Urban Land Institute magazine is listing Des Moines as one of America’s “Top 10 Downtown Turnarounds” in its April 2007 edition. ULI is a nonprofit research and education organization, whose mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide.

“After decades of decline, American downtowns are back — and not by accident. Ten cities illustrate downtown revival that came about by popular demand;” freelancer Ron Nyren writes in the article.

Here’s an excerpt:

“A vision plan developed during the early 1990’s established an initial blueprint for downtown Des Moines’s revival, and in 1995 business leaders created the Downtown Partnership, now called the Downtown Community Alliance. The results include cultural, entertainment and sports attractions; the new central branch of the public library, the17,000-seat Iowa Events Center and the 110,000-square- foot Science Center of Iowa museum, all of which opened in the last two years.

“The downtown continues to add hundreds of housing units each year, and the pedestrian-friendly East Village neighborhood hosts a thriving nightlife, with restored historic buildings and retail and restaurants pitched to a young, creative crowd. Currently under way is the Principal Riverwalk, a 1.2-mile series of landscaped walking paths and bridges linking downtown from east to west, designed to tie the new developments together.”