience with the City of Seattle.

Other featured speakers included: Juana Bordas, president of Mestiza Leadership International; Dorothy McCargo Freeman, University of Minnesota state 4-H program leader and assistant director for 4-H youth development; Maureen H. McDonough, Michigan State University Extension

specialist and professor of forestry; Chad Ripberger, Rutgers Cooperative Extension county 4-H agent and County Extension

Community Matters2 ISU Extension Community and Economic Development

areas as Sioux City, Des Moines, Ames, Dubuque and Cedar Rapids. We cannot, however, forget Extension’s deep roots in rural Iowa. Rural Iowans still represent nearly a third of the state, or almost one million people. Among them are families that Extension has served for generations. It is that ingrained rural culture that causes Governor Branstad to fondly recalls his days in 4-H.The future of ISU Extension is obviously tied to the future of Iowa, both rural and urban. Our balancing act will be to develop information and educational programming that serve all of Iowa. We will need to look for opportunities for mutual symbiosis, or programming that serves all and benefits all.

Timothy O. Borich Director, Iowa State University Extension Community and Economic Development

From the Director

Contact InformationIowa State UniversityExtension Community and Economic Development2711 South Loop Drive, Building 4, Suite 4900Ames, IA 50010-8664515-294-8397Fax 515-294-1354www.extension.iastate.edu/communities

To download additional copies of this newsletter in PDF file format, go to:

www.extension.iastate.edu/communities/newsletter/vol5issue1.pdf

To change your mailing information, contact Cindy Stuve at cstuve@iastate.edu.

Editorial Board: Tim Borich, Abbie Gaffey, Karen Lathrop and Sandra Oberbroeckling

Community Matters is published quarterly for Iowa State University Extension Community and Economic Development staff and their clients. Comments, questions, and suggestions regarding the content of this newsletter should be directed to:

Sandra Oberbroeckling, editorISU Extension Community and Economic Development2711 South Loop Drive, Building 4, Suite 4900Ames, IA 50010515–294–3721Fax 515–294–1354soberbr@iastate.edu

. . . and justice for allThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, genetic information, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Many materials can be made available in alternative formats for ADA clients. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326–W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250–9410 or call 202–720–5964.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Gerald Miller, interim director, Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa.

Dear Friends:This year’s National Urban Extension Conference was held in Des Moines, and a number of our Community and Economic Development staff played key roles in its development and subsequent success. Governor Branstad was kind enough to kick off the conference with a warm welcome to the participants from all over the country. He recounted his days growing up in 4-H and talked about how Iowa has become more urban. There is a term in environmental or ecological studies that refers to the beneficial relationship between two species: symbiotic mutualism. Simply put, two living creatures benefit from each other’s existence. They co-exist, so the absence of one is detrimental to the survival of the other. To borrow this ecological term, symbiotic mutualism may be the key to the futures of both Iowa and ISU Extension.As an organization, ISU Extension is evolving alongside Iowa. We have new technologies and communication systems. Today, our own studies show that nearly one in three Iowans contact ISU Extension annually, but these same data also indicate that the contact is much more likely to be via Internet rather than in person. This includes farmers.

Allow me to harken back to my first day on the job in Extension as a benchmark of how much has changed in Iowa. (Hint: Bob Ray was Governor; for the young reader, that would before Governor Branstad’s first term of his first governorship.) Back then, Iowa had more than twice as many farmers, and roughly one-third of Iowans lived in rural areas (non-metropolitan and non-micropolitan). The latest census found that more than 56% of the state now lives in a metropolitan county. Over 555,000 more Iowans now reside in metropolitan counties than did on my first day on the job with Extension. If you think of Des Moines, Ankeny, West Des Moines, Urbandale and all the communities in Polk County, and then throw in all the communities in Warren and Dallas Counties, it would closely approximate the increase in the number of metropolitan Iowans since I first sat behind an Extension desk. (I know what you’re thinking; I’m old, but I’m not THAT old).Extension is also changing as the demographics and economics of Iowa evolve. Some of the changes have been by design, some by budget cuts. Simple demographics indicate we need to expand program availability to urban Iowa as it continues to grow. ISU Extension CED will look to expand programming in such metro

Community MattersISU Extension Community and Economic Development 3

Urban Extension from page 1

Left: Tim Borich, director of ISU Extension Community and Economic Development, explains how the population of Iowa has changed in recent years. Right: Christopher Seeger, ISU Extension landscape architect, demonstrates how spatial data can be uploaded from smartphones to an online map in real time.

