The collective brass of the Iowa City-Coralville-North Liberty Commerce Triangle are hard at work on a landmark economic policy charter to be known as the Community Business Attraction and Anti-Piracy Compact. A lofty title for what some believe to be little more than a misguided protectionist reaction to the giant sucking sound emanating from the […]
Your Town Now
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Your Town Now: Urban Chicken Keeping
At long last, it appears that urban chickens may be on their way to Iowa City. On Nov. 27, an amendment to the Iowa City zoning code that would allow chicken-keeping at single-family homes passed second consideration, 5-2. The amendment must pass one additional vote before being enacted; the third vote is scheduled for Dec. […]
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Your Town Now: A New Levee or Amtrak for Iowa City?
Iowa City’s floodwall plans raise a question about priorities Hurricane Sandy’s ravaging of New York City and other parts of the eastern seaboard serves as a grim reminder of just how vulnerable our communities remain to natural disaster. The chaotic aftermath produced apocalyptic images of inundated streets, miles-long traffic jams and empty grocery shelves. […]
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Your Town Now: Justice: Supply & Demand
If you can cut through all the glittering doublespeak and rhetoric, you’ll find a deeply ambiguous set of truths about the proposed Johnson County “Justice Center” (read: jail) that will be put to a vote on Nov. 6. (Or right now, if you’re an early voter.) For dramatic effect, it should be noted that the fight […]
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Your Town Now: Following the Money
Your Town Now—now featuring twice as many writers as a 1,000-word column should need—is Little Village’s monthly look at local news items of interest. In this edition, we look at two proposed initiatives of the City of Iowa City: to restrict payday lenders, and to focus school district spending, once again, outside Iowa City proper. […]
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Your Town Now: Red Light Caution
Many of us subject ourselves to forms of surveillance on a daily basis. Every time we post a picture on Facebook or send out a tweet, we are contributing to vast digital archives of data about ourselves, observable to those both within and beyond our social circles. While we do this voluntarily, what a lot […]
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Your Town Now: Beyond Bike Friendly
From the outskirts of Rochester Avenue to heavily-trafficked downtown streets like Burlington or tree-sheltered lanes like Summit Street, “Share the Road” signs suggest that Iowa City is a bike-friendly town. But Mark Pooley, Audrey Wiedemeier and Brad Parsons beg to differ. For these members of Think Bicycles Coalition of Johnson County, an advocacy group for […]
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Your Town Now: Students Lobby for Sweatshop-Free Options
The name Alta Gracia means “high grace.” In the Dominican Republic, the Virgin of Altagracia is the protector of her people. Her name is invoked tenderly and with reverence by those seeking blessing on their land and on the many hands that help cultivate it, particularly in the poverty-stricken community named for her. Villa […]
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Zoning Out: One Resident’s Take on Crime, Capital & On-Campus Housing
In 1965, Nancy Carlson came to Iowa City as a student and never left. At that time, about 40 percent of UI students lived in on-campus housing. As an Illinois transplant and farm girl, Carlson remembers the vibrancy of downtown neighborhoods in the 1970s, recalling the single-family homes lining South Johnson and Van Buren […]
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Your Town Now: Slouching Towards Downtown
Carpetbaggers to Iowa City have had a bit of fun with us lately after skulking away to Michigan. Stephen Bloom, who embarrassed himself in The Atlantic’s formerly admirable online presence, and Nila Haug, who sources tell me was something of a grumpy slumlord, each left our fair city with a steaming pile of thanks on the doorstep after heading off to the land of malaria, blight and the Nuge.
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Your Town Now: The Year to Come
Saying the face of downtown will change this year is no hyperbole, given the spread of likely-to-be-developed properties. This column will give you the lowdown on some things to expect this year. But first, let’s check in on our old friend John Millar…
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Your Town Now: Stopping the Silence
Women’s Resource and Action Center: uiowa.edu/~wrac Men’s Anti-Violence Council: uiowa.edu/~wrac/anti-violence.shtml Rape Victim Advocacy Program: rvap.org Rape Crisis Line at the RVAP: (319) 335-6000 Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline: (800) 284-7821 For the purposes of this writing, let’s stipulate up front that we don’t really know exactly what happened in the Penn State football locker room in […]
