Earlier this week a new iPhone applications hit the app store, the new Zillow iPhone App that made its debut Tuesday night is truely amazing, especially if you are into real estate or looking to find a new place to call home downtown.

The free Zillow app displays a bunch of information about nearby condos, including their previous sales price, current property tax, Zillow’s estimate of their value and what the owners would take for the place, if they’ve listed a “make me move” price on Zillow.

It also displays a list of comparable properties nearby for comparison though I found this a little misleading when looking at the downtown Des Moines market.

Using the iPhone’s built in GPS, you can walk around downtown and instantly see what condos are available for sale, see pictures of them inside and even has the Realtor’s name and phone number. And since it’s an iPhone app, just click on the number and the phone will call the Realtor to request a showing.

One of my favorite things about downtown are the beautiful flowers and plants that Operation Downtown plants every year in the downtown planters that line most of the downtown streets in the Downtown Core Neighborhood. I took this photo right outside the front doors to my building.

Check out the latest video to promote the greater Des Moines area.

Continuing with our series, Des Moines Picture of the Week, this week’s picture comes from Flickr user Don McLaughlin, also known as Don3rdSE and is titled Can You Dig It?.

Don says “Downtown Des Moines offers such a diverse selection of photo opportunities, one almost doesn’t know where to begin. I often find myself heading for one destination and getting sidetracked by something interesting I pass. The lighting on the red trowel sculpture this particular morning is an example.”

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

President Barack Obama was in Iowa on Wednesday and told a group in Newton of his proposal to build a high-speed rail network that with a line connecting Des Moines to Chicago. Obama told the crowd that mass transit equals green transit.

His proposal would connect Des Moines to Chicago by using and updating existing tracks all along Interstate 80. The train could go up to 79 mph and take passengers between the cities in about five hours, with a few stops.

The overall project would cost about $30 million to connect the rail from Des Moines to the Quad Cities. Illinois has already started construction on the rest of the leg from Chicago to the Quad Cities.

The plan would call for the high-speed service to be up in running within three years. As often, as I travel to Chicago, I would really look forward to this. Think of all the tourism we could get into Des Moines via the high-speed rail. Maybe after this leg, it’s continued to Kansas City and to Omaha from Des Moines.

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

As you may know, Earth Day is being celebrated on Wednesday, April 22nd and Des Moines like countless other cities around the world is taking part. Here are some of the events happening downtown:

On Wednesday downtown corporations and organizations will team up for the 2nd Annual Earth Day Trash Bash – a spring clean-up event organized by Operation Downtown, Des Moines Parks and Recreation, and Downtown Community Alliance. Volunteer teams will work from 2 – 4:30 p.m. to clear away litter that has accumulated on our streetscapes and trails over the winter months. After a thorough sweep of their assigned territories, teams will gather at Nollen Plaza for refreshments, music and awards.

Also in celebration of Earth Day, the Des Moines Botanical Center at 909 Robert D. Ray Drive, is offering free admission on Wednesday from 10am to 5pm.

And the Iowa DNR is unveiling a new trash sculpture. The sculpture will be unveiled between 11am to 2pm in the main lobby atrium of the Wallace State Office Building, 502 East 9th Street, in Des Moines. The artist David Williamson and DNR staff will be available to greet visitors, answer questions, and most importantly, gather public input to complete the project, only 60% of the trash sculpture is now complete. The sculpture is made of trash dredged from the Winnebago, Shell Rock and Cedar rivers last August by hundreds of volunteers on the DNR’s annual Project AWARE river cleanup event.

The Vegetarian Community of Iowa is hosting a celebration at Ritual Cafe. There will be sample of vegetarian food as well as the full Ritual Cafe menu available from 4pm to 7pm.

If you don’t have a chance to participate in one of these community events, you could always go for a walk and pick up trash you find downtown to help keep dow

Continuing with our series, Des Moines Picture of the Week, this week’s picture comes from Flickr user Pat Elben, also known as photoshopguy and is a picture of the back of the Wells Fargo Financial Northstar building.

Pat says “Des Moines has some beautiful architecture. The unique buildings certainly trademark a beautiful downtown.”

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

There is brand new map-based housing search engine that covers downtown Des Moines. Housing shoppers can find long term rentals, homes for sale, and even hotels on HotPads.com map-based search.

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In Raleigh, North Carolina, a city that’s not that much larger than Des Moines, is experimenting with adding mobile DTV to their bus system. Raleigh has just rolled out its first CAT bus equipped with mobile DTV. The mobile DTV magic comes courtesy of a little help from LG and Harris Corp., who are supplying the displays and mobile transmission equipment for the pilot program, which will be expanded to five buses by August, with another 20 planned for the second phase that’ll run though August 2010. Viewing options will be somewhat limited, with a simulcast of local station WRAL , along with some weather information and lots of local advertising to appear. Maybe DART can use some Obama money and try this out.

The Google Maps team has just added a full-screen option for Google Maps Street View. I really like this option as it makes exploring downtown Des Moines via street view even more stunning.

To launch a Street View in full-screen mode just click on the the View Larger Map at the bottom of the map and then press the button at the top right of the Street View.

View Larger Map

We’ve added a widget to the right hand column for signing up for lunch deals downtown. The alert service just started last week and comes in really handy for the 70,000+ workers that work downtown.

Continuing with our series, Des Moines Picture of the Week, this week’s picture comes from Flickr user Tony, also known as TLDOOR and is titled Iowa Capitol.

Tony says “I think Des Moines has so many interesting and different things to photograph day or night. I plan on taking alot more photos in the future.”

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

Forbes Magazine looked at quality-of-life measures to form the list. Here’s how the Des Moines area compared, according to statistics the magazine gathered:

• Income growth: 4.2 percent (No. 91 of 379).

• Cost-of-living index: 90.2 (No. 165 of 379).

• Culture index: 68 (No. 121 of 379).

• Crime per 100,000 people: 3,854 (No. 193 of 379).

• Unemployment: 5 percent (No. 48 of 379).

Forbes Magazine also rated Des Moines seventh among metro areas for best places for business and careers.

Registration is under way for the 2009 Mayor’s Annual Ride for Trails, this annual event that raises money to support the Des Moines Recreational Trails. Downtown benefits with having money to complete the following downtown area trails:

• The connection from Gray’s Lake and the Meredith Trail under Fleur Drive to the Bill Riley Trail
• The Walnut Creek Trail connecting Clive to Water Works Park and Gray’s Lake
• The widening of the Bill Riley Trail
• Conversion of the Southwest First Street bridge to a pedestrian- and bicycle-only bridge

The ride starts at 10 a.m. April 18 at City Hall, 400 Robert D. Ray Drive. The 30-mile route will travel through many area neighborhoods,  but for those needing a shorter route, there is a 20-mile route also available.

Participants can sign up online at www.dmparks.org, or at the City Hall Information Center. Registration will also be available from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. on ride day at City Hall. Each rider must complete an entry form.

The registration fee is $25 and includes a short-sleeved cotton T-shirt, refreshments at the rest stop and post-ride festivities at the Simon Estes Riverfront Amphitheater. There will be sag support and a repair van. A map of the 2009 route will be included in ride packets.

For more information, call Robin Leaper in the Parks and Recreation department at 237-1404.