Free press
I was all ready to research a new topic to post for today's Blog when I came across the article below from the Kansas City Star. After reading the article, I dont't think I can do anything other than re-post it here because it paints a great picture of Des Moines. So, that being said, please forgive me for taking the day off and utilizing some of our free press. KC Can Learn From Downtown DM
By KEVIN COLLISON
Kansas City Star
DES MOINES, Iowa | I took a busman’s holiday recently, visiting an old college friend and taking a tour of downtown with a staffer from the nonprofit responsible for its well-being
Bottom line: Anybody in Kansas City who believes we’ve done enough revitalizing our downtown over the past few years had better wake up. Regional cities such as Des Moines have been striving too, and, more importantly, they’ve been doing it consistently over a longer period of time.
It was 20 years ago that Des Moines civic leaders hired Mario Gandelsonas, a Princeton University scholar of urban design, to help the city come up with a plan to foster its downtown revitalization. The results have been impressive.
More than $2.8 billion has been spent downtown since 2000, much of it aimed at making the area more appealing to that educated, younger adult crowd with an appetite for urban living.
Factoid: While metro Des Moines is much smaller than metro Kansas City, 525,000 vs. 1.95 million people, its downtown has 77,000 workers vs. 100,000 in KC. The city can thank major employers, including the Principal Financial Group, Meredith Corp., Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., Wells Fargo Financial and the state of Iowa, for its downtown employment base.
First off, we hopped on a free trolley that began operation last spring. It loops through downtown from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Amy Baker, communications director for the Downtown Community Alliance, took me to a burgeoning area called the East Village. It’s a district on the doorsteps of the Iowa State Capitol that a few years ago was parking lots and car dealerships.
Feel free to read the rest of the article at the link below. Nice work Kevin!! http://www.kansascity.com/501/story/873090.html
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