Good neighbors build great neighborhoods, and great neighborhoods make for a more connected and resilient community.

Neighborhood Map 10-2022

Click on a neighborhood below to view that area’s Neighborhood Ambassador(s) and neighborhood information.

1. Aspen Ridge/Liberty Farms Adela Hunter	2. Fox Run Jamie Bagan Brandon Kuehl
3. Deerfield Allison Hancock Beke Dube	4. 8 Point Trail Maybe you? - Apply Here
5. Progress St/Jones Blvd Amanda Herbst	6. Goose Lake Thomas Lower Maybe you? - Apply Here
7. Chesterfield Commons Terry Roets	8. Kansas Ave Apoorv Aditya
9. West Lake Matt Jorgenson Abdouramane Bila	10. The Preserve Tyler Fridrich
11. Harvest Estates Cassie Smith O'Brien	12. Quail Creek Eva Anderson
13. Quail Ridge Summer Jagnow	14. Quail Ridge Park Andrew Cole Sophia Parker
15. Liberty Centre Paul Burnett Angela Chapparo-Arias Nic Gulick	16. Cedar Springs Cathy Coleman Scott Holm
17. W Penn St Megan Walker	18. Penn Meadows Matt Hylland Nick Reiten
19. W Zeller St/Liberty Heights Maybe you? - Apply Here	20. Old Town Allan Schau
21. Garner Maybe you? - Apply Here	22. Beaver Kreek Elizabeth Hoover de Galvez
23. Holiday Maybe you? - Apply Here	24. Golfview Maybe you? - Apply Here
25. Cottonwood/Lynwood Ethan Wherry	26. Broadmoor Estates Anna Wu Maybe you? - Apply Here
27. Creekside Adjacent/Woodland Meadows Travis Hiatt Alyssa Bowker	28. Creekside Maybe you? - Apply Here
29. Windsor Farms Jennifer Smith	30. Fox Valley Jen Panther Kelly Petrulevich
31. Arlington Ridge Dana Van Abbema Jaime Bonner Maybe you? - Apply Here	32.Penn Heights Errin Frank
33. Scanlon Farms Mike Mbanza	34. Vintage Estates Helen Varner
35. Mickelson Estates Todd McIntosh	Keystone Place at Forevergreen Yvonne Page

Hi neighbor,

I grew up in a close-knit neighborhood. We went on vacations with many of our neighbors, had what seemed to be never-ending sleepovers, and my parents to this day call those from our cul-de-sac their best friends–even though retirement has spread them across the country.

Everyone helped one another, with after school pickups, building a deck, and pet sitting. And we celebrated together. The Haas’ always held a Fourth of July party on their driveway, parents collaborated on an Easter egg hunt in our park, and my dad strung holiday lights on the huge spruce tree at the entrance of the neighborhood and households contributed a handmade ornament to the decor.

As I got older I realized that this wasn’t the experience of most, but to my core I believe a collaborative, safe and creative neighborhood like the one I had the privilege of growing up in should be an environment everyone can call home.

We do a pretty good job of this as North Libertarians already. Many of you probably settled here because you heard North Liberty is a great place to raise a family. And it is. North Liberty has also long been labeled a bedroom community, with most residents working elsewhere in the ICR area. That’s true, too. But I’m challenging us to take it a step further. Let’s be known for our great neighborhoods.

I want my children to have fond memories of the neighborhood they grew up in, and I bet you want that for your family, too. Being a neighborhood ambassador allows you to play an active role in shaping our community. I’m on your team, and my colleagues and I are excited to help you make your corner of North Liberty as informed, engaged and inclusive as possible.

Jillian Miller
Community Engagement Coordinator
[email protected]
(319) 626-5757

Learn more

Hear from ambassadors

Apply to join the team

“Since joining the Neighborhood Ambassador program a year ago I have felt closer to the City.”

“We’ve started to build a sense of community that allows people to get involved. It’s been a great program to meet and learn from fellow ambassadors what challenges their neighborhoods are facing and what is working well. I feel our ambassador team has been energized to engage our neighbors and the larger community. It has been such a rewarding program and I’m excited to see where the Neighborhood Ambassador program leads us in the future” – Allan Schau, Old Town neighborhood

Why we volunteered for the role

“I love being actively involved in a community. Meeting new people always rewards me with new knowledge about different cultures and learning from their experience is also a bonus.” – Apporv Aditya, Kansas Ave neighborhood

“I want to be someone who contributes to our community rather than just staying on the sideline and watching it grow.” – Abdouramane Bila, West Lakes neighborhood

“I live in a development of young adults and young families. I want to make sure the people in our area are aware of the awesome resources our community has to offer.” – Ethan Wherry, Cottonwood neighborhood

“I love helping out and love to meet new people. This will give me a chance to meet my neighbors.” – Beke Dube, Deerfield neighborhood

Community pride starts at the neighborhood level. Collaborating on a project or creating a neighborhood tradition strengthens your bond with the people who share a street with you. And knowing more people in your community makes it easier to ask for or offer help, understand someone else's perspective, raise a concern in a productive way, or lean on one another when a pandemic throws a curveball. Reach out to your neighborhood's ambassador if anything on this list jumps out to you. And if you have a suggestion that we should include on this list, please send it our way.

