Capitol Rebuild: Des Moines
French for "The Moines"
Des Moines. DSM. Dez Moynez. The Hartford of the West.
Born out of political compromise, Des Moines sits at the awkward intersection of what capital cities used to be — and what they could become. It’s not flashy. But it’s quietly doing the work to reinvent itself, and that makes it worth paying attention to.
How Did the Capitol End Up There?
Playing to Appease, Not to Win
When Iowa became a state in 1846, the capital was Iowa City — conveniently and wisely located on the state’s populated eastern edge near the Mississippi River. But by 1857, lawmakers opted to move the capital westward to a more central location: Des Moines. Officially, it was about access. Unofficially, you can imagine the electeds of the time figuring out how to buy as much land as possible before the vote was official.
Still, this wasn’t a clean break. As part of the deal, Iowa City kept the University of Iowa.
“Let Des Moines have the politicians — we’ll take the professors.”
—A jilted and prescient Iowa City journalist.
That trade would define the trajectory of both cities for the next 150 years.
The Capitol building itself opened in 1886. It’s the only five-domed state capitol in the country and remains a stunner — perched on a hill with a commanding view of the city below.
My Experiences with Des Moines
I’ve been to Des Moines about five times — all during my consulting days in 2015–2016. I lost a project I probably should’ve won (before I understood local politics... naive, in hindsight), and it made me a little obsessed with the place. Most of my time was downtown, though I did make a point of doing a full city driving tour once. The place has stuck with me ever since to the point that they get the initial writeup of Capitol Rebuild.
What’s Working
Des Moines punches above its weight in a few categories — especially its civic commitment, the arts, and surprising bits of urban form.
Civic Infrastructure
“Hartford of the West” isn’t going to be on any tourism pages, but Des Moines is a legitimate insurance hub. Six insurers call it home, including Principal Financial Group, a Fortune 200 company (technically F201, but I’ll let it slide). These anchors show up in a real way — investing in downtown and regional efforts like the Greater Des Moines Partnership, which has emerged as a strong civic backbone. And Momentum Des Moines is out there advocating for a stronger urban form for Des Moines.
Arts & Culture
The arts scene is genuinely impressive. The Des Moines Arts Festival brings nearly 300,000 people downtown every year, turning the core into an open-air gallery. Pappajohn Sculpture Park features works you’d expect in Chicago or D.C., not central Iowa. The city needs to figure out how to bring back the beloved 80/35 music festival — because this is the type of local festival that can make a capital city feel alive.
Place
East Village could fool you into thinking you’re in a Chicago neighborhood — with its mixed-use buildings, walkable grid, and small businesses. Look east down Grand Avenue, and the Capitol dome rises in the distance. You can buy a two-bedroom condo here for under $250K — which is basically a modern fantasy in most cities.
Water Works Park is outrageous in the best way. 1,500 acres of wooded trails, open space, and natural beauty — right in the heart of the city. It’s a crown jewel most cities would kill for.
And the Capitol itself? A real beauty worthy of the role. Set high on the hill, it looks like how a capitol should look.
If you want to drink the Des MoinesKool Aid, I suggest starting with this obligatory Des Moines Hype Video
What’s Not Working
A recurring theme in Capitol Rebuild: stop making it so easy to escape!
In the words of Rick Pitino, the University of Iowa is not walking through that door anytime soon (because the State Constitution screwed it up 175 years ago). Iowa State University, the state’s top technical school, is based in Ames — 40 miles north. And while ISU does what it can to engage in Des Moines, it’s hard to build an innovation economy when your research engine is a car ride away. Des Moines doesn't feel like a tech-forward capital — and that’s a missed opportunity.
OK. We have to address Des Moines’ biggest problem. Say I told you that Minneapolis had the largest skywalk system in the United States; you’d nod your head because that makes total sense. Now I ask you which city has the second largest…after about thirty wrong answers, I would tell you it’s Des Moines. What started as a 1971 connector between a JCPenney and a parking garage has metastasized into four miles of climate-controlled hamster tunnels that sucked the life out of downtown street activity. Businesses relocated to the skywalk. Pedestrians followed. The sidewalks emptied. The core became a ghost town at ground level. Walk west from the Capitol and you’ll hit a vibrant neighborhood, then the desolate downtown skywalk zone, and then another vibrant neighborhood. The middle is... missing.
Like too many capital cities, the street network of Des Moines was designed to make it as easy as possible for people to leave, not stay. Wide one-way streets usher people in and out of the city as fast as possible. The city has begun converting streets to two-way and adding bike lanes, but there’s still a lot of work to do.
Meanwhile, the sidewalk network is shockingly incomplete. In 2018, Des Moines had 667 miles of sidewalk gaps — nearly 700 miles of missing links in a city trying to be walkable. That’s not a gap — that’s a canyon. Build more sidewalks.
Iowa doesn’t have a full-time legislature. And it shows. Capitol pride among lawmakers feels low. The governor has, at times, micromanaged city-level decisions. The city deserves better from the people whose names adorn the statehouse corridors.
Some People Doing the Work
Kuku Saah, Entrepreneur and creative force behind [startup or initiative], focused on inclusive innovation in DSM.
Steve Naber, Des Moines City Engineer leading infrastructure modernization with an eye on better streets.
Deb Madison-Levi, Downtown neighborhood advocate building bridges between residents, city hall, and business.
2025 Capitol Score
Capitol Score is my subjective ranking on how the city stacks up with regards to place, innovation, arts & culture, and overall livability. A perfect score isn’t the goal, improvement is.
Des Moines 2025 Capitol Score is 6.7
Des Moines has a Capital Score Potential of 8.2
My Three Policy Wishes from the Capitol Genie
Rip out the skywalks and create incentives for businesses to relocate to the ground floor. Rebuild the street.
Lean harder into the arts. Get weirder. Bring back 80/35. Make Des Moines stand out from the rest of the Midwest.
Host Iowa–Iowa State rivalry games across sports in downtown Des Moines. Bring energy, people, and pride back to the capital and showcase the capital city to hundreds of thousands of Iowans, particularly your potential future residents. .
Des Moines may never be Columbus or Madison, and that’s fine. It’s not trying to be. But if it leans into its strengths, builds better streets and sidewalks, and rips out that skywalk like it’s an appendix, it could be one of the most livable — and surprising — capital cities in America.
Next up: The scene of my fourth grade field trip, Harrisburg.