Before the Pedestrian Mall's shop doors unlock and the first students cut across on their way to eight o'clock classes, A Better Snow Removal has already worked the brick paving downtown, clearing the walks and loading zones that keep Iowa City's core moving. The Iowa River runs close by, and cold air pooling off the water tends to keep those downtown bricks icy longer than the concrete a few blocks up the hill. The crew handles residential drives too, working outward from downtown into the neighborhoods that ring the university, timing each pass so driveways are clear before commuters back out for the day. Iowa City's winters bring long stretches of gray cold broken by sudden heavy snows off the river valley, and the difference between the two calls for different equipment and a different pace. Clearing the same stretch of brick or concrete twice in one storm is normal here, since a river valley squall can double back with more just as the first pass wraps up.