Being able to browse art, drink exotic tea and leaf through racks of high-end clothes may be considered an expectation for a city that houses the state capital.

Des Moines, however, wants to exceed those expectations. The East Village is a newly renovated area in Des Moines located between the Des Moines River and the capitol building and businesses have been flocking to the area recently.

It is lined with personally owned and operated boutiques, art galleries, bustling bars, high-end designer clothing, a tea shop and lofts priced to entice a youthful residency.

“It’s full of eclectic shops – you see so many different types of people down here. It’s really refreshing for Des Moines,” says Emily Bednar, freshman in LAS-open option, and an employee of the East Village’s Absolute Art Gallery, 505 E. Locust St.

The East Village is attracting publicity from both local and out-of-state press, but the attention has not always been as positive.

Bryan Smith, general manager of Blazing Saddle, 416 E. 5th St., was one of the residents instrumental in making the renovations of the area possible. He says before the business and real estate boom of the past five years, the city wanted to tear down much of the area.

“They were just going to tear the block up; we fought to stay here,” Smith says.

Blazing Saddle is a popular gay bar in Des Moines and a business that has been in the East Village area for 23 years. Smith says the area was mostly office buildings and a few places to live before the recent renovations.

“It used to be you came to the area to go to work or to go to the Saddle,” Smith says. “Since we pushed for all this, it certainly has become the place to be.”

Smith says he thinks the changes have been good for business. They have attracted a new crowd from surrounding restaurants and bars, and their loyal crowd remains after all these years.

The new crowd is not only discovering some of the East Village’s oldest establishments, but some of its newest and freshest, as well.

One such store is Aimee, 432 E. Locust St., a clothing boutique fashioned after the designer-lined streets of New York.

“The merchandise is expensive for typical college spending,” says Anna Fontanini, a customer of the boutique and a student at Des Moines Area Community College. “However, it is unique and artistic. It’s definitely worth it if you have the extra money to spend and are looking for something special – something that nobody else has in Des Moines.”

Being able to browse the finer side of fashion not previously available in Iowa is a plus to visiting the East Village – it’s a business theme that is carried throughout many of the newer businesses not primarily concerned with clothing.

Jennifer Hanson opened her store Eden, 500 E. Grand Ave., in June of 2003. The shop specializes in exotic household items such as soaps, lotions, candles and cleaning supplies. Hanson says she moved to the area because she had always been drawn to the character of the neighborhood and old buildings. Since her opening, she has watched the neighborhood blossom.

“When we first moved in, there was just a handful of businesses. Now we’ve almost tripled that here,” Hanson says.

Only a year after Hanson moved into the neighborhood, two ISU graduates saw an opportunity to add to the spirit of the East Village through tea.

Rusty Bishop and Mike Feller are owners of Gong Fu Tea, 414 E. 6th St. The shop is an Asian-inspired tea store that the pair opened in June 2004. The main product is loose leaf tea, of which they feature 128 types. They say they came to the East Village because of the quality of product that already existed there.

“The product here in the area is good quality – things you can’t find at the mall,” Bishop says.

As several businesses are beginning what seem like promising life spans, some of Des Moines’ well-established businesses are taking note and moving out to the rejuvenated area.

The East Village is also enticing to some of Des Moines’ older businesses. One example of this is the Sticks Gallery, 3631 SW 61st St. Artist Sarah Grant started the company in Des Moines in 1992, and has been growing since then.

Sticks specializes in hand-carved and painted furniture, accessories and object art. Many Des Moines businesses, schools and hospitals feature interior installation projects by the Sticks artists.

Before moving to the East Village, the company sold its artwork out of a small studio in Des Moines. It needed more space and wanted to set up a gallery to better accommodate Des Moines clients, and saw that the East Village was a promising area getting a face lift at the time.

“Moving from a really small space to a really large one made a huge difference in our business and the sense of community is the best part,” says Amanda Berkley, gallery manager at Sticks.

Another veteran Des Moines business that moved to the East Village is the House of Bricks, 525 E. Grand. The House of Bricks is a bar and concert venue that moved to the East Village from its location on Merle Hay Road. House of Bricks manager Jerry Lowe says the last location was hidden and confusing for other businesses.

“We wanted a place of our own so we could legally annoy our neighbors,” he says. “We actually had people calling to see if we sold bricks; they thought we were a home improvement store.”

Lowe says the House of Bricks chose the East Village because it was more visible than its last location.

“We see a lot more people just popping in, just a lot more traffic,” Lowe says.

The independent shops give the East Village a quaint and personal feel. This is brought on, in part, by the friendships of the businesses.

“We are a really tight-knit community down here. We really like to spend time together outside of work,” Hanson says.

Their relationships not only make the atmosphere more inviting, but make it possible for the businesses to come together and take pride in their unique merchandise in an era dominated by large corporations

“The shop owners really support each other down here. It’s great,” Bishop says.

In addition to music, dining and shopping amenities, the East Village offers housing. With the latest boom of downtown living being developed, the East Village offers affordable housing options as well as luxury ones.

Mark Rossi is with the Hatch Development Group, a company that has developed the East Village Square, a $15 million project featuring 109 mixed-income apartments. Rossi says 40 percent of the units are marketed to young adults – the rent is based on salaries of various entry-level jobs, the rest of the apartments are priced at market value.

“People at the entry income level can live here in our building,” Rossi says.

“It’s a wonderful, affordable place to live in a vibrant part of Des Moines.”

Rossi says the development has a lot to offer to young adults who may be fresh out of school and making it affordable to this group “provides opportunity for economic diversity in this neighborhood.”

As Des Moines’ East Village continues to take shape, one thing is certain – its success depends on teamwork.

“Customers come and ask questions about the best place to get a cup of coffee or get something to eat,” Berkley says. “Everybody works together and communicates as a team to make the East Village experience worthwhile.”