2010 is starting off with good sales so far. Let’s hope our housing market turns around this year, last year was pretty dismal, only 33 units sold downtown. Our city leaders should be doing whatever possible to help recruit people to move downtown.

2010 Year-to-Date Downtown Condo Sales:

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
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(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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The Downtown Community Alliance (DCA) once again put their mind to an easy way to make something ugly beautiful. For the last few years, since Younkers moved out of the previous flagship store downtown, this skywalk area has been pretty dismal. Walkers were always greeted by a wall of black plastic covering the insides of the old main Younkers skywalk entrance, but as of last week, walkers now see a nice image of the city at night. Thanks again to the DCA!.

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
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(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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MyApartmentMap has just released compiled their average rental prices for Des Moines, IA apartments.

Average rental prices for Des Moines are broken down by bedrooms, they are as follows:

Studios: $596.00
One Bedroom: 590
Two Bedroom: 60
Three Bedroom: 802

In addition to the average rental prices, MyApartmentMap also includes nearby cities, the difference in rent and distance from the original city, in this case: Des Moines

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(5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)

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Would you like to submit a post or article for publication here on Living Downtown Des Moines.com? If you have a passion for living in downtown Des Moines or just experiencing the many things to do when visiting downtown, we’d love to hear from you. Sharing your own experiences with others can be very rewarding. William Shakespeare said it best, “What is the city but the people.”

So, the rules to be a guest blogger are really simple, a few article guidelines are listed below as well as the five-step process to getting your post published.

Article Guidelines

• Your post may be anywhere between 150 and 1500 words in length.
• Author bio should be no more than 50 words or 250 characters in length.
• Affiliate links to your own blog are encouraged.

Submission Process

1. Register for an account, if you don’t already have one or log in.
2. Write your post, you can write it in multiple sessions, saved as a draft.
3. Edit your post to your liking.
4. Submit your post for review when ready.
5. Your post is queued for review and for publishing.

We look forward to hearing from you and to sharing your experiences about Downtown Des Moines with our readers.

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
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(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)

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This was a big hit last year, so I thought I would share this cute little holiday video with you again that helps us realize what the world would be without the internet. For one, I guess you wouldn’t be reading this blog. I hope you enjoy!

With thanks to: http://www.itsawonderfulinternet.com/

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
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(2 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)

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2009 has been a pretty dismal year for downtown condo sales. In 2008 59 units were sold, and to-date we have only sold 31 in 2009. Let’s hope 2010 the downtown housing market turns around and our city leaders do whatever possible to help recruit people to move downtown.

2009 Year-to-Date Downtown Condo Sales:

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
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(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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I was invited to come shoot some nighttime photography as part of the local Des Moines area Flickr Group. You can see most of my shots from this outing at: Downtown at Night Photo Album.

You can check at all the participant’s photography by visiting: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1014797@N22/ or watching the slide show below.

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
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(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)

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This time, the 2009 MSN Real Estate Most-Livable Bargin Markets. From their site, here’s what they had to say about Des Moines.

Des Moines may be one of the best and most overlooked places to jump-start your career. The economy of this Midwestern state capital is solid, with a large number of well-paying jobs in the insurance, bioscience and agribusiness fields. Yet the median house costs just $150,000. Forbes has ranked it one of the best places for business and careers three years running.

It has some of the cleanest air in the country, its residents report low stress levels and there’s enough outdoor recreation, culture and fine art to keep most people happy (its Art Center was designed by I.M. Pei). “There’s so many things that are accessible here,” says Lauren Burt of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. “There’s a lot of volunteerism and ways to be engaged with the community.”

Cons: The extremes in weather might come as a shock to many relocating here. Winters are very cold, and there’s no shortage of tornadoes and floods. Moreover, it’s relatively isolated, with the nearest big cities — Omaha, Neb., and Minneapolis — an hour-and-a-half and three hours away, respectively. Plan on bringing your car; there’s not a lot of public transportation.

