UI project aims to restore a sense of community

When 53-year-old Ron Beals was a boy growing up in the Leeds neighborhood in northeast Sioux City, folks could walk the area’s main strip and purchase just about everything they needed for a simple, small-town life.

There was a hardware store, pharmacy, and a grocery that carried fresh produce, meat, and canned goods plus other supplies essential to making a house a home.

If you needed a haircut, there was a barbershop down the way, locally owned restaurants, and a Dairy Queen that served up treats especially tasty after a summer day at the neighborhood pool.

Times have changed.

Today, most of those businesses are gone, driven out by big-box stores that nearly bled the Leeds corridor dry. What’s left is a smattering of services, flea markets, and a couple of small restaurants.

While touring the Leeds neighborhood, resident Ron Beals, far right, talks with UI student Xiaochen Hu about businesses along Floyd Bouleard. In back, Leeds resident Dave Gordon points out an area along the strip to UI student Michael Tylka.

In 2014, Sioux City turned to the University of Iowa for help developing plans to revitalize the Leeds corridor as well as assistance with nine other community projects identified by city leaders.

UI support comes through a program called the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC), a campus-wide effort that matches students and cities across the state to give students hands-on experience working on community projects.

The outreach program, which began in 2009 as a small endeavor in the UI School of Urban and Regional Planning by professor Chuck Connerly, has grown to include more than 200 students from 10 departments who this academic year will work on more than 25 projects in three Iowa communities: Sioux City, Decorah, and Iowa City.

In November 2014, five UI graduate students traveled to Sioux City to sit down with the major players involved with the Leeds corridor study. They met with city leaders, real-estate professionals and local nonprofits. But just as important, the students spent time with lifelong Leeds residents like Beals, Dave Gordon, and Scott Smith to learn firsthand the history of the neighborhood and why reviving the area is more than economic development.

It’s rekindling a community spirit nearly lost to a changing world.

“In today’s world, people are so busy taking kids here and there,” Beals says. “I don’t think you can slow people down, but if we could get a slice of their lives, that would be great.”

Michael Tylka, a graduate student at the UI School of Urban and Regional Planning and member of the Leeds project, says it was essential to hear from Beals and other residents of Leeds.

“I believe I speak for the team when I say that we all selected this project because there is a real possibility that our recommendation could be enacted as the city has funds set aside for a Leeds project,” he says. “Also, we all value the small town personal touch that comes with dealing in a tight-knit community, and I think there is something to be said when you have a connection with those whom your work could benefit.”

Tylka says based on their research and meetings with folks in Sioux City, the UI students will establish criteria for selecting a best option and a number of alternatives to address problems facing the Leeds corridor.

They returned in February 2015 to hold public meetings and share their ideas.

“The goal is to submit a recommendation on how best to establish long-term viability in the corridor in terms of economic development, walkability/connectivity, and recreation,” he says.

Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott, who lives near the Leeds neighborhood, says this is the first time the city has worked in partnership with IISC on community projects.

“We’re excited to have these young people who are gifted in their areas of expertise here,” he says. “It’s a great program, and we are very excited to see what they come up with.”

Sioux City Planner Chris Madden says city leaders are eager to get an outside perspective on the Leeds corridor project.

“The Leeds group (of students) is extremely diverse in backgrounds and can give us a fresh view on what is occurring and working in other communities and countries,” he says.

Beals believes restoring business fronts to their original facades and connecting sidewalks and trails would do wonders for creating a community environment, which he hopes eventually will lead to the establishment of a community center.

“A community center would give us an indoor facility to do activities,” says Gordon, 68, who worked his first job as an auto repairman in a small shop along the Leeds corridor. “I think it would make a difference.”

In the summer of 2014, Beals, Gordon, and others organized a 125th anniversary celebration of the Leeds neighborhood. They cordoned off a stretch of roadway where they hosted a parade, carnival, family fun night, and a car show. The response was overwhelming.

“Leeds hadn’t seen a parade in 25 years,” Beals says. “We want to get back to that community spirit that was here years ago.”