Greater Des Moines Age Friendly Community
AARP Great Places for All Ages Annual Meeting and Community Report will be held on Friday, December 12th from 8:00 to 10:00 am at Des Moines University. The event will focus on the business case for livable communities and will specifically look at livable communities’ ability to generate higher tax revenue, create economic output, provide new businesses and jobs, and increase property premiums. Registration for the event is available here. Questions about the event can be directed to Kent Sovern.
Housing Tomorrow
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund (PCHTF) is hard at work engaging stakeholders throughout the region in a discussion of affordable housing as part of Housing Tomorrow, our first regional plan for housing. Based on the work of The Tomorrow Plan, Housing Tomorrow promote a diverse housing stock that will fit the needs of our growing and diversifying population and allow our neighbors to age in place. When finished, Housing Tomorrow will act as a tool to help our region’s jurisdictions address housing challenges as they may arise. This nonbinding plan will offer policy recommendations and specific action steps to encourage the preservation and development of affordable housing options.
You can help PCHTF move toward this goal by simply sending a text. Text START to (515) 512-5033 to take a quick 2-minute survey. Your answers to our questions will help us determine which issues are the most important to Central Iowans, and which topics need to be addressed in the plan.
Mobilizing Tomorrow Approved
The Des Moines Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) approved Mobilizing Tomorrow, the long-range transportation plan, that will guide $600 million in transportation investments in the Greater Des Moines region over the next 35 years. The long-range plan is significant due to the region’s steady growth in population, expected to increase from approximately 480,000 people today to 750,000 people by 2050. For the last year the MPO has worked with the 20 member governments to determine growth trends, model the needs of the future transportation network and outline trends in transportation planning. The federal government mandates that MPOs plan 20 or more years into the future and account for all regionally significant road, transit, freight, ITS, walking, biking and trail projects. The 2050 plan mirrors the goals and strategies outlined in the newly adopted The Tomorrow Plan. A copy of the plan can be viewed here.
