• Guide our growth
• Continue planned and high quality development
• Unite new and old parts of city
• Maintain sense of community
• Monitor "sprawl"
• Plan for aging infrastructure
• Stay current with demands
• Keep oldest parts of our communities as "reality
checks" for growth and wellbeing
• Have updated and appropriate laws to encourage business
• Develop economic strategies
• Develop south of river
• Build beautiful buildings
• Become national model of effectiveness and efficiency
• Lobby the state legislature to create an Urban Growth
Boundary
• Strengthen annexation and TIF laws
• Have plans that guide us – especially as Waukee
grows
• Keep Clive commercial area east of interstate visible
• Attract community-minded businesses
• Stay on cutting edge and modernize
• Be environmentally concerned
• Stop annexing and building new roads
• Reverse trend of people moving out of West Des Moines
and Clive
• No more malls
• Cooperate, collaborate and consolidate:
o City governments
o School districts
o Community services
• Coordinate services through technology
• Create a Polk County-wide school district
• Promote Metro Area Consolidation
• Nurture mutual respect and support among all Des Moines
area communities
• Collaborate with all parts of the Des Moines area so
some areas are not neglected for the better of others
• Eliminate duplication and competition
• Have fewer boundaries
• Align schools and cities
• Develop unique shared governance but maintain individual
city style
• Initiate a united agency effort to build character in
youth
• Increase citizen understanding:
o What local government does
o How it is organized
o The purpose and importance of taxes
o The responsibility of community government and city operations
• No county governments
• Acknowledge that we have competition
• Stay as viable as newer areas
• Keep up with growth
• Welcome larger cross section of citizens
• Maintain clean environment
• Continue to grow and flourish
• Expand collaboration
• Maintain our identity
• Develop excellent relations and participation with surrounding
cities
• Develop more collaboration between school and city
• Equalize attention on all areas of community (don't
ignore some)
• Focus on sustained improvements rather than "keeping
up with growth"
• Create more of a town or village center in West Des
Moines
• Provide affordable housing
• Keep socioeconomic balance in community
• Build attractive homes for elderly, seriously ill and
persons with low income
• Preserve Valley Junction:
o Renovate homes
o Revitalize railroad
o Maintain sense of community
• Highlight Valley Junction as "non-mall"
• Maintain neighborhoods
• Pay attention to both old and new areas
• Keep small town feel
• Build to create community, not sprawl
• Build single family homes, not all condos
• Monitor building
• Avoid overbuilding strip malls
• Maintain green space
• Adopt universal design standards
• Maintain streets
• Enhance transportation flow
• Plan for new mall construction
• Put additional lane on Buffalo Road
• Redevelop NW 86th Street
• Coordinate street numbers in all communities
• Need to build:
o Bridge over 39th Street
o Better freeway system throughout communities
o Monorail to Chicago, Omaha, etc.
o Superhighway to St. Louis
• Reduce congestion
• Expand public transportation
• Free for people with low income
• 24-hour service
• Accommodate "reverse commute" trend
• Serve older adults
• Consolidate metro-wide
• Address barriers to getting around area easily
• Offer affordable flights in and out of Des Moines
• Have more police
• Maintain safety, low crime
• Establish Department of Peace and Non-Violence as focus
and priority
• Keep clean and attractive
• Need more flowers, trees, prairies and parks
• Everything is blocked – weave natural habitat
throughout community
• Upgrade healthcare
• Build thriving, high quality community hospital
• Nurture healthy community
• Provide healthcare for everyone
