Before a community can plan for more housing, it needs to know what’s missing.
The City of Alta is receiving a $20,000 state grant to assess local housing needs and help guide future development.
Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Economic Development Authority announced Tuesday that 15 rural Iowa communities will share $385,000 in Empower Rural Iowa grants. Alta is one of five communities awarded $20,000 through the Rural Housing Readiness Assessment program.
The city will partner with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach to evaluate its housing needs and develop strategies for future growth.
The assessment program uses publicly available data to help communities understand their current housing and development conditions. That information can help local leaders identify changes to development codes, local ordinances or housing incentives that could make their communities more attractive to potential homebuilders and developers.
The grant is intended to support planning and policy development, rather than directly pay for construction of new homes.
The state’s program supports communities with populations of 20,000 or fewer that are not adjacent to cities with populations of 40,000 or more. Applicants also must provide matching funds, meaning Alta will need to provide at least $10,000 in matching cash funds to qualify for the $20,000 award.
The funding is part of a broader state initiative supporting rural housing, child care and community development. The Empower Rural Iowa grants are administered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Center for Rural Revitalization.
