River Bend Neighborhood

The 6th Avenue Corridor Board of Directors has named Alecia Kates the executive director of the newly-formed organization.

The 6th Avenue Corridor encompasses the area from Interstate 235 north to the Des Moines River along 6th Avenue in Des Moines. The corridor was one of the first designated an “Urban Neighborhood Main Street District” in Iowa by the Iowa Department of Economic Development, in May 2009.

Kates, the newly appointed Executive Director for the organization, will lead efforts to revitalize the area.

Kates has worked and volunteered over the past 11 years in the neighborhoods surrounding the 6th Avenue Corridor, working towards community and economic development goals, including projects with the King-Irving Neighborhood Association and Habitat for Humanity.

Aaron Todd, the 6th Avenue Corridor’s board chair said about the decision, “We’re extremely pleased to have Alecia on board, she brings a new perspective to the organization that will help to move us forward and has already taken the reigns and made progress on several projects.”

The Board and volunteers serving on committees have drafted objectives and action plans for 2010.  Kates says her first goal is to begin “implementing plans that have an immediate impact on 6th Avenue, setting the stage for growth.”

“This is a prime opportunity to apply smart growth concepts and improve the quality of life for the residents of the neighborhood as well as the City of Des Moines. What is good for 6th Avenue Corridor is good for all of Des Moines,” she said.

From Aaron Todd, Brian Douglas, & Laura Graham, River Bend Neighborhood residents who are working with local government officials on the Sixth Avenue revitalization project:

Thank you all for a great visit with Main Street Iowa on [June 16]!  We had a great turnout.  And we need to keep up the momentum!

Our next meeting will be a visioning session to detail how we wish for the Corridor to look in 5, 10, and 20 years.  This will be different than last summer’s visioning session regarding the streetscape project – this session will be more comprehensive and consider more than just physical improvements.  Every action we take in the coming years will be measured against the vision we set.  It’s very important that we have a good turnout so that everyone’s voice is heard.  We need you to share your vision for 6th Avenue!

The visioning meeting will be in July.  We’ll send out an email update by the end of next week with the exact date, time, and location.

Regarding the streetscape proposal: the City is finalizing a streetscape process, which should be adopted by the Council within a few weeks.  Once this passes, the City Manager’s Office and Council will consider our request.  Our proposal has already been approved by the Community Development and Economic Development Departments.

Thanks – and let us know if you have any questions!

We will be sure to pass along details of upcoming meetings as information becomes available.

As you have all heard, the 6th Avenue Corridor has been named an Urban Neighborhood Main Street by the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

Join your fellow business owners, River Bend and Cheatom Park neighbors, and city and elected leaders to learn what this means for:
-business organization & assistance
-historic preservation
-branding and marketing
-aesthetic improvements
-and more!

When: Tuesday, June 16, 8am-9:30am

Location: Holiday Inn – Top of the Tower – 1050 6th Avenue

BREAKFAST INCLUDED!

The 6th Avenue Corridor through River Bend and Cheatom Park has been designated an Urban Neighborhood Main Street District by the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Businesses, nonprofits, and residents in the River Bend Neighborhood will work with the state over the next two years to organize a business association, connect property owners to historic preservation resources, brand and market the corridor and its businesses, and push the streetscape project forward.

The first major meeting regarding the program will occur on June 16. This will be an opportunity to learn more about the program and how neighbors and business owners can get involved to ensure that the Corridor continues to improve and local businesses prosper.

More information about the “Urban Main Street District” designation, and the Sixth Avenue Corridor in particular, are found in this  Business Record article.

Neighbors and business owners from the River Bend Neighborhood met earlier this week to brainstorm ideas for the revitalization of the Sixth Avenue corridor.  Sixth Avenue is a main thoroughfare into downtown Des Moines.  It cuts right through the middle of the River Bend Neighborhood, and in recent decades has fallen on hard times. The brainstorming session sought ideas for reversing that trend, and for revitalizing and beautifying this commercial corridor.

One of the brainstorm meeting’s attendees was Neighborhood Finance Corporation (NFC) employee Steve Wilke-Shapiro. Wilke-Shapiro is Real Estate Development Manager for the agency. He recapped the discussion at the Salvation Army offices in this entry on his blog:

“Sixth Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare forming the spine of the River Bend neighborhood. It runs more or less from downtown at the south to Interstate 80 (where it turns into NW 6th Drive). Along the way it strings together a variety of destinations including Mercy Medical Center and North High School as well as crossing I-235, University, and Euclid.

“It is also, for the most part, underutilized and dreary, particularly for the pedestrian. Until now.

“Aaron Todd and Brian Douglas of the River Bend Neighborhood have recognized that the time is ripe for dealing with 6th Ave. The two are project co-leaders of a planning effort to remake 6th Avenue as a neighborhood asset. Toward that end they convened a visioning session of sorts that brought together neighborhood residents, business, and non-profit representatives to start the visioning process for a revitalized 6th Avenue.

“The visioning session commenced with small groups brainstorming “vision” statements and putting into words the elements of a successful streetscape revitalization. After sharing the results with the full group, we proceeded into a SWOC (Strengths – Opportunities – Weaknesses – Challenges) analysis. The next group exercise was a review of the suggested streetscape improvement elements identified by previous plans, and submitted to the city planning staff. The meeting concluded with a discussion of what type of neighborhood festival might work to showcase the neighborhood.

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