Featured Publications

2010 Census City and County Demographic Profiles

Liesl Eathington, director of the Regional Economics and Community Analysis Program (ReCAP), has compiled summaries of 2010 census data for all 99 counties and 955 cities in Iowa. The newest census data includes information related to age, race, ethnicity, household composition, family relationships and housing. Each report includes demographics for the specific city or county as well as brief comparisons to historic, state and national trends.

The reports are available in PDF format at no charge on ReCAP’s website. County-level reports may be downloaded at www.recap.iastate.edu/local/2010census/county.php and city-level reports at www.recap.iastate.edu/local/2010census/city.hp.

Iowa State University Extension Community and Economic Development Program Brief (May 2011)

This report highlights the activities of ISU Extension CED within the framework of five program areas: community design and visioning, local government, economic development, sustainability and housing. Featured programs include Iowa's Living Roadways Community Visioning, Latino Business and Community Development, Flood Management Education, and many more. While not inclusive of all CED programming, the report demonstrates how CED has adapted to shrinking budgets and has continued to deliver quality programming throughout the state.

To request a copy of the report, contact Sandra Oberbroeckling at 515-294-3721 or soberbr@iastate.edu.

department head; and Luis Rico-Gutierrez, dean of the ISU College of Design.

Several ISU Extension Community and Economic Development staff members presented papers and posters during the conference.

Borich and Alan Vandehaar, ISU community development specialist, talked about the future of Extension not only in terms of changing demographics but also Iowa’s decreasing population and the loss of state funding. They demonstrated how ISU Extension CED has adapted by increasing grant funds by 159% since 2005.

Vandehaar also made a presentation about the potential value of local and regional food systems to local economies.

Susan Erickson, ISU Extension specialist and PLaCE (Partnering Landscape and Community Enhancement) program coordinator, presented the results of a ten-year review of the PLaCE program (see article on page 6). She also co-presented a paper on community engagement and service learning.

Christopher Seeger, ISU Extension landscape architect and associate professor, talked about how smartphones and spatial technology can be used for public input processes in his presentation, “Using Facilitated Volunteered Geographic Information to Better Understand the Spatial Dynamics of a Community.”

Mickey Carlson, ISU Extension community development specialist and State of Iowa housing policy liaison, presented a housing needs assessment model developed by a team of ISU researchers in conjunction with a study of the impact of flooding in 2008 on housing and economic activity in eight Iowa communities.

The overarching theme of adapting to change played a role throughout the conference. Frank Owens, ISU Extension community development specialist and conference co-chair, hopes that

attendees took home with them “a need to move forward to address the questions surrounding … provid[ing] education and technical services to increasing urban and decreasing rural populations.”

“[Extension] services must be directed at people where they live and address their diverse needs. Life presents us with an ever-changing landscape and to survive we must change with it,” he added.

Community Matters4 ISU Extension Community and Economic Development

Central Iowa Towns find Common Thread to Successful FutureBy Mickey Carlson, Iowa Housing Policy Liaison, Iowa Finance Authority/ISU Extension

Everywhere you look these days the future for rural communities seems bleak. Stories abound of lost jobs, lost population, lost young people. Early in 2010 several small communities in central Iowa decided to band together to plan and implement a brighter future.

Under the leadership of Alan Vandehaar, Iowa State University Extension community development specialist, the group began meeting at the ISU Town/Craft Center, and over the next 18 months they began to form a plan.

Vandehaar said that the mission of Town/Craft is to help small communities recognize alternative futures and choose the best possible path going forward. “Helping these small towns was a naturally good fit for the Town/Craft mission,” he said. “As the project manager for Town/Craft it is my responsibility to promote opportunities for communities to explore their options going forward. Bringing in ISU experts such as economist Dave Swenson and Gary Taylor [Extension planning and development specialist] allowed the group to benefit from the

knowledge and latest information available for regional planning.”

The seventeen communities reasoned that they had a lot in common, beginning with the new recreational trail systems that connect the small towns north and west of Des Moines. Each community hoped to develop some marketing and promotional materials connected to the trails nearest their town, and they began to realize they could do this more effectively together rather than as individual towns.

The communities also became aware of a HUD grant that could offer planning assistance to communities and decided to apply for it. Although they did not receive grant approval, the towns realized through the application process that they were challenged by not having a planning entity in the region, or at least a common 501c3 organization. They decided that to become a true regional entity, they needed to think more like a region. They selected the name Common THREAD to represent their complex shared values: “THREAD” stands for Tourism, Health, Recreation, Education, Arts and Development.

In January 2011 the group decided to conduct a more formal analysis of their common assets. The analysis was led by Deb Lucht from Minburn, Todd Kilzer from Madrid and Mickey Carlson from Adel-Redfield. They devoted one session to conducting a SWOT analysis, laying out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats they felt were priorities for the region. They also conducted an online survey to be sure they had input from as many stakeholders as possible.

