"For me this was the perfect picture of a place that was totally dysfunctional"

Over at Politico there's an interesting profile of the transformation of Des Moines, Iowa from a place to which people dreaded being transferred to a spot that's now actively attracting people. There are lot of interesting bits in there in about local government and private interests worked together, and how downtown residential and the arts helped spur new development.

Why's that interesting for here? Well, talk to anyone who tries to recruit people from out of the area and they'll it's often a hard sell. And Des Moines is very much a mid-sized metro (population a little more than 600,000). [via @AlbBizChelsea]

Comments

Great story, but some things don't add up. For example:
Story claims that "During the first decade of the new century, Des Moines’ [...] overall population (grew) by 18 percent. "
Census bureau gives Des Moines population of 199,607 for July 2000, 204,555 July 2010, less than 2% total growth
Population of West Des Moines, which is painted as antagonist of the city, did grew more than 20% over same time period, though.

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