Dear Downtown Des Moines: Let’s Move in Together, part two.

There are many, many things that irk the shit out of me about Downtown Des Moines.  I have two other posts on the topic already.  This one will only be about Income Restricted Apartments.  I’ve touched on this a little before, but I don’t think my annoyance was shown enough.

  There are more income restricted apartments than market rate.  Which is fucking insanity.  Way to pick and choose who gets to live in your apartments, guys.  That has to be some kind of discrimination, right?  Not allowing people who make too much money to live in your building seems counter-intuitive.    

What prompted me to write this post was an article in the Des Moines Sunday Register about the Hotel Randolph and an adjacent building being renovated into, you guessed it, Restricted Income Apartments.  What. The.  Fuck, Des Moines?  How can you create a lively and diverse environment when you’re totally cutting out the diversity?

 For those of you who don’t know, the Randolph is on the corner of 4^th and Court.  It’s a nine story, historic beauty hidden under years of misuse.  I have literally dreamed of the day that it would be restored to glory, hoping that its story lines would parallel those of the Hotel Kirkwood that stands just one block away.  And now this?!   

Seriously, guys?  I can’t imagine a worse idea for it, except for maybe tearing it down.  Restricted Income?  In no way am I saying that people who do qualify for these apartments are less than worthy of a great place to live.  I’m just fucking pissed that people who make more than $30K by themselves aren’t allowed there. 

There has to be some kind of middle, where you can afford to pay rent and buy groceries, but also be allowed to make a decent living.  Restricted Income properties are not the answer.

I have actually sent emails to City Council members urging them to vote against new construction or renovation if the properties are income restricted.  This is only driving our great city’s young professionals out into the suburbs, I say.  The only response I get is letting me know that they are in favor of them.  They clearly have no idea what’s going on in the streets.

I know there is some great vision for the future of the area, but it’s slow going and supervised by people who don’t understand the younger culture.   This blueprint for the future is too far in the distance, like just by having some plans makes everything happen.  Sorry, it doesn’t.  We really have to start right now to make all the future brighter.  That starts with attracting people to the living spaces, without limits or restrictions.  Find the best tenant, not based on how much or little money they make.  If they pay rent and aren’t total douchebags, I don’t see the problem.

I love where we’re trying to go, but I don’t see how we’ll get there with current practices.