Population: 547,911
Affordability index: 2.70
Unemployment: 5.5
Job growth: -1.43%
Median home price*: $150,100
Home price appreciation**: -0.57%
Cost of living index: 85.4
Median household income: $55,545
Commute time (mins.): 21.6
% commutes greater than an hour: 2.63%

*All median home prices Q2 2009

**All home price appreciation numbers cover Q2 2008 to Q2 2009

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
Email: admin@livingdowntowndesmoines.com
Site: http://www.larrybradshaw.net
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(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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Operation Downtown is conducting a survey to assess employees’ perceptions of downtown Des Moines. It only takes a few minutes and the feedback provides invaluable information to Operation Downtown; critical to employee retention and attraction, as well as recruiting new development to downtown.

Please click on the link below to share your opinions.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Lyg2q8buVnqoy2wB2a_2fUnw_3d_3d

For questions, please contact Amy Lego at alego@downtowndesmoines.com or 286-4962.

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
Email: admin@livingdowntowndesmoines.com
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(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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In this week’s posts for the StarTribune.com, a Minneapolis-St. Paul newspaper, the city of Des Moines was highlighted, you can check out the full article at: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/travel/65206692.html?page=1&c=y.

Here are a few excerpts:

With a sophisticated art scene, major-league restaurants, eye-catching architecture and proud history, Iowa’s capital city charms and impresses.

We became acquainted with the city by seeking out — actually, more like stumbling across — its distinctive architecture. No formal tour, just a spontaneous blend of walking and driving and nosing around, with lots of Google searches filling in the gaps. My favorites were definitely downtown’s art deco beauties: US Bank is fortunate enough to be ensconced in the sophisticated Iowa-Des Moines National Bank Building (520 Walnut St.); its equally beguiling neighbor, the Des Moines Building (405 6th Av.), is worth a peek for its glamorous black marble lobby.

The city’s restaurants fed us very, very well. Lucca (420 E. Locust St., 1-515-243-1115, www.luccarestaurant.net) was so impressive that we returned the following night for a second shot at chef/owner Steve Logsdon’s spare, unadulterated cooking (a sublime thyme-kissed gnocchi, fall-apart-tender pork shoulder with white polenta and cabbage), which more than matches the chic minimalist surroundings. It’s one of the Midwest’s great restaurants.

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
Email: admin@livingdowntowndesmoines.com
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(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)

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You may have noticed that the consistency of blog posting has slowed down. I’ve tried to keep up, but future postings will not be forth coming as usual due my current time demands. I will try to continue to post one to two posts every couple of weeks. If you are interested in writing for the blog on a regular basis, please contact me at: admin@livingdowntowndesmoines.com. I’m sure some of you have either have wonderful stories to tell or news to share about downtown.

Read the rest of this entry »

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
Email: admin@livingdowntowndesmoines.com
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I saw this photo of Google Map inspired carpeting in the Sacramento Airport. I know there are some areas in our skywalk system that badly need new carpet. This could be a novel idea.

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
Email: admin@livingdowntowndesmoines.com
Site: http://www.larrybradshaw.net
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(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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Continuing with our series, Des Moines Picture of the Week, this week’s picture comes from Tina Johnson and was taken recently from the 25th floor of the Plaza Tower.

Tina says “I just love stepping out into my backyard (i.e. all of downtown) and taking in the amazing beauty we have downtown. There is always something new, or at least you can see if from a new perspective. This photo of the clock tower atop of the Polk County Courthouse is just one example. I’ve photographed it many times before, but was especially pleased with the detail I could get from the Plaza Tower’s 25th floor.”

Check out previous pictures in of our series, Des Moines Picture of the Week.

closeAuthor: MulderDSM Name: Larry Bradshaw
Email: admin@livingdowntowndesmoines.com
Site: http://www.larrybradshaw.net
About: Please see www.larrybradshaw.netSee Authors Posts (371)

(2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)

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