Engagement Ideas

Invite the City Over

Bring city programming into your neighborhood or nearby park. Ask your ambassador to coordinate with the staff listed below. Request an individual department, or bring them all to your block at once.

Library – Bring the love of reading to your neighborhood. Contact Kellee Forkenbrock with the library to coordinate pop-up story times, a traveling library, neighborhood library card signup, and Play Streets.
Fire – Contact Mike Johnston for a fire prevention presentation and a visit from a fire truck.
Police – You’ve probably heard of Coffee with a Cop events at local coffee shops. The NLPD would love to pop open a lawn chair in your neck of the woods, too. Arrange a time to share conversation with officers — they’ll even bring the coffee.
Recreation – Contact Shelly Simpson to organize some pick-up games on your street or nearby park, courtesy of the recreation department.

Start a Tradition

It can be as simple as encouraging neighbors to hang out on their driveways or in the park every Tuesday night, or a big event like Porchfest (started by Arlington Ridge residents in 2016) that invites the larger community into your neighborhood.

Organize a Clean Up Day

Help keep our town looking its best. Clean up a nearby park, trial or pond. Not sure where to clean? The parks department can steer you to a public space in need of a little TLC and supply trash bags, gloves, tools and vests. Have your ambassador reach out to Guy Goldsmith to set something up.

Paint a Storm Drain

Add a splash of color to your neighborhood by painting a storm drain. Propose a drain location and design and the city will guide you through the process–and provide reimbursement for supplies.

Start a Book Club

The North Liberty Library has over 40 book club kits available for checkout. Most kits have about a dozen copies already (and the library can get more copies or create a new kit, if needed).

Book a Neighborhood Pool Party

The Aquatics Center’s indoor or outdoor pool reserved just for your neighborhood crew? Yep! This opportunity will become available in 2021 if the COVID-19 pandemic allows.

Start a Little Free Library

Foster the love of reading by installing a little free library (or several) in your neighborhood. Visit the City of Literature‘s map of current little free library locations in town, how to build or order one and where it can be installed, and how to register your neighborhood’s little free library. Just remember, if you start one you need to maintain it, the North Liberty Library does not maintain little free library stations.

Register for a PlaceMates Event

Sharing a meal has been a way to connect with others since the beginning of time. North Liberty’s PlaceMates matches residents of 52317 twice a year for potluck dinners held concurrently in homes throughout town. RSVP to the next event.

Plan a Block Party

You can’t beat a good ol’ fashion block party. Depending on what you have in mind, we’ve got guidelines for if you’ll need a special event permit or not.

Celebrate Good Neighbor Day

National Good Neighbor Day is annually on September 28. On this day, residents are encouraged to celebrate by sharing a meal, helping a neighbor with a project, introducing themselves to a neighbor they do not know, or another act that strengthens their neighborhood’s bond.

Good Neighbor Practices

Good neighbors build great neighborhoods, and great neighborhoods make for a more connected and resilient community. Small acts of kindness can make a big impact on the quality of life on your block.

Choose to connect with a neighbor today – whether they recently moved in or have lived next door for a decade – and our community will be stronger for it. Here are some best practices.

Download a printable copy of Good Neighbor Practices.

a gathering at a Placemates potluck

Notice when something seems off. Check on your neighbors and, if needed, reach out to help.

Engage in the community. Volunteer with local organizations, be aware of current city happenings and get to know your neighborhood ambassador (or become an ambassador).

Introduce yourself. Taking the time to say hello makes it much easier to offer or ask for help later. “Hi, I’m Quincy. I just live around the block on Deer Drive. Here’s my number. Feel free to reach out if you need anything.”

Gather for a picnic or drop off a meal.

Help a neighbor with maintenance tasks and errands like mowing, shoveling, or getting groceries – especially in times of crisis.

Be approachable and available. Smile, wave and offer to keep an eye on their house when they are out of town.

Organize a neighborhood activity. Cleaning the neighborhood pond, starting a Little Free Library, or planning a bike ride are opportunities to foster neighborhood pride and connectedness. We’ve compiled a list of ideas to get your wheels turning.

Resolve disputes in person and handle conflict with tact. Addressing a concern directly and calmly can create a shared understanding and solution instead of resentment. If that does not work, the city may be able to help.

Show respect. Your neighbors may look or act differently than you. Approach your differences as an opportunity to learn from one another instead of as a threat.

