Downtown Des Moines foot traffic declines from July rebound

Downtown Des Moines foot traffic topped pre-pandemic levels for the first time in July, according to data tracked by Placer.ai and provided to us by the Greater Des Moines Partnership.

Yes, but: The counts tumbled again in September by more than 17%.

• That's linked with the prevalence of the Delta variant, Tiffany Tauscheck, the partnership's COO, told Axios.

Between the lines: More workers were returning to the office in the summer after vaccines had become widely available, Tauscheck said.

• The relaunch of events like Iowa Cubs games and farmers markets were also contributing factors to the July increase, she noted.

What's ahead: Foot traffic will exceed pre-pandemic levels again in coming months, she predicts.