Tour d'Ingersoll is coming up, 10 am to 2 pm May 24th. The ride is sold out with 17 individuals partcipating.
About Ingersoll Ave
Ingersoll Avenue, the an established neighborhood business district and thoroughfare to the west of downtown Des Moines, is named for Ebenezer Jared Ingersoll, the president of Hawkeye Insurance Company, the State Savings Bank, and the Board of Trade, all in Des Moines. He somehow found time to operate several farms and raise thoroughbred stock. During her research, historian Kaye Sanchez found this description of Ingersoll: “Person of athletic build, nervous, lymphatic temperament, brusque and plain of speech, often using vigorous swearwords, but his purse was always open to people in need.” “He was known for his tenderness and sympathetic nature.”
The safe, affordable, convenient, tree-lined neighborhoods along Ingersoll remain popular today due to their close proximity to shops, restaurants, downtown, the bus line, well-established churches, quality schools, and historic architecture.
Preserving homes and businesses near Ingersoll is important because it provides needed housing stock, avoids having empty lots dot our streets, and maintains a consistent residential appearance representative of our historical neighborhoods.
Since 1998, over $10 million in Neighborhood Finance Corporation (NFC) loans have been given out to North of Grand residents, another important financial tool to spruce up neighborhoods and curb blight and crime. The NFC is a non-profit mortgage banker that finances the purchase and/or improvements of single and multi-family housing within designated neighborhoods (like repairs to HVAC, electrical, plumbing, roof, foundation, siding, windows, doors, garage, sidewalk, driveway, water and erosion control, etc.). The NFC helps by delivering funds from financial institutions, Polk County, and the City of Des Moines to individual homeowners, homebuyers and developers.
Many individuals and leaders have made major investments on Ingersoll Avenue. Generous corporate support, city and state funding, grants and private donations (about $3.4 million) funded the first phase of Restoration Ingersoll. During our lunch stop at Palmer’s, check out the revitalized section between 28th and 31st Streets. Note updated decorative street lighting, widened pedestrian sidewalks, expanded on-street parking, new street trees, benches, bicycle racks, planter urns and flower beds.
Residential and commercial interests along Ingersoll are interdependent. Ingersoll is a mixed-use neighborhood business district in what could be described as an ideal Main Street community, in that it is, according to the Main Street Web site, a place “of shared memory where people still come together to live, work, and play.”
Ingersoll is comprised of many invaluable and irreplaceable historic, cultural and architectural resources. Stakeholders along the Ingersoll corridor are identifying these assets and creating opportunities to engage visitors and residents so these treasures will be around to enhance Des Moines’ west side for several more decades.
About Biking
Iowans are serious about biking. The 37th annual RAGBRAI, The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, will take place July 24-30, 2011. It is the world’s oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event. http://ragbrai.com. In Des Moines, the 24th Mayor’s Annual Ride for Trails took place a few weeks ago. This popular spring event has raised more than $100,000 for area trail improvements over the past 10 years. http://www.dmgov.org/Departments/Parks/Pages/MAR2011.aspx
Fuel costs and obesity rates are rising, yet most automobile trips are less than 2 miles. Des Moines leaders accept the bicycle as a legitimate form of recreation and transportation. In 2007, the City Council approved goals to become a bicycle-friendly community by adopting complete streets policy, like on Ingersoll Avenue.
Ingersoll, roughly 60 feet wide, with parking on both sides, is an important bus and commuter route. The corridor serves 12,000-17,000 vehicles daily. In 2010, Ingersoll went from four lanes (two in either direction) to one lane in each direction, with a center left-turn lane and bike lanes on both sides of the street, in an effort to improve safety and traffic calming.
According to Livable Streets Coalition, “The goal of traffic calming is to encourage multiple types of transportation (car, bike, walk, and bus) and improve the safety and livability of a neighborhood for all users. What sometimes gets overlooked is that safe, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods are also the types of places where people want to shop, dine-out and own a home. In short, traffic calming improves the economic bottom line for local businesses.”
Des Moines is also building a bike-able community by funding a bicycle and trail master planning effort to improve the community’s bike environment. City park planner Mindy Moore and Des Moines Bicycle Collective (DMBC) president Carl Voss have been invited to ride along with us, and can answer your questions about the Bicycle and Trail Master Plan’s short- and long-term strategies to make cycling a safe, convenient, and attractive travel mode. Read more about the list of recommended bicycle infrastructure projects in the area by going to: http://www.iowabicyclecoalition.org/dmbikeplan/about.
The DMBC is a non-profit organization and vital partner in promoting bicycle use in the area. The DMBC recycles and refurbishes good used bikes, offers classes on bike repair, provides bike safety outreach and training for youth, produces regional trail maps, and promotes cycling as a fun, healthy and sustainable way to get around town. http://www.dsmbikecollective.org/home
In September 2010, Des Moines implemented a pilot project bike rental program called Des Moines B-Cycle. Produced by Trek, these sturdy bikes have a front basket, 3 gears, fenders and an adjustable seat. Outside of Tour d’Ingersoll, anyone may rent B-Cycles at four kiosks. Learn more at http://desmoines.bcycle.com/home.aspx
Read more about bike sharing programs worldwide, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_sharing_system
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