Neighborhood Grants

Neighborhood Ambassadors can tap into our Great Neighborhood Grant Program, which is designed to help Neighborhood Ambassadors offer activities that bring their neighbors together and enhance the quality of life in North Liberty. The goals of this pilot program are to:

Build an increased sense of neighborhood community
Develop or renew neighborhood relationships
Encourage interaction between generations and cultures
Further establish the Neighborhood Ambassadors’ role as an engagement coordinator and resource for their neighbors

Funds are available for Neighborhood Ambassador-organized programs or improvement projects. At this time only Neighborhood Ambassadors or residents of a neighborhood with an ambassador vacancy have the ability to submit an application. Contact Jillian Miller at [email protected] for details.

Each year on Good Neighbor Day, we recognize community members who made contributions to the community over the past year without seeking recognition for their efforts. These resident’s actions — big and small — make our community what it is. Nominate a community member at any time.

2021

Thad Abrams for delivering his “killer” old fashioneds and margaritas to neighbors with a smile at just the right times. Eva Anderson for organizing a block party, sharing information and working hard to connect her neighbors. Graham Beckman for full-marathon fundraising walks for the North Liberty Community Pantry Ashley Bermel for being an epitome of neighborhood leader, volunteer and community connector Abdouramane Bila for serving his community as a volunteer neighborhood ambassador, language ambassador and school board member. Cindy Blackley for helping residents at the North Liberty Living Center by running errands during the pandemic. Miguel Colon for being generous with his time by helping neighbors with landscaping and moving, and generous with his treasure by loaning tools and trucks. Candi Evans for empowering and connecting her Golfview neighbors and helping their voices be heard. Barbara Janes for driving residents at Keystone to doctors, stores and other necessary trips. Harper Klein for hosting, since she was 4 years old, a lemonade stand and donating the sales to charity. Laci & Nate Lower for work cleaning up the homes and yards of strangers following the derecho. Diane McGraw for making and donating 1000s of facemasks throughout the pandemic and making them available for free outside her home. Bobbi Newman for making and donating 1000s of facemasks throughout the pandemic. Julie Roskam for making and donating 1000s of facemasks throughout the pandemic. Graham Thompson for full-marathon fundraising walks for the North Liberty Community Pantry. Dean & Linda Westergaard for creating the Olive Branch Library, a little free library, in their neighborhood.

Good Neighbor Honor Roll

It’s time to give a shout out to our community members who made contributions to the community over the past year without seeking recognition for their efforts.

Do you have a neighbor who watched your kids on short notice or a kid who donated lemonade stand money? What about the person who went out of their way to pick up groceries, shovel an extra driveway, volunteered to help with others’ with yard work or gave their garden’s plenty to neighbors? If a resident’s actions — big or small — made left you feeling cared for, we want to help you give them a big high five.

All nominees who meet the criteria and are submitted before the annual deadline will be included on the Good Neighbor Honor Roll.

Must reside in North Liberty city limits.
Has demonstrated a contribution to the community beyond the scope of resident responsibilities.
Their acts of kindness may have been performed within North Liberty or the wider community.
Can be an individual, team, or household.
Can be of any age.

The 2021 honor roll will be released publicly on northlibertyiowa.org — to the surprise of those on the roster if the nominator chooses to keep the recognition a secret — on National Good Neighbor Day, Sept. 28.

Community Hall of Fame Award

The Mayor will review the honor roll and select one nominee to be inducted into the Community Hall of Fame. Like the honor roll, the Community Hall of Fame Award recipient will also be announced on National Good Neighbor Day, Sept. 28.

The Community Hall of Fame Award was developed in 2013 for the purpose of recognizing individuals who have provided extraordinary public service and dedication to the city and its citizens. In addition to meeting the criteria for the honor roll, the Mayor will consider the following when selecting this year’s inductee:

Selection will be based on service rendered to the community. This includes services based on material contributions as well as personal public service contributions.
Special consideration will be given to those persons who have demonstrated a high level of volunteer leadership.
Services provided by participation in volunteer organizations and local groups are also important.
Longevity in public service is important but not totally compelling in determining the receipt of this award.
Community impact is the final criteria in determining the worthiness of a person receiving this award.
A person must have demonstrated a high degree of personal commitment and personal sacrifice to the community.

Nominate Someone

A copy of the nomination will be emailed to the nominator, but not the nominee.

"*" indicates required fields

Nominator Name

Your contact information.

First Last

Nominator Email

Your email address.

Nominee Name*

Who do you think should be on North Liberty's Good Neighbor Honor Roll?

First Last

Please include their email address (if you know if) so we can notify them when the honor roll roster is published.

Why does this person deserve recognition?*

Please provide a brief description (50-words-or-less) of their acts of kindness performed.

The individual you are nominating is*

Since folks of all ages can be included on the honor roll, we're just asking for this information to have the option of recognizing youth and adults separately.

Under 18 years old

18 years and above

Nominee's neighborhood*

As part of the city's Great Neighborhoods Initiative, we'd like to recognize the neighborhood each honoree resides in. This map may help to select a neighborhood from the drop down menu. If you aren't sure, feel free to select "unknown."