UNI students and Cedar Valley community members are invited to attend the kickoff workshop for Imagine College Hill! on Wednesday, Jan. 29 from 6-8 p.m. at the Center for Energy & Environmental Education (CEEE). The event marks the beginning of a public visioning process for the future of College Hill.

“That visioning is open to anybody and everybody, and each of us individual citizens and people that use the Hill will be able to give our opinion on what we want to see […] College Hill look like in the next five, ten, fifteen years,” said Kathryn Sogard, executive director of the College Hill Partnership.

Urban design consulting firm Ferrell Madden will be developing a new visioning plan for the College Hill neighborhood. The plan will focus on topics like the scale and character of new development; walking, biking, and other transportation options; and the mix of uses and range of activities that will combine to create and maintain a vibrant neighborhood center.

This effort will last for several months, with plenty of opportunities for the public to give input. That begins with the Jan. 29 workshop, where the goal is to hear public feedback through a visual preference survey and small group work. The evening will also include a presentation from the project consultant. 

These suggestions will assist in the efforts to update the zoning code that will implement the new plan later this year. According to Sogard, that zoning code has not been updated since 1971, and new developments have led to dated language and grey areas.

Sogard encouraged UNI students to attend the kickoff workshop to learn more about the visioning process and make their opinions heard.

“College Hill is primarily used by students, and a lot of the businesses are marketed toward students, so this is a really great opportunity to get students’ feedback and help us shape the future of College Hill,” she said.

For more information about the Imagine College Hill! visioning project, and to sign up for updates and provide feedback, visit ourcedarfalls.com/aboutcollegehill.