Students from the Urban and Regional Planning Department completed a housing plan for Sioux City, IA with the main goal of coordinating reinvestment in distressed areas.

Changing development patterns and housing preferences over time have resulted in a diverse housing stock in Sioux City, IA. On one hand, the City has maintained many of its historic homes and buildings in the urban core, lending a distinct architectural character to the area as well allowing for the availability of a variety of lot sizes to residents. On the other, recent investment has become disproportionally concentrated in the city fringes, leading to deterioration of the housing stock in the city center. Deteriorated housing has a number of negative effects, which range from falling property values to public health risk.

The major recommendations of the plan included objectives related to improving the housing stock, facilitating communication about housing conditions through initiatives such as the development of a neighborhood reinvestment taskforce, increasing staff capacity to respond to housing issues, and empowering the community through the development of groups such as a neighborhood improvement program.