skyways in an Iowa city? (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: apartments, condos, credit)

[Tiger Beer]

Don't know if it is Iowa City or Des Moines or elsewhere...

But I use to live in Minneapolis once upon a time, and always impressed by the skyways they have there.

I read somewhere than a city in IOWA also has SKYWAYS modeled after the Minneapolis system...which city is this? Is it as extensive? Is it well-used, etc.?

[Stevie]

Both Des Moines and Cedar Rapids have great skyway systems.

I believe Des Moines' skyway system is the second best in the nation (the first being Minneapolis).

Not sure if they're well-used though.

[DSMGuy]

Des Moines has the second largest skywalk system in the country behind Minneapolis. The 3.5 miles of skywalks are extensively used and continue to grow with extensions westward to the Nationwide campus.

http://www.seedesmoines.com/uploads/...%20Parking.pdf

Some of them date back to the 1980's, but some of the newer ones are pretty futuristic. You can find photos in Google images.

[Tiger Beer]

Des Moines...AND Cedar Rapids...very interesting.

Some interesting things going on in Iowa. I always knew of great literature/writing scene there..and while I'm not gay, with the change in laws, it seems people are progressive and open.

I always liked Minnesota and Wisconsin as having lived in MPLS, I was amazing how progressive and forward-thinking they are, and it seems IOWA is just an extension of that same great mentality.

Is that regional? Are say Nebraska and South Dakota somewhat like this as well?

Anyways, the skyway system is kinda cool, and thanks for the links and response on that.

[DSMGuy]

The DM skywalk system serves 70,000 downtown workers and the large campuses of Principal Financial, Nationwide, Wells Fargo Financial, Employers Mutual, and (soon) Wellmark.

Outside of the Twin Cities, there is really nothing that compares to it. It connects many restaurants, small businesses, condos, apartments, entertainment district, arena, convention center, hotels, health club, etc. It is worth a visit.

[iowegian]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Some interesting things going on in Iowa. I always knew of great literature/writing scene there..and while I'm not gay, with the change in laws, it seems people are progressive and open.

I always liked Minnesota and Wisconsin as having lived in MPLS, I was amazing how progressive and forward-thinking they are, and it seems IOWA is just an extension of that same great mentality.

Is that regional? Are say Nebraska and South Dakota somewhat like this as well?

While there are obviously some open-minded, progressive people in Nebraska and South Dakota, I think there are far less of them. Even western Iowa is far more conservative than the rest of the state, and that trend continues as you head west into Nebraska. Iowa is still fairly conservative on the whole and you'll really only find a huge progressive mindset in the more urban areas. However, I think you're right that we are more open-minded than people would give us credit for.

[El Rhino]

I think the skywalks are kind of cool, but some people do not like them because they feel that they take away from pedestrian traffic on the street level that's needed for small businesses downtown to survive. It does kind of split it up 50/50 between the street and skywalks if you think about it. I guess when they put up the skywalks a lot of smaller businesses downtown ended up going under shortly thereafter....or so they say.

[mustang84]

Agreed about the skywalks taking away from street level traffic, but they are so nice in the winter. I used to work in the Buzzard Billy's building (not sure of the actual name of it) and would cross the street and take the skywalk all the way to the Kaliedescope or elsewhere to grab something to eat. It saves quite a bit of time because you're not waiting at intersections for traffic or the light to change.

Another phenomenon about the skywalks are that a fair amount of people use them over lunch hour to walk for exercise...common in both Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. CR's skywalk isn't nearly as nice as DM's though (dated is a good description for it), and it is more used to connect buildings rather than acting as a retail corridor like in DM. Ironically, the skywalks allowed my company to access our building during the floods since we are on the second floor and have door access directly from the skywalk.

As a whole, the further west you move the more conservative the Midwest gets. Nebraska and the Dakotas are quite a bit less liberal than Iowa, and Iowa's liberalism is mostly concentrated in urban areas. Kansas is probably one of the least liberal states in the Midwest.

[MastermindDSM]

We call them Skywalks in Des Moines. Also Sioux City has a skywalk system as well.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

On a side note. I spent a couple years living in Iowa, 6 months in Ceder Rapids in 1987. Loved the skywalk system there. Now I work for a healthcare system in California. We have an enclosed bridge to connect our 8 story hospital with a 5 story medical office building. We are building a new hospital that will connect to the old facility by the use of the same system. When the complex is complete our mini skywalk system will connect 5 buildings in our campus. Would have never happened accept for the fact that some of us like what you have done in your area.