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Living Downtown

If you believe in the theory of the ‘tipping point,’ the social phenomenon brought to the fore in Malcolm Gladwell’s 2000 best seller, the influx of people living in downtown Des Moines may be the tipping point for downtown’s resurgence. Beginning in 1998 with a policy that offered 10-year tax abatement for residential development in downtown, the number of people living in downtown Des Moines doubled from approximately 3000 people in 2002 to over 6000 people in 2007. The initiative brought condominiums and apartments throughout the downtown area. Downtown has cleared the first threshold for urban housing in Des Moines, proving that there is a market that spans the economic and demographic spectrum.

Living Downtown utilizes momentum in Des Moines’ downtown housing and national trends towards a higher proportion of people choosing to live in urban housing. This development proposal suggests that many more possibilities are available to support a larger and more diverse population of downtown residents.

One of the next leaps the downtown housing market needs to make is a transition from the entire downtown as a neighborhood to the establishment of multiple neighborhoods in downtown. The downtown area is simply too large to foster a sense of community. This sense of community is strong in the city of Des Moines, as evidenced by input provided at the first public input meeting. Participants who reside in Des Moines associate with their neighborhood, identifying “Beaverdale” or “Drake” or “Easter Lake” or any number of other Des Moines neighborhoods as their place of residence. Due to densities that are higher than other Des Moines neighborhoods, the geographic size should be smaller than that of other Des Moines neighborhoods.

In addition to creating a sense of community that residents cherish, through their shear mass and constituency, neighborhoods also have the potential to spur development of residential services and amenities. Generally, people opt to live in downtown for a lifestyle marked by convenience. Presently downtown housing is somewhat scattered throughout the downtown area. In several cases, the number of residents combined with downtowns’ workforce provide enough demand

a map generated after Public Input meeting #1 which documents response to the question, “Where in downtown would you like to live?” The highest number of responses were recorded in the Gray’s Landing area where housing does not yet exist. Another popular response was for the area in and around Sherman Hill, a vibrant neighborhood near downtown. Other responses, including those for Gray’s Landing, tended to cluster around the Rivers.

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to support basic services. Court Avenue and Sherman Hill have modest food markets, but few other professional services and retail establishments respond to downtown residents’ needs and wants.

The neighborhood opportunities identified in this section, if developed at appropriate urban densities, represent a three-fold increase in the number of people living downtown. If accomplished, it would bring the total of downtown residents to well over 20,000. Development opportunities of this magnitude are positive for Des Moines. Yet, in order to create the urban neighborhoods identified in this section with the populations and density that will support services, open space, and transportation, focus and priorities are needed. From public meetings, response indicated that people were enthusiastic about housing near the Rivers. This strategy would align with investments in Principal Riverwalk. Housing that associates with Sherman Hill was also indicated as a strong preference.

Through the use of examples of urban housing from across the country and discription of the neighborhood character most suitable to various areas, the following pages explore the potential for downtown housing. Opportunities for downtown neighborhoods in Des Moines include: a. South of Sherman Hill b. Gateway West c. Gray’s Landing d. South of ML King e. Court Avenue f. Lower East Village g. East Village h. Northeast Riverfront i. Events Center South j. OakridgeIn addition to identifying specific neighborhoods, the Living Downtown section concludes with a discussion of general needs and challenges for supporting downtown housing and its residents, such as parking and transportation, schools, parks, and retail and commercial services. More information describing the neighborhoods proposed in Living Downtown can be found in the District Planning and Design Guidelines and in ensuing sections of the Volume II companion guide to this Plan.

This map shows existing housing in the colored rings. Areas that could serve as new downtown neighborhoods are indicated in gray. Currently, there are approximately 7,800 residents living in existing housing in downtown. If the gray areas are developed to appropriate urban residential densities, the population in downtown could grow to 20,000-30,000 people.

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