A couple of years ago, I read an article on lessons from planning school. To this day, one of those lessons still resonates deeply with me: “City planners are optimists… We want cities and regions to realize their potential. And more than that, we genuinely – even sometimes naively – believe that they can.”
Greater Des Moines, maybe I still am naïve in my optimism about our region realizing its potential, but I’m confident that’s not the case; thousands of you already have shown your support for this region by sharing your ideas, hopes, and aspirations for the future over the last year or so.
Now, I ask that you join us in building upon that momentum at Choose Tomorrow, The Tomorrow Plan’s first future fair to be held on Thursday, August 2nd. At this open house, you’ll have the chance to see the results of Design My DSM, compare potential futures for Greater Des Moines, and interact with numerous groups that also are working to create a vibrant and lasting future for the region, including MidAmerican Energy, DART, Des Moines Water Works, Iowa Health, Habitat for Humanity, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Urban Ambassadors, and Recycle Me Iowa, among others.
Additionally, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Shelley Poticha, Director for the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, will be speaking at 5:30 pm. Ms. Poticha is recognized as a national leader in creating policies to support effective community growth.
I’m more optimistic than ever that our region will realize its potential, mostly because of people like you – the people who are planting the seeds of tomorrow for the people that they may never meet.
I choose Greater Des Moines. I choose progress. I choose tomorrow. Won’t you join me?
Bethany Wilcoxon is a transportation planner at the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and is the project manager of The Tomorrow Plan.