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 just a local park amenity. It has become one of the city’s defining public landscapes.  The Greenbelt’s origin is especially revealing. The city says that in the late 1970s, Clive passed a bond referendum to begin developing a floodplain it had acquired between NW 100th Street and NW 114th Street. The first recreational amenities in that section proved successful, and that success inspired more than 40 years of continued Greenbelt development. In other words, Clive turned flood-prone land into civic identity.  That floodplain connection still matters because water is not incidental in Clive. The city’s flood-information page says Walnut Creek, North Walnut Creek, and Little Walnut Creek are central to Clive and help make the city unique, while also warning that these waterways are prone to flash floods and urban street flooding. The Greenbelt is therefore not just scenic. It is tied directly to how the city has had to live with and manage its creeks.  This is one of the most interesting things about Clive: the landscape that could have remained a problem became one of the city’s strongest assets. That is an inference, but it is directly supported by the city’s own explanation of the Greenbelt’s origins in acquired floodplain land and its continuing emphasis on creek corridors as central to Clive’s character.  The Greenbelt also helps explain Clive’s public self-image. The city’s strategic materials describe “the Distinctive Clive Greenbelt” as part of its long-range vision, alongside a revitalized 86th Street corridor. When a city makes a trail-and-creek system part of its strategic identity, it is saying that wellness, landscape, and everyday movement are central to how it wants to be known.  So one of Clive’s strongest stories is about conversion: creek corridor to trail system, floodplain to public space, environmental constraint to civic signature. The Greenbelt is not just where Clive goes outside. It is one of the main reasons Clive feels like Clive.