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[ Archive: Year 2009 ]
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Joseph Vesterfelt |
Oct 2, 2009 |
Like we talked about at the Iowa Hall of Pride the Carroll community knows about the dilemma of having the young people leave the city. So we have been trying to improve our quality of life for the young people. Thanks to many people in the city we have added a skate park and aquatic center to try to attract the young people of the community to return. Our community is also seeking to add an arts center to the mix because there is a lot of cultural diversity that is starting to grow. The people in the city have recognized that times are changing and are fighting to stay ahead of the game.
I enjoyed talking to Davis Sanders from RDG Planning and Design talking about their efforts in turning new projects green. I thought about my community and how we have added many wind turbines, but have yet to create green buildings. One of the things that think our community can do to improve the quality of life is to add green building to our list. I would like to see us focus on becoming green in our designs. I feel that one area should be our schools. All of the focus of green building has been on industries, but I feel that to encourage our children to be green we need to show them at a young age what we mean. I also feel the need for smart schools to help keep Iowa ahead of the learning curve.
Just like Des Moines, Carroll offers its citizens a quality of life that should be enticing to many people. We take pride in our parks and trails. Carroll may be small but the people are open and friendly. We pride our community for our local business and many people support attracting new ones to make our community grow. We are a small community with a big heart. |
4:20 PM
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Chikemma C. Nwana |
Oct 2, 2009 |
Today, we had various speakers talk to us about the quality of life in Iowa. Relating the quality of life in Iowa to my community - Abuja, Nigeria, It is very fascinating to connect a lot of similarities to both. I come from a community of 778,567 people which is a small community compared to the 140 million people in Nigeria. The quality of life in Abuja is not as easy going as that in Iowa, but I must say, it’s better than Nigeria’s New York – Lagos state with 17,552,942 people. There are good jobs yet very competitive; it is not easy to be an entrepreneur because of the size of the population. Abuja is also a better place to raise children than Lagos because the crime rate is not as high as in Lagos; just like it’s better to raise children in Iowa than in New York City. Also, the city of Abuja is not so busy, just like in Iowa. Abuja also takes pride in its cultural artifacts which is displayed in the city’s art and culture building. The difference between Iowa and Abuja is that compared to other parts of Nigeria, Abuja is the most expensive city to live in because it is the capital of Nigeria. Other than that, I reckon that the quality of life in Abuja includes: living a quiet life, enjoying the beauty of nature such as rocks, and having the friends you want to have, which is similar to Iowa.
Today, I saw Iowa not as a state with a lot of farmlands, but as a city with opportunities waiting to be grasped. The tour downtown Iowa was a very exciting experience for me. I was in Denver, Colorado for my internship this summer and I reckon Des Moines is a better place to live even without the mountains. The art and craft I saw was really amazing and it in itself shows the culture and diversity of Iowa which I hadn’t seen in my 2 years of living in Iowa. We also visited the Iowa Hall of Fame and most parts of Des Moines, all of which was a thrilling experience for me.
The round table conference we had with various speakers was wonderful. I was able to ask questions and have almost a one-on-one conversation with Janette Larkin, a publisher at Des Moines. Robin Anderson, executive director, Mason City Chamber of Commerce, spoke to us about servant leadership. Her golf ball, stone, sand, and beer illustration was spectacular. For me, that was the highlight of the day. It’s a philosophy of life that I will follow: no matter how busy your life is, remember to have a beer with a friend. |
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4:15 PM
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Lydia Yisa-Doko |
Oct 2, 2009 |
Today was quite an interesting day at leadership Iowa University. It’s also our last full day for the session. It was a day for us to learn about the “Quality of Life in Iowa.” We traveled to RDG Planning and Design, Des Moines, where we had a panel of great minds. The businesses represented on the panel were RDG, CI3, Downtown Community Alliance, Tero International, and Greater Des Moines Partnership. They spoke about the purpose of their businesses, challenges they face, as well as strategies of being a good leader.
After our trips to Pella and Ames, I have come to realize that Iowa has much more than I imagined. Aside from these towns being peaceful, beautiful, and surrounded by nature, there are companies and business that offer lots of opportunities to the community. After listening to the speakers, I have learned different things such as the importance of using my gifts to follow my passion, knowing my strengths and using them to achieve success, and also entrepreneurial opportunities in Iowa.
