Clive is an old community with a younger city charter, incorporated in 1956 but rooted in settlement patterns that go back much further. Defined by the Walnut Creek Greenbelt that runs through its center, Clive has turned public art and trail life into everyday experience. NW 86th Street built the city commercially, and now the question is how to reinvent that corridor as Clive approaches buildout.
Key Moments
Stories from Clive
Walnut Creek and the Greenbelt: the landscape that became Clive's identity
If one thing most clearly distinguishes Clive today, it is the Greenbelt. The city says the Clive Greenbelt Trail was designated an Iowa Great Place in 2019, and presents it as one of the best places for walking and biking in the metro. That designation matters because it shows the Greenbelt is not
NW 86th Street: the road that built Clive and now has to reinvent it
If the Greenbelt is Clive’s natural spine, NW 86th Street is its historic human one. The city says the road was once named Clive Road and has played a key role in the city’s development since settlement in the 1870s, serving as a major vehicular and commercial link for the greater metro. That statem
Art Along the Trail: how Clive turned public art into everyday experience
Clive is unusual among metro suburbs in how intentionally it has tied public art to everyday civic space. The city says its Public Art Program exists to promote aesthetic excellence and enhance the artistic vitality of Clive, encouraging strong art, architecture, landscape, and streetscapes to creat
Buildout and reinvention: how Clive plans for a future without endless outward growth
One of the most important facts about Clive’s present is that it cannot rely forever on simple outward expansion. The city says that while it continues to experience healthy growth and development, the community is now landlocked, and that redevelopment of the NW 86th Street corridor is vital for ma
Clive: an old community with a younger city charter
Clive’s own history starts with a phrase that explains a lot: it is “an old community, but a young city.” The city says maps from the 1870s already show a small settlement clustered around the intersection of Walnut Creek, a railroad, and a county road. It says the community was an early rail shippi