Having an actual interstate interchange at Alice’s Road instead of just the rough outline of an interchange will be a giant step forward for Waukee and West Des Moines.

Also, the coming interchange at the north edge of Ankeny is sure to start a whole new batch of development there, at the gateway to the legendary Ames corridor.

And as soon as the economy starts rolling again, Mike Whalen will start filling in the large blank spot around Bass Pro Shops along Interstate 80 in Altoona.

So that’s not one, not two, but three giant sucking sounds that downtown Des Moines has to listen to while it tries to concentrate on company-luring.

None of the suburbs can match the atmosphere and the track record of the city’s core, but then, people used to pack up and move to Detroit, too. Times change not just occasionally, but constantly.

I like working downtown. I think it’s an interesting place to be. I think companies should want to operate here. But if a company is looking for new or near-new office space, and its employees would like to hit some convenient retail spots at noon or at 5 p.m., and “home” is more likely to be in a suburb than a downtown apartment – maybe someplace else looks pretty good.

Satisfaction could slowly turn to frustration for the people who have helped to rebuild our mini-Loop. All of those meetings, all of that fund raising, all of the foot-draggers who had to be whipped into shape. Now, when it looks as nice as a wrapped present, all of a sudden there’s lots of nearby competition, and we’re saddled with 1.5 million square feet of office space that’s not quite what the customer had in mind.

The ideal outcome – and it certainly could happen – is that the entire Des Moines area continues to develop in logical ways, and downtown continues to serve as the center of gravity. People who work at the north edge of Ankeny look forward to supporting the shows, restaurants and ballgames of downtown Des Moines.

Even better, the big companies already located here continue to thrive, filling even more apartments, and the apartment-dwellers keep restaurants and bars busy, and eventually we have more retail down here. Other companies take note and settle in. Everybody’s happy.

But it’s not a given. There was a time when successful businessmen lived in fine homes on Sixth Avenue and rode streetcars to their downtown offices. That changed.

There was a time when people shopped for clothes at the downtown Younkers on their noon hour and maybe even preferred that to traipsing through a huge shopping mall. Now there’s so much that needs buying, and so many role models to keep up with, and so they love to traipse.

It can’t do the business community’s confidence any good when one high-flying real estate developer after another can be seen frantically shaking his wallet upside-down, wondering where it all went. In the past five years, big shots have clambered down from the heights in shock like passengers from a wrecked cruise ship.

But there’s no reason to despair. It’s still easy to believe that a couple of companies will come along and give downtown yet another boost.

The smaller cities of Iowa have more to worry about. Internet connectivity can only take you so far.

In New Mexico, I learned last year, the leaders in their infinite wisdom gave the state government to Santa Fe, the University of New Mexico to Albuquerque and New Mexico State to Las Cruces. There, they said. The cards have been dealt. Ante up and bet.

Downtown Des Moines is holding state government, insurance, banks, hospitals, skywalks and entertainment. Not a bad hand to play.