During his annual report Tuesday, he listed accomplishments including 31 million dollars in investment, 56 million dollars worth of construction still going on, planned projects totaling 27 million, and 21 businesses retained or opened for the first time.
Carter credits years of investing in downtown Davenport for its latest successes.
"We started investing in housing for instance downtown almost 20 years before a lot of other downtowns even considered it. When the office market went belly-up, it didn't matter because while we have offices downtown and it's crucially important, a lot of the older stock had already been converted to apartments."
There are nearly 1,700 apartments downtown now, with 300 more under construction and planning underway for 200 more.
"As downtown goes, so goes the rest of this community. It is our postcard and it needs to be healthy for your taxes to stay where they're at, for your sense of place and quality of place to be that which will attract talent and workforce in an area that desperately needs more population."
Carter also says new projects are being considered for western downtown, around the former site of the YMCA, and the eastern side, along East 2nd Street, has almost rebounded from the extensive damage caused by the 2019 flood.
