While Perry’s property tax abatement program is causing some new business in the housing market, the city’s leaders are also actively promoting fresh growth in Perry’s retailing sector, which is much reduced from its glory days of the 1970s but is far from dead.
On the contrary, signs of life are plainly visible, and while the nationwide outlook for retailing is mixed, the Perry City Hall is paying attention to fostering retail growth through its academic partnerships and consulting agreements.
Anyone with an interest in Perry’s future as an inclusive, resilient and sustainable community will want to attend Thursday’s Vibrant Perry workshop, where active community members will meet with Iowa State University landscape architecture students and ISU Extension coordinators to discuss new ways toward a vital Perry.
The workshop runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at La Poste, 1219 Warford St. The meeting is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Ben Shirtcliff, ISU assistant professor of landscape architecture, supervised 16 student studies on the urban-design theme: “Status isn’t Random: Urban Design to Support Equitable Access to Independence.” The results of the studies will be presented and used as a basis for community discussion.
Shirtcliff’s students made several trips to Perry, met with community leaders and private citizens and conducted an analysis of the relationship between Perry’s built environment and its:
- Housing, education and demographics
- Industry, commerce and economic development
- Land use, planning and zoning
- Hard infrastructure and transportation
- Culture, entertainment, arts, public space, sports, healthy living
- Crime, accidents, public safety, public welfare and hospitals
- Pollution and environmental impacts, such as point source and non-point source pollution, produced or received pollution, sewer, stormwater, brownfields, grayfields
According to Shirtcliff, urban design policy—such as zoning codes and form-based codes—planning, such as growth, school districts, housing densities, affordable housing and public transit—and urban design—such as housing, commerce, parks, paths, streets, plazas, soft, hard and green infrastructure—should provide equitable access to happy, healthy lives for everyone.
In addition, immigration status greatly affects one’s ability to access basic public services and city amenities and shapes interactions with the physical environment, Shirtcliff said. For many Latinos in the U.S., concerns about immigration status impact financial, emotional and physical well being, an insecurity that reverberates throughout the communities they call home.
“As policies and enforcement change, how can urban design interventions help support equitable access to the American dream?” Shirtcliff said. “In the wake of the events at Charlottesville, Va., how can urban design overcome conflicts, clashes and contests over urban space and support residents’ right to the city?”
White supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio drove his vehicle into a crowd of anti-fascist protesters Aug. 12 in Charlottesville, Va., killing one and injuring about 20. The neo-Nazi faces charges of second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit and run.
Along with its academic partnerships, the city of Perry is developing its relations with economic-development consultants. In a recent instance, the Perry City Council voted Nov. 20 to partner with Alabama-based Retail Strategies LLC, a national retail advisory firm.
The city will work with a sister company of Retail Strategies, called Retail Academy, which assists rural communities in strengthening their retail business sector. According to the Retail Academy website, “Communities will be trained and equipped with the tools and education necessary to attract new retailers to their markets, while providing support to their existing local businesses.”
In recommending the council approve the professional services agreement with Retail Strategies, Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson said the company will provide local demographic market data, retail recruitment tools and networking workshops to promote retail development.
Peterson said Perry Economic Development and the Perry Chamber of Commerce have each pledged $2,500 toward the $10,000 Retail Academy program costs.
Economic development also falls within the purview of the Greater Dallas County Development Alliance (GDCDA), of which Perry is a dues-paying member. Former Perry City Administrator and GDCDA Board member Butch Niebuhr briefed the Perry City Council Monday on the alliance’s annual report.
According to the report, the GDCDA responded to 31 new prospects in 2016-2017, with 12 prospects announcing development plans in Dallas County and 47 total prospects still actively considering projects in the county. The Perry City Council in September approved $1,600 in travel expenses for the GDCDA to attend the annual conference of the site selectors guild in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The point of the spear in any retailing rebirth in Perry will probably be the executive director of the Perry Chamber of Commerce, a position vacant since last summer with the departure of six-year director Bob Wilson.
Chamber President Emily Leslie announced Wednesday the job posting for the position, which will soon circulate on the Chamber’s website and employment websites such as Indeed.com and Monster.com.
“We will be posting this information other places,” Leslie said, “but wanted our local media and Chamber members to have the first chance to break the news and help get the word out to the community of Perry.”
