About the Plan
The Comprehensive Plan serves as a guide for the community’s physical, social, and economic development. It is a community-wide resource that can only be considered successful through the input and implementation of the community at-large. Engaging the community in a conversation about the future of Dubuque was at the core of the Imagine Dubuque Comprehensive Planning process.
Comprehensive Plans are policy guides. Unlike zoning or city codes, they are not regulatory in purpose or application. Residents help shape these policies, which in turn inform city leaders on community values and priorities. Information in the Comprehensive Plan is used in many facets of city life. Of greatest note is its role in informing City Council goal setting, which creates the annual budget priorities and land use decisions.
The City’s first Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 1936, successfully guided growth and prosperity in Dubuque for many years. Unfortunately, the City did not update or replace that plan until 1995 – a nearly 60-year timespan. This mistake contributed to lost opportunities and Dubuque’s devastating economic and population decline in the 1980’s. As John Maynard Keynes once said, “ideas shape the course of history.” Both the 1995 plan and the 2017 Imagine Dubuque plan placed a strong emphasis on collecting ideas from the community to guide Dubuque and the course of its future history.
Imagine Dubuque spanned a total of 13 months, with project initiation and pop-up events beginning in August 2016 and the plan being adopted by City Council in September 2017. Whereas most community outreach initiatives span 3-5 months, Imagine Dubuque’s community input campaign lasted just over 12 months. In other words, 92% of the project’s duration focused on engagement and the reporting of ideas and themes back to the community for further refinement.
It was imperative to city leadership that the process of developing the comprehensive plan be inclusive and representative of the community. A year of community outreach engaged over 6,000 participants who produced over 12,500 ideas from all sectors of Dubuque. This outreach took many forms, from casual conversations at pop-up events such as the Farmers’ Market to focus groups, workshops, surveys, and on-line submissions. Beginning with Dubuque’s Vision 2000 process initiated in 1990, the City has developed a tradition of local community planning excellence, and the comprehensive plan integrates those past planning efforts into one consistent vision for the community’s future.
Contact Jason Duba, Assistant Planner, to learn more about Imagine Dubuque or joining the Long Range Planning Advisory Commission.
Phone: (563) 589-4223
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