ISU helping revive small towns with Community Visioning Program

Mar 19, 2024

Back in 2008, the small town of Woodbine in western Iowa was struggling. Like a lot of small towns, population was down and businesses were leaving. The community needed to make a change, so they participated in the Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning Program. The program is a collaboration between ISU Extension and Outreach, the Iowa DOT, Trees Forever and community leaders that provides small Iowa communities with planning and design resources to improve their communities. For Woodbine, that meant converting their grain elevator into an attraction, and revitalizing Main Street. Those improvements helped recruit business owners, and was also a catalyst that eventually led to a new $13-million wellness center and continuing technical education center. The program was so successful, Woodbine is now looking at going through the process again. For more, visit https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2024/03/19/community-visioning