We also had a tour of downtown Des Moines which was interesting to see. And later, we got to meet really impressive business leaders which we had made connections with. It was a nice experience to hear their stories and achievements. Another interesting place we visited was the Iowa Hall of Pride. Looking at all those amazing people that have contributed to the Iowa community with the talents was very inspirational. It made me think about myself and how I can also use my talents and passions to contribute to the community. |
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4:14 PM
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Jon Raftis |
Oct 2, 2009 |
Today might have been my most enjoyable day thus far. What an incredible list of professionals we met today!! The “Quality of Life” panel at RDG in the morning was terrific. Those people are all established leaders within their organizations (which gives them a great deal of credibility) and they spoke about how great it is to live in Central Iowa. They discussed the various projects that the city has undertaken to enhance and modernize the things and places that Des Moines residents enjoy using or visiting. Martha Willits, who is with the Greater Des Moines Partnership, talked about specific projects such as Nollen Plaza and the Principal River Walk. Mary also took us on a nice tour of downtown. I live in West Des Moines, but I do not often drive through downtown. It was an interesting ride on the trolley!
Our tour of the Iowa Hall of Pride was quite possibly the most enjoyable part of the day for me. It was sort of just a “feel good” portion of the day for me. It made me happy and appreciative that I am an Iowan. It was neat to see some items in there related to my high school in West Des Moines (Dowling Catholic). Seeing those things made me reminisce about my growing up years in West Des Moines and what a nice lifestyle my family, friends, and I had. West Des Moines is truly a blossoming town and there are many young families living there. That has to say something about the quality of life in West Des Moines.
I also definitely enjoyed spending time at the Embassy Club. I had a few nice discussions with some of the professionals that joined us and I can only walk away smarter and more connected after having conversations like those. How cool??!!! The dinner was very nice and we wrapped up with a good presentation from Robin about servant leadership.
Overall, this day went very well and it was packed full with terrific content. I have thoroughly enjoyed this week and getting to know the fellow classmates. I am looking forward to tomorrow (the final day), but it sure has been fun to spend time around these great folks. I feel that I will look back on this week with a great deal of pleasure. |
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4:13 PM
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Mary-Miranda A. Okraku |
Oct 2, 2009 |
We spent the day in downtown Des Moines today. I had only been exposed to a small town in Iowa so even though I had driven through Downtown before, going on the tour was something very different and new to me. Today, I was made aware of the quality of life in Des Moines. The speakers touched base on how they have Impacted Des Moines in various ways and improved the standard of living in the city. I was actually surprised when Mary Lawyer mentioned that they did not have a bus that run through downtown until recently they had to invest in the trolley downtown. This was one of the ways in which the quality of life in the Des Moines Area was improved. Waverly is improving in its way of life, Walgreens is the new grocery store that is being added to the chain of grocery stores in addition to Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee which I think it’s a good thing because it will bring a lot of variety like job opportunities to Waverly.
Some of my high school friends and I started a group with the aim of sponsoring a child in Ghana through elementary school but we never got really serious about it. To improve the quality of life in my community or hometown, I have decided to make a difference in someone’s life with the help of my friends by raising funds in Iowa as well as other places to help support the children back home.
I felt much honored to dine and chat with Business leaders today. I had the opportunity to meet Bill Brown, the chair for ABI. I was a bit nervous at first about having conversation and asking the right questions but as soon we did the round of introductions, all the anxiety went away. It was very eventful and I learnt a lot more about the opportunities Iowa has to offer. I also learnt in detail about the ABI foundation as well. It was a very informative event.
The highlight of my day would definitely have to be the trip to the Iowa Hall of Pride. That place is really breath taking. I was amazed by the all the virtual reality games and all the information I learnt over that period of time. I learnt more about the stars of Iowa and even learnt about the eye and about my heart which was awesome! This whole experience had really been an eye opener. From day one, I have learnt so many things which will stay with me for the rest of my life! Thank you ABI and LIU!!! |
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4:12 PM
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Danielle White |
Oct 2, 2009 |
I am not going to write about my community in Bettendorf because I have not lived there for about three years now and Drake University has become my community. I have joined many organizations on Drake’s campus as well as seen other organizations directly impact the quality of life not only the community at Drake but the Des Moines area. One that has impacted me and the Des Moines community the most is the Student United Way of Central Iowa. I helped create this organization last year after attending Alternative Spring Break my freshmen year where we helped build houses and communities directly affected from Hurricane Katrina. Jump starting this program made me realize how much the Des Moines community and Drake’s campus needed our organizations help in charity and fundraising all across the board. We helped promote Combat for Hunger, worked closely with Habitat for Humanity, Boys and Girls Club of Central Iowa, and a Trash for Treasure exchange at the end of the year that directly affected the community and students.
