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Image courtesy of the City of Marion
Before the COVID-19 lockdown forced Lexi Matthews and her fiancé to reevaluate their life in Chicago, the last thing she would have expected was to move home to Marion, Iowa.
“When I was growing up, you didn’t do anything in Marion,” she said. “But it’s a lot more exciting than I thought. Now, everything you want is right here in Marion.”
Marion didn’t become a great town by accident. The elected officials, business owners, civic leaders, and everyday residents came together to create exactly the kind of small town that would attract folks like Ms. Matthews.
She and her fiancé now own Uptown Coffee Company. This elegant and smart shop gets the town caffeinated before heading out for a walk on one of the 35 miles of hiking trails, an afternoon of free classes at the newly opened library, a game of pickleball at the new $19.5 million YMCA community center, or one of the scores of free, family-friendly events in revitalized and newly constructed gathering spaces scattered around town.
Allow us to introduce you to Marion, Iowa, Community Playmaker’s 2023 Community of the Year.
In determining the places worthy of this honor, we look for communities that cast an important vision for their future, invest in the quality of life through policies and initiatives, serve as the embodiment of public service, and, most importantly, are loved by residents.
Communities from around the country submitted entries for this contest. Our panel reviewed each entry with several criteria in mind, including the scope of the quality-of-life projects that were launched and the impact each project had, among other items. While we received many tremendous and inspiring entries, one stood above the rest.
“We just saw a great potential to engage the community and be more proactive about giving them greater opportunities,” said Marion’s Mayor Nick AbouAssaly. “We started prioritizing quality of life, and we were more intentional about seeing ourselves as a customer service organization for the people. We were there to help people solve issues and serve them.”
Mayor AbouAssaly, who moved to Marion as a child, always knew that the town of 43,000 residents couldn’t rely on great weather or natural features like mountains or beaches. Instead, they had to create special places — be it building a new amphitheater, constructing walkable plazas throughout downtown, or even turning a dumpster-filled alley into a hip, art-filled gathering space.
The keys to success, residents agree, are collaboration, clear communication, and government transparency that results in a sense of belonging for everyone in the community. So even when a derecho, or a storm with sustained winds of 140 mph, hit the town in 2020, Marion residents were poised to support each other and rebuild even stronger.
The Marion of today started to develop back in 2007 when Jill Ackerman stepped in as president of the Chamber of Commerce. In search of funding for community development projects, she stumbled upon the Iowa Great Places program and Dubuque, Iowa. City officials there encouraged her to organize brainstorming sessions about the future of Marion.
More than 5,000 people from the town chimed in with ideas for making their town better.
“We didn’t know what we were doing, but we realized we worked really well together,” Ackerman said. “Our city staff and city council really do listen to what the residents want, and that’s how our projects were successful. From the beginning, people were at the table, and their taxpayer dollars were used for projects they really want.”
The motivation was high. After all, the old railroad town was little more than a bedroom community for Cedar Rapids. That was the experience of Ann Brendes, a teacher who grew up in Cedar Rapids and moved to Marion in 2007 to enroll her children in the excellent school district.
“I had no intention of still being here now that my kids graduated high school,” she said. “I would have never suggested that someone come here in 2007, but in 2023, it’s fantastic. COVID-19 and the derecho could have devastated our community, but we snapped back so fast. I’m super proud to live here. It was the best decision to move here.”
Image courtesy of the City of Marion
Part of the reason why Marion grew so quickly was because they had a list of shovel-ready projects that brought in available grant money. The community also donated time and money through capital campaigns that raised the rest of the funding. This brought seemingly big ideas into reality.
One of Mayor AbouAssaly’s favorite projects is the Uptown Artway. In an unused, dumpster-filled back alleyway, the city put the utilities underground, added nine sculptures from artists throughout the country, built a stage, and offered a schedule of free events. Suddenly, restaurants were adding outside seating and people were strolling along new streetscaping on Seventh Avenue to new plazas throughout downtown.
Marion residents also pack into the new 75,000-square-foot YMCA, where the nonprofit and the city’s recreation department run joint after-school programs and community health initiatives for all ages. There were 16,000 new members last year, the mayor reported.
Then there is the state-of-the-art library, which functions as a catch-all community center. Along with books, there’s a recording studio, teen area, art studio, demonstration kitchen, quilting machine, and 3D printer.
On warmer days, Ms. Brendes will see people walking their dogs on the trails that meander along Indian Creek in her backyard. She’s on the committee to create more beautiful spaces along the creek. She also volunteers for the Prospect Meadows Miracle League, which offers baseball programs for kids with special needs in Marion’s newly renovated park.
“It shows how inclusive our community is. We are making an effort for everyone,” she said. “We want to make sure everyone feels like they belong in Marion.”
In the last 10 years, the City of Marion has invested $172 million in capital projects.
These investments in capital infrastructure fall into the following categories:
- Transportation
- Public Works
- Utility Infrastructure
- Culture & Recreation
- Public Safety
- General Government
The City of Marion secured $17 million over a 10-year period in grant revenue.
Major funding sources include:
- Local Option Sales Tax
- General Obligation Bonds
- Revenue Bonds
- Grants
- Utility Funds
That effort paid off, with all the projects from the first charette complete. The town is now working on a punch list that came from the second workshop held in 2017, and residents are always coming up with new ideas. Elected officials and city staff are poised to listen at the library every Saturday, the farmer’s market during the summer, and other community events throughout the year.
“When there is a lot of change in a city, we see it as essential for the city to communicate what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” Mayor AbouAssaly said. “We have a weekly email to the residents who signed up and a quarterly magazine that goes to every home in the city. There is always resistance, but we see great value in collaborating.”
As the spring thaws, the town is ready to break ground on a project called “The Heart of It All” in the center of downtown. It will feature the first refrigerated ice loop in the state and an enclosed pavilion to meet and warm up. In the summer, they’ll have a water feature for family playtime and public art installations with fire tables for evening drinks.
Plus, residents still have a place in their hearts for their history. The old railroad caboose that sat rusting away downtown was carefully moved and renovated within a new historical park, which will be completed within the next couple of years.
Ms. Matthews, whose coffee shop turns into a bar run by her parents in the evenings, said she values the balance of honoring the past while looking toward Marion’s future. She’s using her background in the music industry to oversee next year’s Marion Arts Festival, which draws more than 10,000 people in the summer.
“It’s a great community with so much going on in terms of growth,” she said. “Marion is a small enough community that you get the focus of the city’s chamber and council people. I feel very fortunate.”
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