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.

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.

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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.

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.

If you work downtown, why are you living in the burbs? Did you know, a gallon of gas equals 20 pounds of carbon dioxide. I’m lucky if I use my car once a week, just to got out west for some shopping or errands. With the big push on being greener, many cities are starting to advertise the push to live downtown.

Here’s a few excepts from a recent article on MSNBC.com:

“Getting out of your car is the greenest thing you can do,” says Carol Coletta, president of CEOs for Cities, an organization dedicated to building and sustaining American cities.

According to the EPA, a gallon of gas equals about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide. This means that carbon emissions from driving are one of the biggest contributors to climate change. You can recycle, switch to energy-efficient light bulbs and fill a reusable bag at the supermarket — each a positive step — but nothing beats keeping the car at home (or refusing to buy one in the first place). And the easiest way to live without four wheels is to go urban. Cities are packed — with people, resources and opportunity. Partner this density with alternative forms of transportation — biking, walking and public transit — and a car quickly becomes obsolete.

“Real urbanism is about living close together with an emphasis on public space,” she explains. “People who live in cities are trading private space for public space, they’re trading the backyard for park space. If cities don’t make that trade a good one, they’re going to be at a disadvantage for getting people to live near each other.”

There was a great article in yesterday’s Des Moines Register about how state tax credits impact the downtown Des Moines housing market. Below are just a few excerpts from this article, you can find the full article at: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091012/BUSINESS/910120323.

The state has been advised to stop providing tax credits that sparked affordable housing in downtown Des Moines. A recent market analysis completed for Iowa Finance Authority says the affordable rental apartment market in Des Moines’ downtown area soon will be saturated and the state agency should halt issuing tax credits for created low-income housing.

Any new affordable rental projects would push downtown vacancy rates above 7 percent, the mark of a balanced market, and could harm projects that have already received federal housing credits, the report said. One concern for the group was for-sale condos being leased to renters.

The recommended moratorium on affordable housing tax credits is one of several hurdles Des Moines has encountered in its efforts to revitalize downtown. The city has spent millions of dollars trying to bring entertainment – restaurants, bars, music venues – and housing downtown. In 2002, the city sought to add 6,000 housing units by 2010, but it will only have met about a third of the goal next year. Despite mounting setbacks, developers say the city should continue pushing downtown housing as Des Moines recovers from the recession that has gripped the city and state for about a year.

Continuing with our series, Des Moines Picture of the Week, this week’s picture comes from Chris Boeke and was taken during a recent Des Moines Photo Walk.

Chris says “Downtown provides creativity for a wide range of photographers. With architecture, nature, people, and
social events – there’s plenty to keep the most frequently visited photographers inspired.”

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

I woke up this morning to the season’s first snow. I just shook my head in disbelief. It’s only the second week of October and we have to deal with this. Thank God, I live downtown and have the skywalk system to get around in.

That’s what one blogger declared. Check out a couple of excerpts form a post this week on the Saint Louis Urban Workshop blog:

Des Moines, IA has a new bicycle-friendly “Complete Streets” infrastructure policy. From the Complete Streets website: “Instituting a complete streets policy ensures that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire roadway with all users in mind – including bicyclists, public transportation vehicles and riders, and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.” The implementation of roundabouts, bump-outs and more has not be universally heralded, but Des Moines is moving forward.

At the same time St. Louis is “experimenting” with reduced traffic lanes on South Grand Avenue with the primary goal of “maintaining traffic flow.” St. Louis needs to decide who has the right to use our streets. “Complete Streets” asserts that it’s everyone.

In Des Moines, the goal of changes to 1.5 miles of Beaver Avenue “is to better accommodate all modes of transportation. That includes automobiles, bicycles, pedestrians, the handicapped and parents pushing strollers.” Why does this goal elude St. Louis?

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.

Continuing with our series, Des Moines Picture of the Week, this week’s picture comes from Jim Steep, aka jastepp_too, and is entitled “Architectural Nature”.

Jim says “I love photography. Whether I am out photographing for myself or professionally, discovery is always key to my process.Through my images, I am able to capture what I see and share that vision with others. I enjoy photographing downtown Des Moines. We all should be proud of what we have done structurally and socially with the Des Moines area. Capturing and expressing this in images is something I enjoy.” You can find more of Jim’s photography at: www.lexiconconsultinginc.com

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

From DowntownDesMoines.com Press Release:
DOWNTOWN DES MOINES – You may notice Walnut Street looks a little differently – that’s because some very visible improvements have been taking place over the past two weeks. Operation Downtown is in the process of painting all maroon crosswalk poles, light poles, utility stations/newspaper corrals, and bus shelters from a very dated maroon paint to a modern black satin. In addition to the new paint, benches as well as the bus shelters will be sanded and refinished.

“Operation Downtown is proud to be leading this effort. The new paint and refinished benches and bus shelters have made a tremendous beautification impact to the Walnut Street corridor,” says Kent Mauck, Operation Downtown Board President.

Work began on the corridor during the first part of September and is scheduled to be completed in the next two weeks. This beautification effort is a joint project of Operation Downtown and Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority.

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About Operation Downtown

Operation Downtown, also known as Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District (SSMID), is responsible for safe, clean and beautiful services in downtown Des Moines. Managed by the Downtown Community Alliance, Operation Downtown is funded by a one dollar per thousand dollars of assessed value tax on property within the boundary. For more information about Operation Downtown visit www.operationdowntown.com.