As Martha Willits from the Greater Des Moines Partnership spoke this morning on all the projects Des Moines brainstormed seven years ago and the group came up with 30 projects to add to metro area. They have completed 18 projects in the last seven years; this amazes me that one community can grow this much in this short of time. Many of the projects have directly affected Des Moines citizens and Drake students. I truly appreciate all the work being put into the community to make where we live a better place. Two of the projects I have directly affected me the most are the bike paths and grays lake. People don’t see Iowa as an outdoor place but I don’t understand why we can’t be, I believe we have the people to support these activities and am enjoying all these additions to the great city. |
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4:09 PM
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Daniel Hanawalt |
Oct 2, 2009 |
Today we were instructed to write about the quality of life in our hometown and how it is changing. I am from Waverly and I feel that the quality of life has always been high. Recently, there have been a few projects and proposals that I believe will greatly improve the quality of life in the community of about ten thousand people.
The first thing that came to my mind when thinking about the quality of life in Waverly is the new wellness center, The W. The project was a joint effort between the city of Waverly and Wartburg College. The W includes amenities such as a sixty-five hundred foot workout facility with a climbing wall, two-hundred meter indoor track, multi-purpose recreation courts, and an aquatic center. This remarkable facility is one of the nicest in division III athletics and nearly unheard of in a town the size of Waverly. As a member myself, I can personally attest to how great the facility is and how it provides a great way for citizens of Waverly to improve their quality of life.
The citizens of Waverly put a high importance on educational quality. The high school finished a new gymnasium and auditorium addition just two years ago. Also, the community just approved a bond to build a new middle school that will house students from fifth to eighth grades. The community stepped up to pass the bond after multiple school buildings were damaged by flooding in 2008. Waverly’s high priority in education is another way that it has recently emphasized the cities quality of life and in the future I feel the quality will continue to improve. |
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4:07 PM
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David Miller |
Oct 2, 2009 |
Today we spent most of the day discussing the quality of life in Des Moines today. This was a culmination of a weeks worth of people discussing how great Iowa has been to them and how their companies were making things a better place too. My hometown is improving its quality of life as well, right next door to Des Moines.
West Des Moines has been making large improvements in the past years to really draw attractions to the area. While the city already had some great trails and schools set up for the community there was still more that could be done. The best way to reference the Jordan Creek area would be to direct you to their website, which has everything on it. I am so impressed by the establishment of not only a mall attraction to increase people coming to shop but the businesses around the area. We have added a Lowe’s, Walmart, Kohl’s, TJ Max, Best Buy and many other larger named companies along with smaller restaurants that are not only attractive but create many jobs for the community. These establishments are also a breathe of fresh air into the community.
Another pursuit of West Des Moines has been an initiative in the schools to be much more healthy. This is a great thing because its not just something that city officials are hoping the schools can fix. If you take a look at the parks and recreation part of the city of West Des Moines part you will see that the city is making an initiative to improve the parks and recreation events and overall relevance in the city. This is another example of how West Des Moines is doing what it can for its community members and it is impressive to see the commitment for a better city. That’s all, go LIU! |
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4:06 PM
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Rhonda Greenway |
Oct 2, 2009 |
I’m from Van Meter, a rather small town just west of Des Moines. I’ve actually lived in Van Meter for about 15 years and it’s a community I absolutely love. I graduated from our school, a K-12 institution, a little over a year ago with a class of slightly under 40 young adults. To me, Van Meter is truly the best of both worlds. I had the benefit of going to a small school with excellent instructors who genuinely cared about the students. It’s the strong, tight-knit family environment that every community should aim for. Additionally, our school has the benefit of being close to the West Campus of DMACC and this allows for the students to take college credits while in high school. On the flip side, I could drive into West Des Moines in 10 minutes and have virtually any opportunity at my fingertips.
Van Meter has continually progressed thanks to the wonders of westward expansion. We’ve built an athletic complex with baseball, soccer and softball fields, added numerous housing areas, expanded the school and established various community nights. During the summer the Park & Recreation Board shows movies in the park. They’ve also reorganized our former Kids’ Day into a weekend long festival called Raccoon River Daze. The school itself never fails to continue progressing. For instance, this year they are going one to one with laptops for the students. I’m not going to lie; I’m a wee bit bitter. I didn’t get a laptop until I graduated from high school. My younger sister will be a sophomore this year and she’ll get a Macbook because Van Meter values its quality of life. Regardless of my irritation towards this being instated post my graduation—I do love my hometown and I’m incredibly happy with their progress. |
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4:04 PM
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Nick Litwiller |
Oct 2, 2009 |
Throughout the week, we’ve learned exorbitant amounts of information supporting the fact that Iowa offers a great quality of life. We’ve heard of numerous successful Iowans that moved out of Iowa to seek opportunities but quickly returned because living in Iowa was simply…better. Whether it’s the hard-working, Midwestern work ethic or the great education system, there’s just something about Iowa that you can’t find in anywhere else. Putting more thought into it, I think it might have something to do with the affordable living, expansive job opportunities in many fields (no pun intended), lack of traffic, clean cities, and much more.