The group determined that their strength is the recreation available all along the trail system, both land and water, including kayaking, bicycling, walking and snowmobiling. The greatest weakness seemed to be the loss of young people. One opportunity that was chosen as a priority is the completion of the trail links between Perry and Woodward, which would provide a trail loop from suburban Des Moines all the way to Jefferson and back again. The chief threat is unpredictable

weather in winter, but the region is up to the challenge. The towns realize that by working together they can turn their climate weaknesses into assets, as St. Paul, MN, did when they made a great Winter Carnival from the frigid northern winter days.

The group decided to focus first on the recreational assets they can develop into tourism and entertainment, rather than on economic development. Todd Kilzer pointed out that there already exists a formal group (Dallas County Alliance) to help most of the communities, and Common THREAD did not want to duplicate its efforts. Completing the link between Perry and Woodward will consume scarce staff, volunteer and financial resources, and the Common THREAD group also agreed that they did not want to dilute that effort.

ISU College of Design students contributed to Common THREAD by beginning sketches of logos to brand the region. Members of the successful group of local artists known as Art on the Prairie served as consultants, and Perry City Manager Butch Niebuhr coordinated the effort with ISU College of Design instructor Cherie Ure and her students.

Goals for 2011 include completion of the logo and marketing plan for the region, development of themed day-trips for the area, and at least one event aimed at young adults. Other work will involve strengthening ties between the groups deemed to be natural trail supporters, such as the snowmobilers and cross country skiers in the area.ISU College of Design students developed several

designs for branding Common THREAD.

Local leaders review Common THREAD logos designed by ISU College of Design students during a meeting at Town/Craft.

Community MattersISU Extension Community and Economic Development 5

Did You Know?

By Himar Hernández Community Development Specialist

Today, many Iowa communities face population change, employment and educational concerns, and increasing diversity. With so much fluctuation, skilled leadership has never been more vital to communities. Within the past year, the City of Manchester has recognized the need and potential to equip the next generation of county leaders through topical workshops and speakers offered as part of the Iowa State University Extension’s comprehensive leadership program, Developing Dynamic Leaders.

Delaware County Extension conducted the program last October with the help of Delaware County Economic Development, Northeast Iowa Workforce Development/Iowa Works, Exide Technologies, and Manchester’s Regional Medical Center. Thirty-five individuals attended the 10-hour session.

“Developing Dynamic Leaders is focused on developing the personal skills people need to take on leadership roles, whether in their office, community, church or family,” said Lori Scovel, county program director with Delaware County ISU Extension in Manchester. “Our localized leadership training is a project guided by a committee formed as a part of Manchester’s community improvement initiative called Good to Great.”

Manchester’s Good to Great initiative started in 2008 when Manchester Enterprises facilitated a Community Development Summit with the Manchester City Council, Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce, and Delaware County Economic Development. The goal of the summit was to determine how to help a “good community” become a “great community” utilizing techniques identified in Good to Great, a well-known book authored by Jim Collins.

During that summit, several themes emerged that participants felt further defined a “great community.” These

themes were job creation, development, and growth; growing population; community beautification; marketing the community; tourism; cultivating leadership; educational commitment; and enhanced transportation.

“The program proved to be very helpful for new supervisors and frontline managers,” said Delaware County Economic Development Director Donna Boss. “This is a great way for everyone to expand their leadership skills.”

The program met with such high praise from participants that the committee worked with ISU Extension staff to respond to their requests for expanded leadership training and additional topics with new educational opportunities in 2011. A second round of training for new and developing community and workplace leaders started in Delaware County in March of this year.

The Delaware County Developing Dynamic Leaders committee set up a follow-up series of four educational seminars with sessions to be held once a quarter. These sessions may be attended individually or together as a complete program.

The first workshop, “Conflict Resolution/Dealing with Difficult People,” was presented March 15 by Himar Hernández, ISU Extension community development specialist who provides leadership development and diversity training to communities across the state. The program focused on real-life situations and examples.

The Delaware County 2011 Level II Leadership Series in Manchester also includes sessions about “Diversity” on May 3, “Team Building” on August 30, and “Core Leadership Skills” on October 25. These were the topics that the Leadership Level I group most wished to explore further at the conclusion of their training last October.

Both Scovel and Boss are Developing Dynamic Leaders graduates and they are members of the local Good to Great steering committee for the current leadership series.

“We chose sessions that would give participants a better understanding of

themselves and others,” Boss said. “The speakers have been top-notch, focusing on specific points that give the tools professionals need to be an effective leader in the workplace and community.”

