The plan for the neighborhood was designed by Dover, Kohl and Partners of Miami, Florida, one of the world's leading town planning firms. Done through a city wide public participation charrette process, the plan was developed based on ideas from the charrette participants and on historically proven principles of traditional town development. Many of the design ideas were based on planning and environmental design principles found in the historic neighborhoods of Iowa City. Tree lined streets with sidewalks, a network of streets to reduce traffic on any one street, garages placed on alleys behind the properties, a mixture of uses, traditional regional architecture are all concepts requested by the public in the charrette process.

The neighborhood was designed on 35 acres of upland leaving 160 acres of wooded ravines and floodplains to be undeveloped. The developed portion of the site will accommodate up to 380 homes as well as public open spaces, offices and shops.

The 160 acre ravines and lowlands around the neighborhood will be maintained predominantly in a natural state and be used for educational purposes and as an ecological preserve. This park will connect by a future pedestrian-bicycle bridge to the existing 105 acre City Park. City Park is an active park with athletic fields and courts, a public swimming pool, an outdoor theater, picnic areas, historic buildings used for educational purposes, flower gardens and children's rides. City Park connects to downtown Iowa City and the University of Iowa campus via a network on and off road trails and additional trails in the local 13 mile trail system.