What I’d like to focus on is the quality of living specific to my hometown, Ames, Iowa. Previous to moving to college in Iowa City, Ames had been the only city I’ve ever lived in, in fact, I had always lived in the same house and same room. I would attribute Ames’ great quality of life to 3 major things: ISU, the education system, and Hickory Park…no, just kidding, the third reason is family values. Iowa State University, brings a TON to the community including stability, intelligent citizens, and economic strength. With 50% of the population being attributable to a state regent university, the community is considerably more resistant to economic volatility as there will always be students and there will always be professors, so no matter what the economy does, nearly a majority of the population is insulated. Also, ISU brings intelligent people to the community who value strong education in the public school system, which in turn develops smart, high-achieving students.
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4:03 PM
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Jennifer Doak |
Oct 2, 2009 |
Today we got to discuss the quality of life. There are not many times that I actually stop to think about it. I just go on about my day. I don’t stop to think about all the things that could be changed on the simplest level, and then eventually maybe have a bigger impact. Living in Ogden and going to school in Boone offers me the chance to see two different communities and their way of trying to help. I spend more time outside in Boone verses sitting at home in Ogden.
I’ve noticed that community wise I don’t see a lot of cooperation to help the quality of life, or I’m just not looking hard enough. I know that the honor’s society that I’m a part of in Boone for college academics does some things. We do what we can to help. We have done many food drives. There are a select few of us that have even spent a few hundred dollars on food to help give to our own food drive. The more people see you leading by example, the more apt they are to follow your lead. We give the food we get to the local food bank in our community. It never seems to be enough. Also during a few of our meeting and conventions for our honor’s society we take up collections for Darfur. When the collection is enough the money is sent over to help those who need it. There are two websites to look at to see how you and/or your community could get more involve in adding to the quality of life.
Wayne Hansen, Mary Lawyer, Rowena Crosbie, Davis Sanders, Martha Willits, and Amanda Brend were all great speakers on the behalf of the quality of life. Mrs. Brend also did a great job talking about civic responsibilities and community stewardship. They gave you a great over look, and motivated you to want to do more to help. To all of them I give them my sincerest thank you for taking the time to come and speak. |
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4:01 PM
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Ria Thompson |
Oct 2, 2009 |
We started off our day by visiting RDG, formally known as Renaissance Design Group but now just RDG. We spoke with panelist that consists of CEO's from the company to people who they work with. I really enjoyed listening and asking questions with this group because it related the most to my career aspirations. Before my plans were to graduate DMACC and move to another state to work on my bachelor's degree. After today I'm not so sure that I want to venture away from Iowa. The panelist made aware of the career opportunities for young aspiring business men and woman like us.
I was born and raised in Des Moines, IA which in my opinion was not always the most exciting place to be. I could not wait to venture away and explore my options in other states. Today I fell in love again with Des Moines, IA and realized that there is no other place for me.
I appreciate this experience for being an eye opener and helping guide my decisions for my after college plans. I have had a great time meeting successful business people that have donated their time to inspire the students in this program. I can honestly say that I will take away something from each one of my classmates that I met. They all have unique personalities and I know they are soon to be successful in their individual career aspirations. I can't wait to hear remarkable stories of their success, hard work, and leadership skills they will implement into the community. I will truly miss all of them but look forward to continuing long lasting friendships and keeping in touch through facebook or myspace. |
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4:00 PM
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Chelsea Berry |
Oct 2, 2009 |
Oh, Des Moines – the best city in the world. I have always been a huge promoter of Des Moines, and today’s activities only put even more emphasis on my love for this wonderful city. The quality of life in Des Moines is unlike any place I have ever visited or lived. I have traveled six countries in Europe, 15 states in the USA, as well as Mexico and The Bahamas, and I have never felt more welcome than I do here in Des Moines. This morning we went to RDG Planning and Design downtown, and visited with a panel including Wayne Hansen, Mary Lawyer, Rowena Crosbie, Davis Sanders, and Martha Willits, and we got to pick their brains about why Des Moines is such a wonderful place to live. They have all been actively involved in making downtown a more attractive, fun place for all ages and interests. I have grown up in Des Moines, and I have seen these changes take place in the last 5 years. I have always been involved in activities in the downtown area with things such as concerts at Simon Estes amphitheater, Gray’s Lake, shopping centers, etc. and I have seen Des Moines flourish with things such as the Principal River Walk, the Poppajohn sculpture park, and the ice skating rink by the river. I can’t wait to see what else is to come for Des Moines and its wonderful residents. The quality of life in Des Moines, Iowa is second to none, and I am proud to call this place home.
