My Best Life

Perry: A Little Salsa on the Prairie

Perry, Iowa is in many ways a typical Iowa small town. It's main employers are agricultural companies, and the town has a railroad history shared by many other towns it size in the state. But, as we found out last Thursday morning, there is something else going on in Perry.

Perry has a large Hispanic population, which in and of itself is also not that unusual in Iowa. Any town with a meat packing plant or an egg factory will attract a Hispanic workforce. What is unusual is the way that this town of 7,000 has embraced its Hispanic population and welcomed them with open arms.

Our Great Places presentation was given by a brother and sister team, Liliana and Adolfo Carbajal, who photographed the entire town and wrote the script. It was impressive. Liliana and Adolfo are both graduates of Perry High School.

From the Albert Paley "Reconfiguration" Archway in the alley by the Hotel Pattee, to the perfectly restored Carnegie Library, to the two story coffeehouse downtown, Perry is a one-of-a-kind gem in the heart of Iowa.

Council Bluffs is Reaching Out to the World

It's amazing to me that Iowa's rivers were once places where pollution-belching factories and chemical dumps were allowed to be located. That could certainly be the legacy of the Missouri River along the Omaha side, though the Council Bluffs side certainly has had its share of challenges as well. But all of that is changing. Omaha and Council Bluffs are cooperating on an historic project of massive proportions that is sure to positively alter both communities for years to come.

A beautiful pedestrian bridge is rising out of the water from both sides of the river and will further tie the destinies of both communities together. When it opens next year, the bridge, one of the longest of its kind in the world, will be a showpiece for Council Bluffs. The plans for the river also include new festival grounds, room for parking, new housing and other amenities.

Appanoose County: Puttin' on the Ritz

Here's a historic photo of the Ritz Hotel, an old theater in Centerville, Iowa, that has been covered up with aluminum siding for decades. Recently, some dedicated volunteers have taken off the coating and renovated the Ritz back to her former glory. The inside is next, and the community is looking forward to having a brand new 500-seat show space soon.

With the coming development of the Honey Creek State Resort, Centerville residents are taking advantage of the opportunity to showcase the rest of their community to the region by making trail connections, improving county infrastructure, and pumping up cross-marketing efforts.

I cannot tell you how impressed I was with the dedication to the ongoing projects we heard about. These folks have been hit with some pretty devastating economic blows in the last few years, and already have high levels of poverty to deal with. Nevermind all that, they are determined to make their place the best it can be. These projects are creatively financed and leverage absolutely unbelievable volunteer hours to get things done.

One of the highlights of our trip was an elegant dinner in the dining room at the Continental Hotel. The dinner rolls were so delicious that my friend Sam were convinced that they were deep fried. They certainly were tasty. And what a bargain! My dinner was only $15.00. Homemade pie was $2.49 a slice, but I was too full to think about that.

I can't wait to attend a play at the Ritz!

Davenport: Iowa's Front Porch

Davenport was our third stop on the Iowa Great Places Road Trip. First thing Tuesday morning, after spending the night at the Radisson near the river, we headed to the new sky bridge to see the incredible view of the Mississippi River from the observation deck. Afterwards, we were bundled on golf carts and given a tour of the reclaimed and soon-to-be-fabulous riverfront.

After the floods of 1993, many Iowa river towns had to make some big decisions which would affect the look and feel of the river's edge for the next 100+ years. Davenport, after much controversy, decided to proceed with its riverfront development using a more natural, accessible approach. Instead of walling the river off with a levee or flood wall, essentially cutting it off from the downtown business district and decreasing pedestrian access to the water's edge, Davenport city leaders decided to open up the riverfront. The casino that currently disgraces the water under the sky bridge will soon be relocated as a first step in reclaiming the river.

