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Consultant tells council Des Moines is younger, less retail‑dependent; downtown mixed‑use yields modest net fiscal gains in model
Summary
A consultant presentation showed Des Moines’ median age has fallen and its economy has a low retail share; a downtown land‑use fiscal model found mixed‑use and commercial development generally produce better fiscal results than surface‑parked multifamily in the city’s examples.
Consultants from FCS presented two analytic tools to the Des Moines City Council: a new peer‑city benchmarking analysis and a development tax‑impact model to test how different land‑use typologies affect city finances.
Benchmarking: FCS compared Des Moines with a set of Puget Sound peer cities. Key findings included a median age of about 37.5 (the city has become about 2.4 years younger since 2010), population growth near 0.4% annually (below the peer average of about 0.7%), and a relatively low retail…
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