A free around-the-clock transportation  system, more retail on the  street level and better use of the  river were among the suggestions people  offered at a public meeting on  downtown Des Moines.

The meeting, which took place at  the Central Library, attracted around  150 people over lunch hour on Jan.  24, which caused officials to scramble  to open up adjacent meeting space.  The meeting was the first public input  session for the yearlong downtown  study led by architect Erin Olson-Douglas.  A second meeting was held  that evening.

Olson-Douglas started the first meeting  with an overview of the project and  said the study is designed to pull  together past research on downtown  and to look at the area from a holistic  standpoint. She also urged people to  look at ways Des Moines could capitalize  on its unique traits, such as the  Downtown Farmers Market, and not try  to duplicate other cities.

After Olson-Douglas’ presentation,  people split into small groups of  about 15 and talked about different  ideas for downtown, including more  public restrooms, longer business  hours for retailers, better connection  between the street and skywalk system  and more affordable and family friendly  housing options.

Isobel Osius, an employee at  Meredith Corp. who lives downtown,  said she was impressed by the level of  interest in the area.

“We really have a variety of needs  downtown,” she said, “and this convinced  me that we’re not going to move  forward with just one plan. … There’s  really room for anybody’s ideas, investments  and energy.”