NOTEBOOK: “There is something special about Des Moines.”

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Data-cruncher and strategic planner James Chung, who appears as part of the Tomorrow Plan Speaker Series Oct. 4, marvels over how Greater Des Moines stands out by almost any measure his staff uses to compare cities.

An analysis of 200 or so hyperlocal databases about cities around the country consistently showed Greater Des Moines as ranking in the top 10 percent of the most successful cities in the country, not just the Midwest, Chung said in an interview. And if the metro area plays its cards right, this market may rise to the top 5 percent, he added.

Chung, president of Reach Advisors — a strategy, research and predictive analytics firm — wants you to know he isn’t doing business with Greater Des Moines, so no one is paying him to praise Iowa’s capital city. Rather, it was his work in comparable cities that first made him wonder how Greater Des Moines was attracting so many workers — in some cases skilled workers moving back — while creating a booming downtown, a highly educated workforce and strong economic growth.

“We looked at midsized cities in the Midwest. When we looked at the data, one city kept coming up as an outlier, in the top 10 percent nationwide. It was Des Moines, which by almost every measure outperformed its comparable cities,” Chung said.

“There is something special about Des Moines. We weren’t looking for Des Moines. We kept asking why Des Moines is so strong,” Chung explained.

Continue reading for more of Chung’s data-based praise, and a warning. Read more