Turns out the real problem with flood water is not the somewhat predictable inflow of river water, but the devastating effect of the outflow. Mixed with sewer contents from the popped-open manhole and burst pipes, the nasty mixture leaves a lot of damage behind. Davenport solved this problem by installing a special sewer system that does not allow the outflow. Essentially, all the surfaces left grimy by a flood can be washed with a firehose and made as good as new.

The city presented its plans to us for the redevelopment of the river, including moving the casino, installing a new spray-park, playground and parking. Le Claire Park, the location of the best blues festival in the U.S., is also slated for a facelift.

The Davenport riverfront is literally surrounded by interstates and four-lane roads. They've asked Great Places' help with calming traffic along the River Road and for way-finding signage along the interstates, directing traffic toward the great amenities to be found below.

The chamber and other representatives from Davenport were wonderful to us. My favorite surprise at the end of the presentation was a serenade by a group of senior citizens. They were absolutely great.

Decorah's Local Food Project

Decorah, Iowa has one of the most vibrant and active communities that I have ever seen, in any town, bar none. Monday we saw a presentation that rivals towns ten times its size. Decorah is working on completing a regional 30-mile trail loop around the town, and at the same time is embarking on an unusual project to provide local food to its population and educate people about the importance of healthy eating habits.

A local food co-op that has been in existence for more than 30 years is bursting at the seems and moving across the street to a new location. The food education research project won a grant from the Kellogg Foundation, one of only five given across the country and the only one to such a small, rural area.

During our tour, we meet local organic farmers who explained the local food concept and all the partnerships that had been made between local government, the school district and the local liberal arts college, Luther.

After a tour of the picturesque downtown business district, we listened to a presentation in the beautifully restored Winneshiek Hotel, pictured in this post. We were treated to some apple crisp which was made with locally grown ingredients. It was delicious!

Fall in Iowa -- Beautiful Scenery and History

Our Great Places trip started out Monday at 6:45 a.m. We met at the bus at the Quality Inn in Des Moines and loaded up. The morning was cold and rainy, a rude shock compared to the balmy days of late. I defiantly brought two pairs of open-toed shoes, hoping that later in the day it would warm up. My bet paid off. The afternoon turned out to be one of those quintessential Iowa fall days...cool and crisp, bright blue sky and sunny.

Our first stop was Charles City, the birthplace of the gasoline tractor AND the birthplace of Carrie Lane Chapman Catt, one of the founders of the American women's suffrage movement. Chapman Catt was the author of "The Winning Plan" that actually guided activists to systematically gaining the right for women to vote. After a 40-year struggle, the Constitution was finally amended on August 26, 1920 to prohibit withholding voting rights to women.

During our presentation, we heard a story about how the young Miss Lane was at home with her mother on election day. Her father and the hired man had hitched up the wagon to go into town to vote. Mrs. Lane stood on the porch in her housecoat, her hair undone. Young Carrie wondered aloud why her mother wasn't ready to go into town to vote with the men. She was told by her father, "Voting is a very important desicion and important decisions like those are best left to men." That day affected the direction of the rest of her life.

We left Lane House and drove through downtown Chuck City to see the other half of their proposal. Charles City is blessed with a beautiful stretch of the Cedar River, and hopes to create a kayak rodeo along a portion of the river that runs right through a park near downtown. We were also pleasantly surprised to see a large collection of priceless art housed in the library, donated by a local citizen who kept the treasures in a trunk for years before donating them to the city. Among the paintings: Chagall and Picasso.

Charles City did a great job with its presentation and went a long way to convincing us how far they'd come in their planning process and execution of critical steps to improving the town. As always, I was impressed with the commitment of local volunteers to create a lasting legacy. 

2007 Iowa Great Places Tour

Today, the rest of the Iowa Great Places Board members and I set out to see the seven Great Places finalists. First, we head up north to Charles City and Decorah, then swing over to Davenport for our overnight stay there. Davenport's presentation happens first thing Tuesday morning.

Check back this week to find out about the presentations and to see some photos from the sun-dappled Iowa countryside!