The city’s of Burlington and West Burlington have been working with the University of Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities program since August on a variety of issues and needs.

Students working on two such issues – transportation opportunities and arts and culture – held a public open house Friday to gather more information from the public about priorities for tackling the two initiatives.

The graduate students have been in both communities since August, gathering information about current transportation options, the arts and cultures offerings and issues along with surveying the community about needs and wants.

The open house Friday was a culmination of the initial phase of fact gathering and a roll out of potential fixes for community needs. Visitors to the open house were asked to rank the proposals as most to least important.

Emma Knobloch, a U of I student from New Hampshire, said the students have worked with staff from each community, and with Downtown Partners Inc., and Art Center of Burlington staff, to identify community needs and wants. “We have identified the arts and culture ecosystem that exists,” Knobloch said.

The result was a list of 24 strategies the students have suggested.

Joseph Grabowski, a U of I student from Fort Madison, said the students had 189 responses to an online survey that was live for two months.

Students identified areas of transportation needs including connectivity between Burlington and West Burlington, lack of pedestrian infrastructure, and safety and lighting needs.

A mix of projects and policy proposals were presented by the students.

The event on Friday will be the first of several open house and community presentations by the students.

The arts and culture ideas will guide the future of Burlington and West Burlington’s arts and cultures scene to work towards developing joint community, enhance each community’s identity and build cohesion. Transportation recommendations include policy suggestions, improvements to accessibility and alternative modes of transportation.

Burlington and West Burlington city staff presented the students with a laundry list of identified needs, which included a request that the students study ways in which the community may share services.