FAIRFIELD, IOWA, 2002-2003
Project Description
The Fairfield City Council and numerous partners enlisted the University of Northern Iowa’s (UNI) Institute for Decision Making to conduct a comprehensive planning process for the City, simultaneously appointing a new Planning Commission. UNI and the Commission gathered public input primarily through surveys and public meetings; the Commission then refined the information and distilled core values and goals for the City. The final plan, adopted in 2003, presents numerous strategies and actionable items related to community character as well as other planning issues.
Finance and Support
The City of Fairfield funded the Plan, along with support from a number of local corporations and businesses. Additional in-kind support came from educational institutions, NGOs, and individuals, including the University of Northern Iowa.
Stakeholders
All residents of the City.
Methods
The visioning component of the process involved two main projects. First, an intensive survey was completed by more than 600 residents, including many high school and university students. Second, the Commission held a series of town hall meetings to review drafts of the vision and goals statements, as well as to help the Commission identify balancing principles for planning.
The Commission then used the public’s feedback to expand on the original goals and develop action steps. Once developed, the Commission members sought commitments from a number of local organizations and groups to implement steps in the plan. Throughout the plan, the community’s “cornerstone values”—identified through the visioning process—direct and shape actions and goals. The cornerstone values include: harmony and respect; economic strength and vitality; education; preservation of small town life; cultural richness, arts, and recreation; natural environment; beautification; identity and reputation. The five goals driving the plan are:
- Expand Fairfield’s dynamic economy
- Improve our community’s physical assets, beauty, and natural environment
- Advance Fairfield’s educational opportunities
- Cultivate and promote Fairfield’s cultural richness and recreational opportunities
- Strengthen Fairfield as a caring community
Goals are then broken down into aims, which in turn have objectives and strategies. An indicator of success is defined for each objective, along with a proposed implementation date; an organization or body is assigned lead responsibility for each objective, with secondary responsibility given to organizations that can help with implementation.
Outcomes
Approximately 80 groups officially endorsed the plan and many are at work on specific action steps.
Evaluation
While the plan has not been evaluated yet, its authors considered the need for evaluation of the plan and the community. The plan itself describes responsibility and procedures for updating Fairfield’s vision and strategy, and also includes numerous guiding questions to use in evaluations. For example, the primary question for the first goal is:
“How can we determine if our community-wide efforts to implement this plan are advancing harmony and respect, and ensuring that this value is a real, concrete cornerstone of our community?”
Ten sub-questions expand on the topic and ask for specific examples of improvements or success. Each goal has similar evaluation questions, though there is no mention of specifically how the questions will be used in the community. Fairfield also recognizes the importance of recognizing success, and the plan recommends publicity and enthusiasm for advances in the plan.
Innovative Ideas
Fairfield’s plan spends little time discussing the visioning process and how its authors arrived at a consensus on the community’s “cornerstone values.” The plan’s real innovations appear in implementation. The values are scattered throughout the text of the plan, but they are also central in the main goals themselves, such as “strengthening Fairfield as a caring community.” Even more unusual are the creative and specific action steps that Fairfield outlines for achieving these intangible values. For example, the plan calls for an in-home guest program to accommodate out of town visitors in private homes, as a way to improve the atmosphere of friendliness and accessibility. Specifying indicators of success, implementation dates, and responsible parties are also effective ways of ensuring that the plan will be implemented.
FAIRFIELD 2012 AT A GLANCE
COMMUNITY TYPE
Urban/suburban
AREA
5.9 square miles
POPULATION
9,509
LOCATION
Northern Iowa
PROCESS
Visioning and traditional planning
PROJECT LEADERS
City of Fairfield
University of Northern Iowa
PROJECT THEMES
Community Culture
Character
Economic Development