Another unique thing about today was that we had an opportunity to sit down over lunch with executives around Iowa, and pick their brains about business, leadership, and Iowa. I met with Mary Hunter, who is the executive director of JDRF here in Iowa. She was a great person to talk to, and gave us some awesome advice. Her main two points were to do what you love and that life is short, so don’t take for granted the present. I couldn’t agree more with those two things, and I am excited to apply those things to my career.
The Iowa Hall of pride was also very interesting – I found my cousin on one of the displays!
Another very interesting thing today was talking to Amanda Brend with ITA Group. She has been an active member of numerous groups within the Des Moines area, and is a very successful business woman. She emphasized how important it is to give back to our community by volunteering and donating to the charities we are interested in, and showed us a great way to do so. She had us write down something that we are interested in getting involved with and how we will raise money for that group in the next year. She gave us websites to use if we had trouble, which I have found to be very interesting, www.serve.gov and www.dosomething.org. |
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3:59 PM
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Megan McMahon |
Oct 2, 2009 |
As an Iowa native who has left the state, I can really appreciate the quality of life we enjoy here in Iowa. Growing up in a Fairfield, I always wanted to get out of a small town and get out of Iowa; I decided to move to Denver to go to college and it was one of the most influential decisions of my life thus far. I thought that I would leave Iowa and never really want to come back, but that changed very quickly after I left the state. All of a sudden, the things I took for granted in Iowa seemed extremely important in light of their absence; my family was no longer close by, most of the people there had much different values, and the sense of community that I had felt in a small town just didn’t exist in a big city.
It took me leaving Fairfield to realize what an amazing quality of life I could enjoy there and in Iowa in general. Though Fairfield is a relatively small town, it has a very diverse population and many business opportunities. Due to Fairfield’s diversity we have many small and large businesses and those businesses really contribute to the quality of life; for instance, we recently completed a large civic center, the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center, to bring the arts to the forefront of social interaction. Also, to engage people in outdoor activities, we have an extensive series of trails and parks run by the Fairfield Parks and Recreation. Along with many other events hosted around town, these organizations strive to improve the quality of life in Fairfield and are a large reason why I will return to Iowa. |
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3:57 PM
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Skyler Wistrom |
Oct 2, 2009 |
Most of today’s focus has been on quality of life in the Des Moines area. In my hometown of Stanton, IA there has been a large attempt to increase the quality of life over the past few years. One of the main projects that is currently going on is aimed at creating a large wellness facility that will also house a day care center. I am not very up to date on this project because I have not spent much time in the area, but on paper this seems like a pretty decent plan. The main issue that I have with it is the fact that I do not think that we have the population to support this type of facility. Especially since there is a YMCA within 10 minutes.
I’ve been trying to think of ways that they can improve the quality of life in Stanton, but it’s not as simple of a task as what it would seem to be in a larger city. There are several hurdles that are presented in a small town. The main hurdle is financial. It takes an incredibly large amount of financing in order to do multiple changes. When you have a business in a small town, it also becomes incredibly difficult to make a profit.
I currently am unable to come up with a “better” way to try and increase the quality of life in small towns throughout the state, but am currently unable to imagine what could be done. Hopefully in the future I will be able to find an answer to this question. |
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3:53 PM
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Chad Davis |
Oct 2, 2009 |
Today we discussed quality of life for Iowans. I have to admit that I am a person who enjoys my hometown and my family. I understand some people wanting to go experience the big city life and try to make a lot of money. I was probably going to stay in Iowa regardless if I came to this conference or not but this conference has been more beneficial to me than I could have imagined. The quality of life in most Iowa towns is similar to that of Fairfield's and there are a number of things that I love about it. It has been proven that there are great people in Iowa considering three towns are in the top ten as far as people who volunteer, I love the fact that I can go out at five o'clock after a hard days work and fish almost any time I want. People care where your going in life and will do what is in their power to help you, for example, I had teachers in high school that were as close as friends, as you can tell by this website. I have also had a lot of experience with the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce because both of my parents belong and love having the closeness of business's in Fairfield.
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3:52 PM
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