Manchester’s Good to Great organization is optimistic the training from ISU Extension will serve to expand the area’s leadership base and help strengthen local business and industry.

“Many of those who participated in the Developing Dynamic Leaders training several years ago are now holding leadership positions within the community and their places of employment,” says Leo Monaghan, chair of Manchester Good to Great. “There is an ongoing need to train the next generation of leaders in Delaware County.”

And that is the point of Developing Dynamic Leaders, Scovel said. “We’re trying to build that capacity within our local communities, to build the networks and the social capital necessary to make great things happen, whatever our participants choose to do.”

For more information regarding Delaware County’s Developing Dynamic Leaders Training contact Scovel, at 563- 927-4201 or lscovel@iastate.edu, or Hernández at 641- 682-5491 or himarh@iastate.edu. For more information about ISU Extension’s Developing Dynamic Leader program and how you can bring the program to your community, contact Abbie Gaffey, ISU Extension Communities and Economic Development Program Specialist, 712-539-1169, gaffey@iastate.edu.

Training the Next Generation of Leaders in Delaware County

Breakout session during the Development Dynamic Leadership workshop in Manchester.

Community Matters6 ISU Extension Community and Economic Development

By Susan Erickson Program Coordinator

Do you want to transform your junkyard into a trailhead park? Would your neighborhood benefit from a community garden? Does your downtown streetscape need to be more pedestrian friendly? Would a collaborative relationship with Iowa State University benefit your community?

If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, your community may be a good candidate for the Partnering Landscape and Community Enhancement (PLaCE) program. PLaCE is offered through ISU Extension Community and Economic Development (CED) and the ISU College of Design’s Institute for Design Research and Outreach (IDRO). The goal of the program is to enhance and promote the quality and character of Iowa’s communities and landscapes through supporting economic competitiveness and proper planning and development.

PLaCE partners communities with student design classes to produce concept plans, feasibility studies and needs assessments

for historic preservation, downtown revitalization, housing, parks and trails, and community comprehensive plans.

Since 2002, 57 cities, 10 counties and two regions have taken advantage of the PLaCE program, and a total of 92 projects have been completed. More than 1,000 ISU students from the program areas of art and design, community and regional planning, landscape architecture, and architecture have participated in the PLaCE program through studio classes.

Susan Erickson, PLaCE program coordinator, recently conducted an in-depth evaluation of the impacts of PLaCE projects on participating communities, looking through the lens of service learning and community engagement. Twenty communities were randomly selected from the list of completed projects and local stakeholders were interviewed by telephone. Research results indicated that ISU Extension CED and College of Design involvement through the PLaCE program provided valuable assistance to the communities.

Within the study population of 19 PLaCE projects from 17 different stakeholder communities, most communities reported that university involvement was helpful. Seven of nine planning-related reports

were used in some way by cities, either as legally adopted planning documents, portions of other city reports, or guidelines and recommendations.

PLaCE projects in eight study communities addressed physical improvements in the community, and six of those communities reported some type of project-related implementation. Communities have changed Main Street storefronts, developed parks and enhanced streetscapes. Community partners said that they valued the final reports from studio courses because they helped move projects forward and facilitated subsequent engagement with private design firms. The reports were also useful when communities submitted grant proposals. The partnership with ISU Extension and the College of Design was viewed as enhancing project legitimacy, both within the community and with external funding agencies.

Another tangible community impact of PLaCE program involvement was expanded local capacity. Many stakeholders reported expanded community capacity in the form of increased local dialogue, progress on other community activities or projects, and enhanced creative capacity within the community.

PLaCE Program Builds Connections between Extension and Communities

Children in the King-Irving neighorhood in Des Moines take part in a community festival linking the arts with community gardens. In 2009, Carl Rogers, associate professor, and landscape architecture students designed community “empowerment” gardens. Rogers continues to work with the King-Irving neighborhood.

2002–032003–042004–052005–062006–072007–082008–092009–102010–11

This map shows the communities that have benefitted from PLaCE since 2002. Some communities participated more than once in the program. The shaded counties represent countywide projects.

Community MattersISU Extension Community and Economic Development 7

One of the most important findings from the research was the power of the relationships created between communities and ISU and ISU Extension.

“[The most significant impact was] building the partnership with Iowa State! The results were great, and everything else was wonderful, but becoming aware of the resources at Iowa State and thinking of Iowa State as a partner in our community and economic development was the best part. It made us more aware and more appreciative of what we have here, so that was super. ” — study participant

In addition to offering community development opportunities to communities, PLaCE gives ISU design students the chance to work with actual clients in a “real world” setting. As students work with clients to provide direction and guidance with community development needs, they share their knowledge with communities. The interaction becomes a mutually beneficial relationship.

