Creative Des Moines

Perhaps it's the energy and buzz of primary day that would cause the Street's Dave Steele to write this:

No one would mistake Des Moines for Minneapolis, let alone San Francisco. Yet the city grows leaps and bounds, and is emerging as a contender in the finance and insurance industries.Maybe what Des Moines teaches us is that for all the talk of “cool” cities attracting the “creative class,” what really drives sustained growth in most cities is boring stuff like low crime, good schools, and affordable housing.

Let me start with a big .. eh ... hem ...  I don't want to make a mountain out of a mole-hill, but it's important to clear up the facts.

First off, Des Moines scored 4th among medium-size metros (ahead of Santa Barbara California) and 18th overall (ahead of NY, LA and San Diego) on my creativity index. 

Second, I was invited out to speak in Des Moines well before Rise was published by my old friend Dave Feehan, who now heads the International Downtown Association and was eagerly received by the mayor and leading political, business and civic officials. Des Moines was one of the first places to this party.

Third, I've been to Iowa a slew of times since to work on this agenda. I've done major events with former Governor Tom Vilsack. And his cabinet, especially his department of arts and culture under Anita Walker did more to advance a creative economic development agenda than virtually anywhere else.

Fourth, two of my core team at CCG (now alums) - Jesse Elliott and Amanda Styron - were members of the University of Iowa's James Gang, where they worked on arts, culture, creativity, talent attraction and retention, community development, and affordable space - I met them in Des Moines.

To an outsider or newcomer, Des Moines may appear at first glance like a "stodgy Midwest hamlet" but beneath that humble exterior lies a creative economy powerhouse.

And Dave, stop drawing a false divide between "cool cities" and "creative class" stuff on the one hand and the "important boring stuff" like low crime, good schools, and affordable housing. You sound a lot like Joel Kotkin and Fred Siegel and they already have that ground covered. The two go hand in glove, as I've long argued. Des Moines is all the proof we need of that. It's a solid - dare I say creative - model other medium-size communities would do well to follow.

Comments

[Alison]

I was reading Jeralyn Merritt's (Talk Left) Iowa caucus blogging, and she had this piece on Des Moines today:

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/1/3/43118/30549

Best Meal in Des Moines

Before I forget, the best restaurant meal I had in Des Moines was, hands down, no contest, Luca.

If more people knew there were restaurants like Luca in Des Moines, it would go a long way to crafting an image of the city as as one with a vibrant,hip downtown , a touch of elegance and great food.

[RF]

Alison - Thanks for the comment. I'm a huge fan of Des Moines. I believe I ate at Luca one night after an event there. R

[Dave Steele]

Hi Richard:

I intended my post to be a rebuttal to those critics of the Iowa caucuses who claim the state is too rural and whitebread to be entrusted with the first winnowing of presidential candidates. My comments on Des Moines may sound like a dis, but having been there I admire much of what the city has done. The city has diversified and has emerged as a center of finance despite its geographic isolation and its position well beneath the nation's radar screen. And it has done this while maintaining a high quality of life.

In pointing out Des Moines' impressive growth, I intended to show that rather than looking down our noses at places like Iowa, we should recognize that places like Des Moines, places not usually associated with "urban hipness" or whatever you want to call it, might offer something that the rest of us can learn from. Perhaps Des Moines' experience shows that the basic quality of life stuff needs to be there in order to see an economic transformation like what Des Moines has seen.

This is a lesson that I would submit my city, Milwaukee, should take heed of. We have pursued a policy of attracting new, wealthier residents through a revitalized downtown and core neighborhoods. But half the city remains mired in unemployment, plagued by poor schools and high crime. We have done more than many other cities to attempt to address these problems, but it's a lot more difficult to impact these issues than it is to build up our arts and creative scene.

In Milwaukee, I don't see the pursuit of the "creative city" and the "boring stuff" of education and quality of life as a false distinction. It is a real distinction that continues to prevent us from making a sustainable transformation as a city and a region.

[Dave Steele]

Hi Richard:

I intended my post to be a rebuttal to those critics of the Iowa caucuses who claim the state is too rural and whitebread to be entrusted with the first winnowing of presidential candidates. My comments on Des Moines may sound like a dis, but having been there I admire much of what the city has done. The city has diversified and has emerged as a center of finance despite its geographic isolation and its position well beneath the nation's radar screen. And it has done this while maintaining a high quality of life.

In pointing out Des Moines' impressive growth, I intended to show that rather than looking down our noses at places like Iowa, we should recognize that places like Des Moines, places not usually associated with "urban hipness" or whatever you want to call it, might offer something that the rest of us can learn from. Perhaps Des Moines' experience shows that the basic quality of life stuff needs to be there in order to see an economic transformation like what Des Moines has seen.

This is a lesson that I would submit my city, Milwaukee, should take heed of. We have pursued a policy of attracting new, wealthier residents through a revitalized downtown and core neighborhoods. But half the city remains mired in unemployment, plagued by poor schools and high crime. We have done more than many other cities to attempt to address these problems, but it's a lot more difficult to impact these issues than it is to build up our arts and creative scene.

In Milwaukee, I don't see the pursuit of the "creative city" and the "boring stuff" of education and quality of life as a false distinction. It is a real distinction that continues to prevent us from making a sustainable economic transformation as a city and a region.

Des Moines has an easier go of it. They don't have the "city within a city" that Milwaukee and so many other cities do. I would submit that its Des Moines' lack of endemic economic and social problems that is propeling its rapid growth, not it's "creativity index."

[RF]

Dave - Thanks for your comments. I submit it's never either-or, it's always both, especially in Milwaukee a city I love! My new book presents pretty solid evidence from a major survey we did with Gallup that shows its so.

[Dave Steele]

Thanks, Richard. I'm eager to read your new book and the results of the survey. One thing I've wondered about is the extent to which the "creative class" will bring real social change to cities like Milwaukee. If they come with the desire (and humility) to improve the city as a whole (not just to partake in the arts and other creative experiences) then there might just be hope for systemic change in our cities.