Wish list winnowing continued Tuesday with the release of the 30top project ideas for making the Dubuque area a better place to be.
Top 30 Ideas
Listing in no particular order
* Children's museum
* Passenger train service
* America's River Phase II/expand River Museum campus
* Expanded library services
* River transportation and tours
* Integrated walking/biking/hiking trail system
* Community health center
* Revitalized packing plant district
* Utilization of vacant buildings
* Improved leisure time quality of life
* Revitalization of the Warehouse District
* Smoke-free city
* Alternative energy options
* Bilingual education curriculum
* A Dubuque beltway
* Elimination of employment skills gap
* Star Brewery and Shot Tower
* Better traffic flow within Dubuque
* Community-wide wireless Internet accessibility
* Expanded downtown residential options
* Business recruitment
* Employment incentives for college graduates
* Boardwalk and canals in the Port of Dubuque
* Monorail connection to Chicagoand Quad Cities
* Improved Dubuque Regional Airport
* Dubuque as a "City of Preservation"
* Lower rates and improved services for phone, cable, Internet
* Mental health and substance abuse services
* Indoor/outdoor performing arts center
* New comprehensive land use plan
Visit "http://www.envision2010.org/ideastop30.htm"www.envision2010.org/ideastop30.htm for a more detailed descriptionof each idea.
The list, which runs the gamut from bricks and mortar to healthcare, is the result of last week's Envision Town Hall meetings, inwhich about 300 area residents evaluated 100 proposals for theirappeal.
The next step will be a phone survey of 400 randomly selectedDubuque-area residents, polling them for their reaction to the 30ideas. The poll findings will be submitted to the 21-member EnvisionSelection Committee that will go about selecting what it considersthe 10 best projects for the community to tackle.
The committee is expected to have its final selections by earlyJanuary. The goal is for the projects to be completed orsubstantially under way by 2010.
Envision Steering Committee co-chairman Steward Sandstromcharacterized the 30 projects as "well-rounded," and affecting a widerange of interests and concerns.
A partial list of the proposals includes entertainment andeducational venues, community renewal, transportation services andhealth programs.
It will be up to the selection committee to find out what it willtake to make each of the 30 ideas a reality, Sandstrom said.Feasibility and survey interest will help determine what ideas makeit to the top 10 list, he said.
Once the final 10 are selected, the hope is that people in thecommunity will come forward to form various types of partnershipsthat will make the proposals realities, according to Nancy VanMilligen, committee co-chairwoman,
"The wonderful thing about Envision is the community interest,"Van Milligen said. "We've had a lot of young people, people who'venot been engaged before, wanting to know how they can becomeinvolved, and we will have a ready-made way for them to becomeinvolved."
Jerry Enzler, executive director of the National Mississippi RiverMuseum & Aquarium in Dubuque, said he was not surprised that asignificant number of the 100 ideas focused on the museum and thelarger America's River project that spurred development of Dubuque'sriver front.
"More than bricks and mortar, it helped Dubuque connect with itssense of enthusiasm," said Enzler, who is also a member of theselection committee.
Some of the ideas connected with the museum have to do withfunding, which is not always available, he said.
"But it's always good to have a long-range vision because it letsyou know where you're going and what your vision should be," Enzlersaid. "There's something magic about visioning something. It usuallyhappens in some form."
Copyright 2003 by Telegraph-Herald, All rights Reserved.
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