Project results were not the most valued component of PLaCE projects for communities, however. Stakeholders in study communities were most vocal about their relationship with the university, and their comments were overwhelmingly positive.

“The deliverables for this project were highly appreciated. Several visible changes occurred in the community due to students’ designs and suggestions. However, the most dramatic and appreciated results were to stimulate internal dialogues within the community and the creation of a stronger partnership with Iowa State University.” — study participant

Interviewees were asked about their favorite part of working with the PLaCE program. Eleven of the 17 respondents answered positively about the people or the university in general. Two stakeholders had previously been unfamiliar with ISU, but now had positive attitudes.

“Yes, my attitude changed. The quality of the work was impressive…the final report was really professional. That was a big contributor to my changed impressions.” — study participant

PLaCE Program Builds Connections between Extension and Communities

The Randi Munch Memorial Park is a PLaCE project from 2009. A second-year landscape architecture class worked on the design. Left: This photo shows the Hamlin salvage yard that was next to Darrell's Place. Middle: The T-Bone Trail runs adjacent to the park site, making it easy accessible to local and regional trail users. Right: The park is being dedicated to Randi Munch, a local college student who was hit by a car and killed in 2004.

Worth County celebrated the installation of the new main gate to the fairgrounds with a dedication ceremony at the Worth County Fair on June 20, 2007. The gate was a PLaCE project in 2004. A countywide fund-raising effort helped to pay for the gate.

ISU Extension CED and the College of Design also benefit from the PLaCE program. Communities that take part in PLaCE are asked to pay a modest fee to cover costs, typically between $2,000 and $5,000. The fee covers primarily transportation to and from the project site, communication and printing costs. IDRO maintains an archive of all the studio reports produced for PLaCE projects. These reports have proved to be useful resources, as it is not unusual for a community to request a copy of the students’ work from ISU five or even ten years after a project’s completion. The information in the reports is also used as the foundation for developing new projects.

Communities interested in participating in PLaCE should contact Susan Erickson at 515-294-1790 or susaneri@iastate.edu. PLaCE applications are available for download at http://home.design.iastate.edu/ResearchOutreach/placeprogram.php.

Community Matters8 ISU Extension Community and Economic Development

Atlantic, De Soto, Fort Madison, Hull, Independence, Kalona, Riceville, Spencer, Tabor, Vinton, West Des Moines and West Union, range in population from 875 to 56,609 people. IDPH selected the pilot communities by choosing two from each of the six IDPH regions in the state.

The project team consists of Seeger; Alan Jensen, ISU Geospatial Technology program coordinator and I-WALK co-principal investigator; and Tami Larson, IDPH coordinator. In each of the 12 communities, a public health official is involved. Part of the grant was seed money to help each community build a local committee.

The project consists of three components: teacher tallies, an online parent/child survey, and walkability workshops using global positioning systems (GPS).

The teacher tallies were conducted first to establish baseline information. Teachers asked their students how they get to school and how they get home, and the students self-reported whether they walk, bike, ride the bus, carpool, or ride with their parents.

Students in grades 3 to 5 and their parents took part in the online survey. The schools determined how to implement the surveys. Some schools used incentives, while others held competitions among grades. According to Seeger, the survey included the standard

Research Spotlight

GPS + iPhones = Better Data for Safer Routes and Healthier KidsBy Sandra Oberbroeckling, Community Relations Specialist

Gone are the days of walking to and from school, uphill both ways, barefoot, in 10 feet of snow. But even in the twenty-first century, getting our children to and from school in one piece is still important. This issue, coupled with increasing childhood obesity, is the reason that the US Department of Transportation created the Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) program.

SRTS provides funds to states to improve the ability of primary- and middle-school students to walk and bicycle to school safely. However, some school districts in Iowa need financial, technical or leadership development assistance.

Enter Iowa State University Extension and the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), which collaborated to create I-WALK (Iowans Walking Assessment Logistics Kit).

I-WALK is the brainchild of Christopher Seeger, Extension landscape architect and associate professor of landscape architecture. The primary goal of I-WALK is to develop a sustainable model for community coalitions to update and evaluate on an ongoing basis local safe routes to school. The project is funded by non-infrastructure grants through the SRTS program.

I-WALK is being piloted in 2010 and 2011 in twelve Iowa communities. The communities, which include

questions used by the national SRTS program, as well as questions tailored to Iowa schools.

“A big part of the survey was [that] it had some spatial questions,” said Seeger. “We asked where they live—rural or in town—and their perceived distance to school.” The project team is currently analyzing that data to see how close people’s perceptions are to the actual distance.

