Urban sprawl may have a negative connotation among the general public, but it is easy to understand why Bettendorf city officials love the spreading residential subdivisions filling up former cornfields north of 53rd Avenue.
The steady growth of new homes in north Bettendorf and Pleasant Valley – plus the escalating value of existing residential property in the city – generate healthy annual increases for city coffers to fund the ever-increasing cost of additional employees, higher salaries, health and retirement benefits and debt service.