On Friday, the city released a survey to gather information on what residents and community stakeholders want to see in a neighborhood of the Northwest River District. The survey takes approximately five minutes to complete and can be found at https://tinyurl.com/NWRDSurvey.

The city of Fort Dodge received a $25,000 planning grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority to develop this “targeted neighborhood plan,” according to Brooke Flattery, senior city planner. The goal of the targeted neighborhood plan, she said, is to use it to apply for a much larger grant of up to $1.7 million from the IEDA to implement the plan and neighborhood improvements.

The targeted neighborhood plan covers the area that runs from Third Avenue Northwest to the south where it is bordered by Lizard Creek, and from 12th Street Northwest to the east where it is bordered by the Des Moines River.

“The city has prioritized this area for investment for a while and we’ve already done some things in that neighborhood, so we’re wanting to continue that,” Flattery said. “It’s an important corridor. It goes downtown, it goes out to the industry park. It’s just an important corridor and it’d be nice to spruce it up a bit.”

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
An area in the Northwest River District of Fort Dodge is the subject of a community involvement survey about the future development of the neighborhood. The area runs from Third Avenue Northwest to the south where it is bordered by Lizard Creek, and from 12th Street Northwest to the east where it is bordered by the Des Moines River.

In addition to the online survey, a neighborhood meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Best Western Starlite Village Inn & Suites to discuss priorities for possible future improvements to housing, public infrastructure, recreation and general blight within the neighborhood.

“We want to know what residents and stakeholders want to see in that neighborhood so that we can put it in the plan so that if we are awarded, we can make these improvements,” Flattery said. “We just want to know what they want to see, what do they want improved in that area?”