Survey participants were asked to use the computer mouse to draw the routes that they take or would take to school if they were to walk or bike. They were also asked to map barriers, such as driver behavior, poor or no sidewalks, or no crossing guard, as well as opportunities for simple changes to make it easier to walk or bike to school.

The GPS walkability workshops involved training citizens to conduct an inventory of their community using iPhones equipped with the app ArcGIS IOS, created by ESRI, a software development company specializing in geographic information systems (GIS). Seeger, Jensen and Larson trained volunteers in each of the pilot communities to use the iPhone app. Volunteers then took to the streets in pairs to collect data.

Data from the GPS walkability workshops were uploaded to an online map. This map of Kalona shows how students perceive their safety throughout the community.

Workshop participants enter walkability data into an iPhone, which is then uploaded to an online digital map. continued on page 9

Community MattersISU Extension Community and Economic Development 9

The project team will consolidate the data from the teacher tallies, surveys, and GPS workshops into reports to be delivered to the communities in August and September 2011. According to Seeger, the communities will be able to use the data to identify areas to address that will give them “the most bang for [their] buck.” The information in the reports documents community needs, which is required when submitting grant applications for external funding.

Seeger pointed out that the needs in rural school districts differ somewhat from more urban areas, in that many rural students are riding the bus for two miles across town or to a school in another town.

“In the Adel-De Soto-Minburn district, for instance, the school is in De Soto and the majority of the kids are in Adel and Minburn,” Seeger said. “They’re walking to key points to get on the bus. From a physical activity standpoint, I don’t care if they’re walking to school or walking six blocks to the bus stop.” Up until recently, federal funding has not addressed this type of situation. However, an SRTS bus stop piece is currently being developed.

In general, parents and schools in participating towns bought in to the program. The outcomes in each town were determined by how well they did at the local level at promoting and recruiting.

People from outside Iowa have expressed interested in the spatial tools that Seeger has been developing and using in SRTS applications. He will be presenting the I-WALK project at the national ESRI user conference in July 2011.

The I-WALK pilot ends on September 30, 2011, but if additional funding is available, Seeger would like to continue I-WALK, as well as develop other projects that use smartphone technology to gather public input.

“At the core, I’m still looking for ways in which citizens can volunteer to share their knowledge about their neighborhoods and to collect that knowledge spatially, so that [community leaders] can make better decisions about what they need to do, and as researchers seeking health data, we can collect better information,” Seeger said.

For more information about I-WALK, visit the I-WALK web site at www.i-walk.org/.

IFA Recognizes Adams for Service

Workshop participants mapped information from three categories: intersections, midblock sidewalks, and additional features that impede pedestrians and cyclists.

At intersections, volunteers indicated whether or not there were painted crosswalks and curb cuts, and what type of control system, if any, was in place (e.g., stop signs, stoplight, flashing light). “The nice thing about the iPhone is that people can photograph [the intersection] and [the image] is automatically saved back to the server,” Seeger said.

Volunteers evaluated sidewalks at midblock, indicating whether or not there were sidewalks, and if so, whether or not were they were in good condition and wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

Additional features included barriers such as vegetation growing across the sidewalk, places where water frequently pools on the sidewalk, sidewalks that just end, and barking dogs that scare children. “[Participants] can map these random features as they inventory their community,” said Seeger. The data are automatically saved back to a server, where mapped points appear on an aerial map in real time.

While the ArcGIS IOS app is easy to use, it does have limitations, according to Seeger. For instance, if a user inputs that there is no sidewalk, the app will still ask for the width. Therefore, Seeger is using a software developer’s kit to create a community asset mapping application that is broader in scope and can be used on future ISU projects.

By Laura Lutz Graduate Student

Steve Adams, Iowa State University Extension community and economic development specialist, was recently recognized by the Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) for his 12 years of service as a board member. IFA board members are selected and appointed by the Governor of the State of Iowa for six-year terms. IFA is the state agency responsible for housing, economic development revenue bonds, clean and wastewater loan funds, and many other incentive programs.

“It has been a rare honor and privilege to work with this staff and my fellow board members for these many years and we have seen tremendous growth in the State of Iowa, as a result of this agency,” Adams said.

Asked what he was most proud of during his appointment, Adams replied, “The improvement to the Low Income Tax Credit program, the establishment of the State Housing Trust Fund and the prototype construction of the Iowa House in Corning were some that immediately come to mind, although just being involved in the shaping of economic development policy in the state was also rewarding.”

ISU Extension has a strong working partnership with IFA, including work on universal design concepts, housing policy, local housing trust funds and energy-efficient home design. Outgoing board members Wilfred Johnson (Waterloo), Doug Walter (Bettendorf) and Virginia Bordwell (Washington) were also recognized. Adams and Bordwell were the longest-tenured members of the IFA board.Volunteers collect data during a GPS workshop.

