Look for updates on winners and participants on Sunday! If you didn’t get a chance to register for this one, we will hosting another next year.

Here’s our January update of what Netflix DVDs downtown residents are watching this month.

Example of a Modern Tram

Recently two public meetings were hosted by the Downtown Community Alliance to get public input on the feasibility of a tram system for downtown. I was unable to attend either of the sessions, but here’s what I’ve found out from others on the Downtown Shuttle System forum at AbsoluteDSM.com.

The following points were made at the meeting:

• Most people are only willing to walk .25 miles for mass transit.
• Start the tram system on a small scale that can later be expanded to include a larger area, with the first segment running about three miles in distance. 
• About every 900 feet would be a stop. At tram stops, there would be a GPS tracking system that would tell you how many minutes before the next tram arrives. You could then make a decision to either wait for it or not wait for it and instead walk to your destination.
• Tram cars would be modern style cars, not historic replicas, and initial run would require three cars. Cars cost approximately $3 million each.
• The first segment would cost approximately $50 million for planning, construction of track and overhead electrical lines and purchase of rail cars. Over 2/3rds of the money goes toward track construction, about 1/4 towards purchase of the cars.
• Initial build out is fairly quick since minimal existing utility relocation is done, a three block section can be done in about three months time. 
• The proposed bus transfer station is not part of this project and this project is not dependent on it.
• Every city that has added tram lines such as this has spurred development along the tram route.
• Tram would run till 10 pm on weeknights, midnight on Friday & Saturday nights, 8 pm on Sundays.

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If you told someone that Walt Disney was alive and well in downtown Des Moines, they might look at you in a goofy way (no pun intended). But everyday at the downtown school, young lives are being shaped by Walt Disney.

The process was the creation of Walt Disney himself even before he opened Disneyland in 1955. Walt had the idea that he didn’t want his employees to know only about their specific job and the skills needed to go with it. Disney wanted them to know the Disney culture and traditions regardless if it was a part time employee hired for the summer or an executive being hired for upper management. He didn’t consider it an expense. Walt Disney considered it an investment.

Teachers at the Downtown School in Des Moines are trained to break the mold of traditional education methods. Teachers encourage students to be self motivated. Students learn and grow in a nuturing atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. Drake University is also a partner offering a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education.

One of the best examples of Disney’s process was an experience by Disney himself. Walt Disney hired a 12 year old boy who was the spittin’ image of Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer. The boy read Mark Twain’s novel and knew all the quirks about how to act like Tom Sawyer. The boy took his role too seriously that he was getting into fights. Walt Disney didn’t get angry with the boy or fire him. Instead, Walt Disney felt that the Disney company had failed the boy by not teaching the boy what was expected of him.

More can be learned about the downtown school and the Disney way at this book, The Disney Way: Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company.

Editor’s Note: A Blast from the Past is part of a re-occuring series, check out previous Blasts from the Past.

Continuing with our series, Des Moines Picture of the Week, this week’s picture comes from Flickr user, David Benna a.k.a IowaPilot and is a Fake Tilt Shift image of Des Moines. Fake Tilt Shift photography makes it appear as though you are looking at a miniature model.

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

Recently Hubbell Realty announced that they will be renovating two former warehouses to bring 149 new affordable rental units to the downtown housing market. The two current warehouse buildings are the former Hawkeye Transfer Co. warehouse at 720 Elm Street and the former Schmitt-Henry Manufacturing Co building at 309 SW Eight Street. Construction is scheduled to start in a few months and be completed in early 2010. Since this is affordable housing, rents will be in the $540 to $730 a month range with square footage between 530 to 1,419.

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With only seven more days to register for the First Annual Downtown Des Moines Scavenger Hunt, I thought I would bring you some updates on the event.

The event is going to be held Saturday night, January 17th, and will start promptly at 7:30 pm in the Liberty Condo Building at the corner of Sixth & Grand Avenue.

You will pick up a list of snapshots of places downtown. For example, you may see part of store front window. You and your partners (you can also do the event solo) will then try to find the shot where the photo was taken and then you will take your photo in front of that item. This will continue until you’ve visited all the places on the list and taken all the photos on your digital camera. If you are participating with others, only one digital camera can be used. As soon as you complete your assignment, you hurry back to Liberty Condos and prizes will be award for first, second and third place.

We have more than $1,000 in downtown prizes and gift cards to places like Splash, The Underground, The Royal Mile and Baby Boomers.

Living Downtown Des Moines.com is one of the proud sponsors of this event. For more information, contact the event host, Tina Johnson at geturban411@gmail.com.

This is a video that was recently published on YouTube. It appears to be shot in 2006, and the editing isn’t perfect, but it’s a good overview of the what Des Moines has to offer. It was originally part of a tourism infomercial for Greater Des Moines Convention & Visitors Bureau.

In 1974, Des Moines was 3 decades away from being thought of as being cool. Downtown was a huge eyesore. The Civic Center was a dream that perhaps would never come true in the foreseeable future. Public sculpture like Crusoe’s Umbrella in Nollen Plaza was for cities like New York and Chicago.

Beyond the unattractive parts of the city, Des Moines could be cool. A sculpture by Mark Jacobsen made it’s home at Merle Hay Mall. It was life-size, bronze, a naked angel on a tricycle, and some would say anatomically correct. Jacobsen entitled it “Up Down”. In 2003, the painting of a nude woman on the side of a downtown Des Moines building raised objections. When Alan Lequire’s “Musica” was unveiled in 2003 in Nashville, many were not pleased. Can you believe newspapers and television couldn’t even show frontal photographs of Musica? Mark Jacobsen’s sculpture at Merle Hay Mall didn’t cause a stir or a whimper.

As I walked by the sculpture over the years, I remember the comments and conversation I would hear. A child cried because he thought it was a demon. A lady from Dallas, Texas thought it was disgusting. A lady from New York City thought that Des Moines was the surprising place.

The sculpture captured the eyes of Merle Hay Mall shoppers for 24 years. It was removed in 1997. It’s not known if the sculpture is still in Des Moines. It’s believed to be in a private residence.

Photo courtesy of Merle Hay Mall and special thanks to Frank Paynter for emailing me the picture.

Editor’s Note: A Blast from the Past is part of a re-occuring series, check out previous Blasts from the Past.

I was reading an article today in the New York Times about how some of their high-rises have installed these small wind turbines on top of their buildings to cut the buildings electrical costs for it’s common areas. These are not the large turbines that we see on wind farms in rural Iowa, these are much smaller and resemble small mounted airplane propellers.

One building owner interviewed in the article claims that it’s 10 one-kilowatt turbines mounted on the top of his building generates enough electricity to power all the building’s common areas, including the elevators. As windy as it’s been here in Des Moines in the last few weeks, imagine how much these local building owners could save. These things almost pay for themselves within one to two years. With the emphasis on being more green and looking for alternative energy solutions, I wonder what downtown building wants to lead the way for Des Moines and try this solution.

There’s also another good article on these turbines here:
http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/2008/04/08/architectural-wind-an-urban-wind-turbine/