This housing study is focused on the non-metro area, which comprises the unincorporated area (including the villages) and smaller cities of Hills, Lone Tree, Oxford, Shueyville, Solon and Swisher.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The second round of public input events will take place in September.
Johnson County will host two public input sessions on Wednesday, Sept. 10, for community members to continue a discussion on housing issues in the county’s non-metro area. The sessions will be led by CommunityScale, which is preparing the housing assessment and recommended actions for the unincorporated area, villages and the six small cities of Hills, Lone Tree, Oxford, Shueyville, Solon and Swisher. The study also considers issues related to manufactured home parks anywhere in the county. Each public session will include a presentation followed by an informal discussion:
Printed information will be available in Arabic, English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. In addition to the public sessions, the consultants are meeting with the Board of Supervisors at 9 a.m. Wed, Sept. 10, and meeting with focus groups and other elected officials. A survey in multiple languages will be made available along with an online dashboard.
|
PRIOR ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
June 24-June 26, 2026
In this time period, CommunityScale visited Johnson County and engaged in 12 meetings. The County appreciates all those who attended the focus and public input events to learn about housing and share ideas.
On June 26, the public was invited to attend two public input sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening, to learn about and share ideas on housing issues in the County’s non-metro area. Each public session included a brief presentation (linked below) on the study’s initial findings, followed by informal discussion. Printed information was available in Arabic, English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. A total of 20 members of the public attended each session.
In addition to the public sessions, the consultants convened five focus groups and met with elected officials in five or the six non-metro city.
CommunityScale also met with the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to share preliminary housing findings and needs in the non-metro area of the county. A recording of their presentation is available at the 14:30mark at the link provided.
CommunityScale's presentation is available in five languages: Arabic, English, French/français, Mandarin Chinese/普通话 , Spanish/español
For more information about past or future events, contact the Planning, Development and Sustainability Department at 319-356-6083.
BACKGROUND
Why do a study?
Housing affordability and availability is a concern throughout Johnson County and a crucial component of keeping a community strong.
As part of its comprehensive planning, economic development and other planning initiatives, the County has contracted for a housing assessment study. The study will provide needed detail on housing issues in the non-metro area-- the unincorporated area and six smaller cities of Hills, Lone Tree, Oxford, Shueyville, Solon and Swisher.
Iowa City has contracted for a study of the metro area. Taken together, the two studies should point the way toward solutions that work.
What will the study provide?
The study will provide a print report and digital version. The report will include recommendations and a digital map to help with planning. Results will be posted online (website url pending).
The report will include the following sections:
- Growth trends
- Housing needs and demands
- Expected production targets and gap analysis of what type of housing is missing
- Policy and regulatory issues
- Recommendations that are immediate and impactful, and which the Board of Supervisors can prioritize.
Project Timeline to Date (completion goal is November 2025)
April 2025: County staff began coordinating with CommunityScale team (selected through a competitive request for proposals)
May 2025: Scheduling and outreach began for focus groups, meetings with smaller cities, and open houses/public input sessions, for the last week in June
June 2025: The focus group, city meetings and open house/public input sessions are scheduled for June 24-26.
Who is leading the study?
Johnson County's Planning, Development and Sustainability Department, along with the Social Services Department, issued a request for proposals as directed by the Board of Supervisors. Ten proposals were received, two finalists interviewed, and the selected firm is CommunityScale.
CommunityScale has experience with housing studies in both large and small communities, including counties like ours that have a mix of urban-rural housing. In addition, Iowa City is currently working with a different consultant on a housing study of the metro area. Taken together, the studies should significantly help our community overall.
Will the public be able to contribute?
There will be several opportunities for the general public to share their stories, ideas and questions. There will be a survey in multiple languages plus community workshops held in person and online.
Local governments in the smaller towns have been scheduled for one-on-one meetings with the consultants.
There will be special meetings for stakeholders: housing advocates and nonprofits, economic contacts, financial experts and developers, and residents of manufactured home parks. These events took place the week of June 22.
All input will be summarized and used to create recommendations specific for our area.
CommunityScale will build a website just for Johnson County. We will provide that link as soon as the site is ready.
What data, information and issues will be studied?
The study Request for Proposals (which closed in December 2024) details the many data and review aspects that will be covered. To highlight a few here:
Housing, demographic and community information and data including cost burdens for housing, needs of people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, building conditions and vacancies,
Special attention to manufactured home parks
Information from other housing-related reports and plans
Existing policies, initiatives and codes and how they might be used or altered to advance housing goals
Public and municipal input as described above
To learn more
This backgrounder provides more details on activities to date and includes a budget summary.