I-WALK from page 8

Community Matters10 ISU Extension Community and Economic Development

By Mickey Carlson, Iowa Housing Policy Liaison, Iowa Finance Authority/ISU Extension; and Madison DeShay, former Town/Craft program coordinator

How can you get middle school students to care about the future of their community? What is an easy, fast way for them to tell the adult leaders in their town what they want to see in the future? Will the older leaders listen to the young people?

In 2008 Madison DeShay, program coordinator at the Town/Craft Center in Perry, found a case study where photography was used to promote civic engagement of youth in planning for the future of the community in which they lived. She and colleague Mickey Carlson thought it seemed like just the right idea to try in Perry, so DeShay talked to City Manager Butch Niebuhr and then to Shirley Keenan from the Perry Middle School PACES program.

After a year of planning, the project launched in April 2011 with the GoGreen and TAG middle school students from the GoGreen and TAG programs. Several organizations came together to make the project possible. An ITC (investment tax credit) grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 paid for film processing and for a reception for the students, the Perry PACES program

funded the cameras and poster materials, and the city of Perry provided each student with “Perry Bucks” and hardcover books about Perry.

Perry is involved with Common THREAD, a regional development group of seventeen communities on and along the recreational trails northwest of Des Moines (see article on opposite page). Earlier this year that group conducted a SWOT analysis and determined that a loss of young people was a serious threat to survival of the towns in the region. One way to encourage young people’s interest in the community is to get them involved in planning the future of their town, and the Perry photography project seemed like a great way to do that.

Teams of two to four students worked to capture the essence of the community from their perspectives. The students were asked to take photographs of what they like best in Perry and of what they would most like to see changed. They were also asked to find an image of something not currently in Perry that appeals to young people and that they would like to see incorporated somewhere in the town.

The students were given poster materials and asked to write their stories for public display. On Sunday, May 1, the town held a public reception to honor all the students’ work and contribution to the community good. The reception was well attended by community leaders and the students’ families. At the reception the students presented their ideas to the mayor, city manager and city council members.

The students’ suggestions included some expensive ideas, including a water park.

What Is Our Future? Engaging Youth in Planning through Pictures

But they also noted many simple changes that could make life better for others, such as cleaning up the graffiti at the outdoor classroom for elementary students. They expressed appreciation for amenities such as the new recreational trail system and the movie theater in town, which might be expected. Their avid interest in the local Pizza Hut restaurant was less expected, but the students explained that the manager gives them coupons for reading books.

The community leaders listened appreciatively as the students presented their posters, and they promised to consider each idea. As the last cookies disappeared and the last lemonade glasses were set down, there was talk of an annual event, perhaps a clean-up day or a youth summit, to keep young people involved with leaders in their community.

To further enhance the experience, the middle school planners met the same week with ISU College of Design students who had been working with the city manager to design some park ideas for Perry. The two groups compared notes, displaying both sets of posters in the Town/Craft gallery. The middle school students had the benefit of seeing how college students tackled planning assignments, and they now have a broader understanding of what design and planning is all about.

The ISU students also appreciated getting the middle schoolers’ perspectives. One ISU student remarked that the posters were excellent, and he wished his group had received input from the young planners while undertaking their park planning assignment.

Perry middle school students talk with ISU students regarding the proposed park plan.

Middle school students presented their ideas on posters to the mayor, city manager and city council members.

Save the DatesThe 2011 Municipal Professionals Certification Program Institute is scheduled July 18–22 and 25–29, and the Academy is scheduled July 27–29. The program is sponsored by the Iowa Municipal Finance Officers Association, in conjunction with the Iowa State University Extension Office of State and Local Government Programs and the Iowa League of Cities.

All courses will be taught at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames. For more information about the Municipal Professionals Institute and Academy, visit the Iowa League of Cities website at http:\\iowaleague.org or contact Cindy Kendall at ckendall@iastate.edu or 515-290-1811.

Community MattersISU Extension Community and Economic Development 11

By Sandra Oberbroeckling Community Relations Specialist

Health care. We read about it in the paper. We hear about it on radio and television. We listen to politicians argue about it. Everywhere we look we see ads for pills, exercise equipment and fitness programs that promise to make us healthy for three easy payments of $19.95. Add to that the obesity epidemic, and it becomes clear that the spotlight on our health and promoting healthy lifestyles is not going to fade in the near future.

