urban sprawl

As I stroll the streets of Downtown Davenport, to investigate the latest flood, I couldn’t help but notice a theme that resonated through most of the buildings, streets, and housing around that area: poverty. I toured the area known as the Gold Coast of Davenport, a historic neighborhood of grand Victorian houses that is directly north of Downtown Davenport, and I was saddened to see an area that has been forgotten. Although attempts have …

…of cleaning up. Local groups such as the 1000 Friends of Iowa are dedicated to the preservation of our farmland and the stop of urban sprawl. We must preserve our downtowns, because they are the natural hub of culture, arts, fine dining, sports, and entertainment. We must engage in sustainable, market driven development. In the absence of coordinated, long range planning, the traditional ‘downtown’ has become an abandoned ghost town of dilapidated building, crumbling into rubble.