.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Why Canada?

I grew up in Wyandotte, Mich., which is an older industrial suburb on the south side of Detroit, downriver. I went away to university, first to (the University of) Michigan and then Ontario, and then to grad school in Calgary and I stayed there to work.

What did you do after working as a city planner?

I left the (city of Calgary) in 1989 and helped the business community form the Downtown Calgary Association, which focused on economic development. I did that for seven years. Then I went into a private consulting practice. … That actually worked very well because I specialized in downtown and office projects, and I valued hundreds of buildings, year after year, for about 12 years. So I got to understand what makes a building profitable and what doesn’t.

What prompted you to leave Tucson?

The state of Arizona is nearly bankrupt, and so is Tucson. They were amending contracts, cutting employees 40 to 60 percent. In downtown Tucson, 70 percent of our office work force is government. So if government isn’t paying their share, the whole thing goes down like a house of cards. So at one point I just said it’s time to find a more stable place. And the more I learned about Des Moines, the more appealing I found it.

How has downtown development changed during your career?

I think in the beginning there was more of a bricks-and-mortar approach to things; if you throw enough buildings into an area, it will be prosperous. I think more and more, we’re beginning to realize that there are complex commercial and social networks that sustain an area. That’s why we focus on things like giving downtown alternate forms of transportation, arts and culture.

Your overall impressions of downtown Des Moines?

In some ways it’s very advanced. First of all, you’ve got this huge office population downtown, which you wouldn’t have in most cities. Just to give you an example, Tucson has a million people, and they have 12,000 people working downtown. And you’ve got very large companies downtown, and they’re healthy corporations. And I’m seeing a really committed corporate community in terms of investing in economic development and public projects.

Challenges you see for downtown Des Moines?

In the core, there’s very little commerce at (street) level; you don’t have a lot of retail and restaurants at that level, so the sidewalks can be a little bleak. I want to see what we can do there, but we’ve got to put together a new economic model to make that work. The other area that is going to be challenging is the additional vacancy that’s going to be created as new buildings open. The good news about that is we have this problem because we built more space. So we have a role to play there.

What will that role entail?

In every case, we’re playing an assisting role. We can help connect city hall and developers and building owners. Sometimes buildings need to be converted to other uses; often they’re going to residential or hotels. So we can take some of the older space off the market without losing heritage buildings, and help increase the residential population downtown, which will help us attract more restaurants and retail.

Do you plan to continue teaching?

I may take a three-day vacation and go back to teach a course (at the University of Calgary). If I don’t do that there, I’ll try to find an opportunity here. When you teach, you really have to know your material and be current. It’s the best form of learning I can find.

Did you bring family here?

My partner, Marilyn, and I have been together for three years. We have a friend staying with us for the summer who is a University of Arizona student. And I think we will have a lot of friends passing through to visit.