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Marion, Iowa © Tasha Sams
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Volunteers from Main Street programs across Iowa converge to implement change in downtown Ottumwa. Photo Credit: Main Street Iowa
A community often has a vision of what it wants downtown to be. We have sketches, renderings, workplans, and long-term comprehensive plans, all of which are very important to the process. In addition to all the talking, visioning, and planning—the community needs to see action. In October 2017, Main Street Ottumwa collaborated with local partners, Main Street Iowa, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Better Block Foundation to stop planning, talking, and wishing, and start doing. Volunteers traded in their office desks for drills, pencils, paint brushes, and began building a better block.
Like many downtowns, Ottumwa’s downtown is a work in progress. While there has been a great deal of progress made, the perception of downtown, with its vacant storefronts and deteriorating properties, create a barrier for the community to see the potential and vision for its bright future. Better Block, a Dallas-based urban design nonprofit, is all about inspiring people by showing communities what is possible and giving the people in the community the tools and resources to make their own change.
“Changing your place doesn’t have to be a daunting task that’s left to experts” commented Jason Roberts, founder of the Better Block Foundation. “There are small, simple changes that amateurs can make at the block level that have dramatic ripple effects which cascade through the city.”
Better Block began engaging with the Ottumwa community three months prior to the project’s implementation. Armed with surveys results, onsite district assessments, and targeted discussions with local businesses, community leaders, and citizens, Better Block was able to create a project concept map highlighting elements that were working well and designed temporary interventions for elements that were not.
“Working with Better Block, gave us [Main Street Ottumwa] a better opportunity to learn about what our community wanted to see on Main Street,” said Fred Zesiger, Main Street Ottumwa Executive Director. “They [Better Block] encouraged our citizens to dream big and think outside the box while identifying solutions to crucial problems that would make the space safer and achieve its full potential.”
A “normal” Better Block would be implemented through the recruitment of local volunteers to build, lift, paint, carry and build the better block. The implementation of the Ottumwa Better Block took on a different approach and involved Main Street board members and Executive Directors from across Iowa helping Ottumwa realize their vision in just an eight-hour period. The involvement of the Main Street Iowa network also provided an opportunity to “train the trainers,” disseminate the knowledge, and show how the Better Block process can work in their downtown.
The Better Block public engagement process identified several specific interventions to meet the goals of the project to empower residents, seed ideas for permanent change, guide small business to downtown, and attract new visitors to the downtown.
Interventions included:
Before and after view of the Better Block Ottumwa project area. Photo Credit: Main Street Ottumwa
Better Block’s approach was comprehensive and helped create a place that residents of Ottumwa are proud of, enjoy interacting with, and a place they want to bring their families. Through project demonstration, people realized that their vision of a vibrant, colorful, friendly Main Street where families could socialize, exercise, eat, shop, drink, live, and celebrate—are within reach.
As a result of the Better Block weekend, hundreds of people came back downtown to explore, interact and experience their vision in action.
The impacts of this effort have proven to be lasting:
A vacant storefront was transformed to hold Blaines Bagels, one of four pop-up shops during the Better Block Ottumwa weekend. Blaine’s Bagels is now located in a permanent downtown storefront two blocks downtown Main Street. Photo Credit: Main Street Iowa
As Main Streeters, we tell people all the time about what things could be—but to show them what Main Street is working towards can change the perspective of the entire community. “In just eight hours, our community’s vision became a reality. If only for a short time, we saw what it would be like to bring our Main Street back to life,” said Kelly Genners, Interim President & Vice President of Programs and Initiatives at the Ottumwa Regional Legacy Foundation. “Although Better Block and its design were only temporary, and the paint is now washed away—the inspiration of what our community can be lives on.”
About the author:
Michael Wagler is the Main Street Iowa Coordinator at the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Wagler provides technical support and leadership for the implementation of the Main Street Approach in 54 Main Street programs across Iowa. With over 20 years of downtown revitalization experience, he is passionate about exploring new ideas for breathing life back into downtown. Michael.Wagler@iowaeda.com
, 515.348.6184Music has a unifying power to bring people of all generations, backgrounds, and cultures together for creative expression. Let’s explore how accessible, family-friendly music experiences can strengthen Main Streets across America to build stronger communities, one concert at a time!
Main Street America is pleased to announce the launch of a $1.8 million sub-grant program as part of our partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) Thriving Communities Program.
Beloit, Kansas © Shane Hampton
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Middlesboro, Kentucky © Levitt Foundation
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Marion, IA © Uptown Marion
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Streetscape improvements can make a big difference for Main Streets. © Grant Harper
Learn how Main Street America's work with the DOT's Thriving Communities Program is supporting transformative efforts with community partners like the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe.
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Streetscape in Denison, Texas. © Mel Climer — Climer Design
REV Birmingham and Woodlawn United share how they work to reenergize spaces and places in Birmingham, Alabama, through civic infrastructure projects in the city’s historic commercial corridors.
Learn how this Louisiana town has used an accessibility-first approach to build a welcoming and inclusive community.
Downtown Ruston, Louisiana. Photo by Henry McCoy.
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Miami, FL © Matt Alaniz
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Bainbridge Island, WA © Anna Carson
An innovative artistic project brings new life to the alleyways in Billings, Montana.
Billings, MT © Downtown Billings Alliance
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Lansing, Michigan © Lansing 5:01
Learn how you can participate in the Thriving Communities program as a capacity builder or how you can receive support from the program.
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Leeds, AL © Jeremy Dove
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Coon Rapids, IA © Main Street Coon Rapids
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Crofton, MD © Kerry Kelly
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Boise, ID © christiannafzger
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Thomasville, GA © Thomasville Main Street
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Wetumpka, AL © Jenny Sue Stubbs
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Mount Airy, NC © Robbie Curlee
A vacant storefront is the perfect stage to creatively promote the available space or to showcase other businesses and events in the area.
Ripon, WI © RetailWorks, Inc
Interested in creating a StoryWalk in your downtown commercial district? Read on to learn more about installing a successful story walking trail.
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Milwaukee, WI © Historic King Drive BID
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Ripley, MS © Ripley Main Street
Wayfinding guides people to places they seek but it also brings awareness to places they may have otherwise missed.
Since 2013, Try This West Virginia has sought to improve health environments in local communities as a collaboration of organizations working together to combat the health challenges facing West Virginians.
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Beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower fountain through Main Street Paris's new Love Lock Fence.
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Appealing to mobility-challenged shoppers yields benefits beyond the store.
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Placemaking is a strategy that Six Corners Association has enthusiastically applied to our community development efforts because of its seamless integration with the Main Street Approach.
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A key goal of the Atlanta Streetcar is to attract investment to and revitalize the neighborhoods along the streetcar alignment.
