A local sustainability group is trying to get officials and residents critical of the Ingersoll Avenue project to change their minds.
Why it matters: Iowa and Des Moines are car-focused communities, but the Ingersoll streetscape project aims to get people to slow down and peruse businesses along the popular shopping and dining strip by using protected bike lanes and improved landscaping.
Driving the news: During a special council meeting earlier this month, Mayor Frank Cownie — who owns Cownie Furs on Ingersoll — said the project, which is under way, has become "a real nightmare" for businesses, the Register reports.
- Cownie and several other business owners expressed concerns that the project reduced parking along Ingersoll.
What they're saying: Concerns about parking reflect "old ways of thinking," says Alec Davis, head of Momentum DSM, a local PAC focused on improving urban environments.