Des Moines is Now Cool Enough for New Years

To hear The New York Times writer Adam Nagourney tell it, you’d think that Des Moines hasn’t always been “cool.” In his words, “there was a time when being told that I would be spending New Year’s Eve in Des Moines would have, well, sobered me up in a New York minute.”

Times, however, have changed. And, as he considers his return to Iowa to cover the January third presidential caucuses, Nagourney is actually looking forward to spending New Year’s Eve in our fair city. He’s not alone.

Even those of us who were born within twenty miles of a cornfield have more to enjoy in this new, reborn Des Moines. Oh, we don’t have the lighted ball in Times Square. But we’ve got a Countdown Clock (albeit one the kids will enjoy at the Science Center) and we’ve got a downtown that’s set to rock (with a free New Year’s Eve Pub Crawl in the Court Avenue District). Citizens now have a wide variety of musical, theatrical and comedic acts to boot.

Des Moines now features four- and five-star restaurants, like Sage, that are still taking New Year’s dinner reservations. That’s cool. Yet we haven’t lost our hold on the past, on old-fashioned farm dinners at Living History Farms. Cooler still.

I’m glad Des Moines is stepping it up. And happy to believe that we’re doing so while keeping it real. Because while we may not yet be a vacation destination, more than ever we’re a better place to call home. And that’s a great thought for the new year.

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

Related Post: Des Moines Shines in the New York Times

[tags] Iowa, Des Moines, Des Moines News[/tags]