The Community Development Division works to improve and maintain the City's housing stock, to revitalize declining neighborhoods, and to provide assistance to the business community. The City has a long history of administering Community Development Block Grant programs spanning over 20 years. These programs were initiated to improve the overall quality of the City's housing and quality of life.
In recent years, the Division has taken a targeted approach to revitalization by focusing on individual neighborhoods. Begun in earnest in 2001, the Park View Neighborhood Revitalization Project is ongoing and continues to regenerate a real, living neighborhood just south of downtown Fort Dodge. The current endeavor is The Lincoln Neighborhood Revitalization Project. To date, 20 properties have been acquired and demolished. As funds are diminishing, the project has now moved into the reinvestment stage. One new home is currently under construction, and several partial lots have been sold to adjacent property owners.
The Community Development Division also provides grant writing services for many City projects and administers many of those grants for the receiving departments. You can also CLICK HERE to enter a Searchable Economic Database with properties located in Fort Dodge, Iowa and the surrounding area.
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