The Dubuque Recipe to Rebuilding a City_E-Article Copyrighted
August 5, 2019
City of Dubuque Action Items # 8.
ITEM TITLE: The Dubuque Recipe to Rebuilding a City
SUM MARY: City Manager providing a copy of "The Dubuque Recipe to
Rebuilding a City" from the National League of Cities'
CitiesSpeakwritten byAssistant City Manager Teri Hawks
Goodmann.
SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: Suggested Disposition: Receive and File
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
The Dubuque Recipe to Rebuilding a City Supporting Documentation
EQUITY POLICY HOUSING ENVIRONMENT FINANCE HEALTH LOVE MY CITY YOUTH
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The Dubuque Recipe to Rebuilding a City
By Local Leader Voicea on July 25,2oig
In i985, Dubuque decided it wasn't going to die.
Many of our nation's cities, towns and villages face unique challenges to build, maintain or
reldndle the love between the community and its members. Dubuque is one of the oldest cities
on the Mississippi River and the oldest community in Iowa. Now a sparkling city on the rise in
the American Midwest, Dubuque has had to work its way back even, slowly, over the past few
decades. In i983, our city had the highest unemployment in the country and had lost nearly io%
of its population. But just as Dubuque's challenges reached their height in the i98os, something
else was born — a firm commitment to community engagement.
There was no magic wand — our revitalization was the hard work of community building. Along
with my colleagues and community members, Dubuque went about trying to find the means,will
and best practices to restore our downtown, neighborhoods and riverfront. Our city�s survival
was in our hands.
Residents understood that the threats Dubuque was facing to population and prosperity were
serious, and we vowed to come together and drive forward innovative and inclusive solutions.
Volunteerism rose, attendance at community meetings increased and city leaders worked with
residents to make Dubuque a place people wanted to live in again.
Beginning with Dubuque's Vision 2000, initiated in i99o, our city has developed a tradition of
local planning excellence and an effort to integrate past planning efforts into a consistent vision
for the future. This renewed spirit and strategy have manifested as Imagine Dubuque 20,37:A
Call to Action, the comprehensive plan for our community�s physical, social and economic
development.
Our recipe for success is based on people, planning and partnership — that's our secret sauce.We
engaged our citizens as partners. Some point to Dubuque's brownfields redevelopment as an
important turning point,which helped funnel a $60o million investment into Dubuque's
riverfront redevelopment. Cities address brownfields in order to clean up environmental
hazards, create jobs and investment opportunities and increase property values — and that's
exactly the effect it had on Dubuque.We have successfully reclaimed our downtown.Since the
dark days of the i98os, Dubuque jobs have grown from 37,30o to nearly 62,000, as cleaning up
industrial sites and restoring unused land helped Dubuque modernize and expand.
Partnership has come in many forms for Dubuque. A small city with a small-town feel,
Dubuque's many local leaders have looked to leverage partnerships with non-profit
organizations like the National League of Cities, private sector companies, the Iowa state
government and federal partners on Capitol Hill and in the administration. We committed early
in our redevelopment to envision a future for all of Dubuque. Few struggling cities reach an
equitable,safe and secure future alone.
And now,we don't just want to survive. Dubuque wants to thrive.
A city with an engaging, dynamic legacy and a complete community mobilization effort to get
there —iYs safe to say, Dubuque is thriving.And we're not going to stop here.With eyes on 203�,
Dubuque will never forget igSg — and our legacy is better for it.
About the author: Teri Hawks Goodmann serues the City of
Dubuque as Assistant City Manager. Teri is completing her thirteenth
year in this role.Her work creates and aduances strategic
parmerships far the City of Dubuque with private sector leaders and
non profit organizations, as well as county,state and fedeml
government agencies and elected officials.
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Dubuque Geis Engaged ��'�� �,�T �
'Phis post was written by Candace �3''K � �'
Eudaley,hss�stant Hxecutive llirector � '� � ��, �.
at the EasC Central IntergovecnmenYal
AssociaYion(ECIA)in Dubuque,Iowa '�� ���ii;
ECIA is a council of governments
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