We declare our love — for the East Village in Des Moines

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, many of us have been thinking about the people and things we love. The top of my list are my two Yorkies, Rosemary and Sage, that I adopted this past summer. While we all have different loves, there’s one thing we agree on: We love working in the East Village in Des Moines, and here’s why.

Top restaurants and bars

In an informal poll, the most common answer to why associates love working in the East Village is because of the variety of food and drink options. According to EastVillageDesMoines.com, there are 22 restaurants and 21 places to get coffee, tea, or cocktails. For some, that may not be an impressive number, but when you look at the size of the East Village — approximately 7 by 10 blocks — that’s a lot of options in a small area.

For lunch, you can easily grab a vegan, Italian, Japanese, Mediteranean, American, Mexican, Cuban, or Thai meal. After work, depending on your mood, you could grab a drink at a local brewery, dive bar, tiki bar, or rooftop cocktail lounge — the options are endless!

Our favorite stores

Our associates also appreciate the community of locally-owned shops in the area. I’ll be honest: I’m not sure there’s a better spot in Des Moines proper for shopping these businesses than in the East Village. There are boutiques with a variety of products sure to entice anyone — everything from kitchenware and spices to clothing and jewelry to pet supplies and home decor. You can spend your whole day shopping in the East Village!

One of our favorite times of the year is the Holiday Promenade, which typically takes place in late November. The East Village is decked out with holiday lights and decorations. There are various holiday traditions to participate in like horse-drawn trolley rides, visits with Santa Claus, carolers, a tree-lighting ceremony, and fireworks. Most of the shops extend their hours and have treats available for customers, making it a really enjoyable time to spend with friends, family, or coworkers.

A glance at East Village history

Something that is not lost on us is that we work in a historic part of Des Moines. We have a lovely view of the magnificent Iowa capitol building from our office. We also work near some of the oldest buildings in the city, with eight on the National Register of Historic Places. A couple of blocks away is the State of Iowa Historical Building, housing displays that showcase the evolution of Iowa and its land.

Not only does the East Village hold a lot of history for Des Moines, but it also holds our agency’s history. Twenty years ago,Two Rivers Marketing established its first office on the sixth floor of the Teachout Building. When we outgrew that space, we moved to the third floor of the Teachout and Hohberger buildings. After that, we planned to move into a remodeled building on the other side of the river. Unfortunately, the weekend before our move-in date, it burned down. So we stayed in the East Village, settling into the old General Motors Parts & Distribution Warehouse building, which was built 85 years ago.

No need to look for parking

With so much to do here in the East Village, one of the things we love most is how walkable it is. Whether we’re walking to lunch, attending an event, exploring the local attractions, or getting away from our computer screens, it’s nice to take a leisurely walk from place to place.

All of the associates at Two Rivers Marketing love working in the East Village. If you think this is an area where you’d like to work, visit our careers page to learn about current job opportunities!