In case you missed it, and I will say that with how many people forwarded this story to me not many of you did, there was a fantastic piece about downtown Des Moines in the New York Times over the weekend.  The writer did an excellent job of portraying what many of us have been saying for awhile—the transformation of downtown Des Moines is amazing!

Here are a few highlights:

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.

But the Iowa presidential caucuses are being held on Jan. 3, so it looks as if I will indeed be spending New Year’s Eve in Des Moines. And that does not bother me at all. In fact, I’m rather looking forward to it.

Remember, this is from the New York Times.  Is there a more famous place to celebrate the New Year than New York City?

For you foodies:

There have historically been a few places to go if you are into political celebrity-spotting (and now we are addressing the real groupies out there, those of you who get excited at spotting David Broder or Candy Crowley): Centro for one, but also 801 Steak and Chop House — a classic Iowa steakhouse with New York prices — and, late at night, the bar at the Hotel Fort Des Moines.

But these were places to go less for the food and more for the experience. In this new Des Moines, there are easily a half-dozen places you can go for the food. Lucca is certainly one, as well as Azalea, an American restaurant with soaring ceilings and an open kitchen tucked into the lobby of one of the city’s historic buildings. So before I left town the other day, I stopped in at one of them — sorry, I’m not divulging which one — and snagged a Dec. 31 dinner reservation before it was too late. I never thought I would say this, but believe me: Des Moines is going to be jumping this New Year’s Eve.

And this is what I would say has got to make city leaders absolutely giddy:

I’m not sure I would go so far as to say that Des Moines has become a vacation destination. But it has most certainly become cool. More than that, if you have any desire to witness presidential candidates in the most close-up and intimate of settings, there is arguably no place better to go than Des Moines. If the city itself was once a reason not to come, it has now in fact become an added draw.

It is a change that has crept up on people who live here and comes as a surprise to the occasional visitors. That struck me a few weeks ago when I found myself responding with mild irritation — O.K., defensively — to what sounded to my ears like a hint of condescension to this city from the plane loads of Washingtonians who had arrived for a Democratic gala known as the Jefferson Jackson Dinner. It wasn’t snobbery so much as they assumed they were visiting the Des Moines of 1984.

How about that, a New Yorker defending Des Moines!

This article is a great example to all of us of how far downtown Des Moines has come.  And for all of it to happen so fast is simply amazing.  Kudos to the folks that made it happen, I hope you enjoy the great publicity that the caucuses are affording everyone in Des Moines!