“We wanted to show people that the North End isn’t that different from other parts of the city,” says Steven Van Steenhuyse, UI alumnus (BA ’83, MA ’87) and director of development services for the city of Mason City. “We want to share the good news about some of the new businesses and provide opportunities for people to come and see for themselves that what they thought all along is just not true.”

As part of a two-year partnership between the University of Iowa and Mason City through the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC), an overall initiative that included roughly 20 projects throughout the city ranging from updating the comprehensive plan to designing murals to developing an aging-in-place campaign, several UI groups focused exclusively on the North End. Their aim: to improve the quality of life and the reputation of the neighborhood.