.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:225px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} City and county receive first draft of downtown vision plan Transforming Walnut Street into a transportation hub for downtown Des Moines, with a transit system, a bike lane and more distinguished skywalk entrances is a top priority for planners of the next downtown vision plan.

Architect Erin Olson-Douglas and New York consultant Mario Gandelsonas presented a draft of the “What’s Next, Downtown?” report to the Des Moines City Council and Polk County Board of Supervisors yesterday. The report is an update to a vision plan Gandelsonas drafted in the early 1990s, which led to a major revitalization of downtown.

Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, who served as chairman of the downtown planning project steering committee, said building the infrastructure for a transit system that would connect downtown from east to west could be the city’s biggest and quickest step. Though this project could cost $20 million to $40 million in public investment, Cownie believes it could lead to billions in private development around the system.

“Des Moines is a little like a checkerboard where you see development here and there and some open spaces,” Cownie said. “I think when we start linking all this stuff together, all of a sudden you start seeing those residential structures, mixed-use structures and more of a commercial base.”

Gandelsonas and Olson-Douglas also discussed expanding the skywalk system and better integrating it with the street level. “What we’re proposing is to change the perception of the skywalk system and not to look at it as a negative or just as a convenience but perhaps as an opportunity,” Gandelsonas said.

Other proposals include making downtown a hub for Central Iowa’s recreational trails, creating a network of parks, continuing to increase residential options downtown and supporting in-fill development on the north side of Gateway Park, the East Village and south of Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.

“What this plan is doing is expanding the first plan in the direction of the north and south,” Gandelsonas said. “The point of this would be looking to create a quilt of districts, each one with its own identity.”

City and county leaders will provide feedback on the report by Oct. 1; a public input session is scheduled Sept. 18. For the complete report, visit www.ci.des-moines.ia.us.