One of the first steps to promoting a healthy lifestyle is to identify the health and human service needs of the target population. To that end, the Story County Community Coalition (SCCC) engaged Iowa State University Extension to assist in developing and conducting a county needs assessment in 2010. The Iowa Department of Public Health requires every county in the state to conduct a health needs assessment every five years.

ISU Extension formed a multidisciplinary research team that involved the Community Development Data Information Analysis Laboratory (CD-DIAL), the Institute for Design Research and Outreach (IDRO), Extension Community and Economic Development (CED), the Nutrition and Wellness Research Center, and the Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology (CSSM).

With SCCC, the team designed an assessment consisting of several components, including a general population survey, focus groups and an online survey.

Printed surveys were mailed to a random sample of Story County residents. The focus groups targeted residents in four demographic areas: youth, families with children, senior citizens, and low-income residents. The online survey was open to the public and posted on several of the coalition members’ website.

Each assessment component asked residents to evaluate their community environment and rate its transportation services, recreation systems, offered programs, income level and housing costs. Additional questions covered demographics; exercise; tobacco, drug and alcohol use; children’s

Story County Tops State, Nation in Perceived Health, Access to Health CareWhat Is Our Future? Engaging Youth in Planning through Pictures

health care; health care access; nutrition; and insurance coverage.

After the data gathering process was complete, the research team presented preliminary results at a community meeting. The meeting, held on November 29, 2010, at Mary Greeley Medical Center, was open to the public but targeted specifically Story County agencies/providers (public, private, and non-profit agencies). Input from this meeting was incorporated into the final assessment report.

SCCC will use the assessment results to identify major health and human service needs, barriers and gaps to meeting major needs, and to set the stage for a comprehensive and collaborative community plan that addresses health-related issues. The survey responses will also be used for research projects related to community studies and development.

The results of the assessment revealed a slight decline in Story County residents’ perception of their overall health status since 2005. However, an overwhelming majority of residents rated their overall health status as good, very good or excellent, and the survey found a 9% increase in efforts to lose weight, despite an 18% increase in self-reported body mass index (BMI) over 25.

Other general findings include an increase in arthritis, asthma, chronic heart disease, diabetes, chronic low back pain, clinical depression, osteoporosis, stroke and high

blood pressure. Cholesterol continues to be the highest diagnosed medical condition in the county. Cancer and chronic lung disease, however, have decreased.

Binge drinking is on the rise, increasing by 15% since 2005 and affecting most people 18–39 years old, while the effort to quit smoking by Story County smokers has increased by 5%.

Ninety-three percent of Story County residents have some form of health insurance, compared with 90% of Iowans, and 85% nationwide. On the other hand, those reporting that they had no means of insurance coverage increased by 5% since 2005.

Members of the ISU research team presented the final assessment report to SCCC in spring 2011.

SCCC consists of representatives from several nonprofit human service agencies, including the United Way of Story County, Mary Greeley Medical Center, Homeward, Youth and Shelter Services, Mid-Iowa Community Action, Lutheran Services in Iowa, Story County Community Services, Story County Decategorization, Story County Empowerment, and ISU.

Detailed information on findings and a description of the general population survey methodology and procedures are available to Story County stakeholders at http://nwrc.iastate.edu/outreach/sccc/. Counties interested in working with ISU Extension on health needs assessments should contact Nora Ladjahasan at 515-294-0734 or nading@iastate.edu.

0.8%   5.5%  

36.0%  

38.7%  

19.0%  

poor   fair   good   very  good   excellent  

Most residents in Story County consider their overall health status good or better.

Percent of residents with BMI over 25

0%   10%   20%   30%   40%   50%   60%   70%  

Story  County  (2005)  

Story  County  (2010)  

Iowa  

Na9on  

43.0%  

61.2%  

67.2%  

63.1%  

Story County had an 18% increase in self-reported BMI over 25 since 2005. However, the level reported by residents is 2% lower than the national level and 6% lower than the state level.

Outright Contribution

Gift Amount: $ Check enclosed (Make payable to: ISU Foundation)

Please bill my credit card: MasterCard VISA Discover Card Number: Exp. Date: Signature:

2711 South Loop Drive, Building 4, Suite 4900 Ames, IA 50010–8664

Iowa State University Foundation Gift/Pledge Form

Name

Address 1

Address 2

City, State Zip

Gift Designation

I/We wish my/our gift to be designated to: Extension Communities and Economic Development Program (2701585)

Other 07 CD9:03

Thank you for your support! If you prefer, please make your gift online at: www.foundation.iastate.edu/give.

Iowa State University Foundation 2505 University Blvd. Ames, IA 50010–2230 (515) 294–4607 www.withprideandpurpose.org

Corporate Matching Gifts

My/My spouse/partner’s company offers a match for charitable contributions.

Employer Name(s)