Living in & around Des Moines

[simply1]

altoona, se dm by easter lake, indianola, bondurant, and norwalk all have tax abatements as well. some nice neighborhoods by saylorville on the west side, granger area also.

[Cyclonepride]

Indianola seems a little less expensive than the others listed. I've been here about 12 years, and it's a nice sized community (just enough places to eat and shop), nice parks, and close enough to the metro that you can get most anywhere in 30 minutes.

[CYdTracked]

I'd say stay out of the Des Moines school district if you can. I'm definitely moving out of Beaverdale before we have kids old enough to go to school. Depends on what kind of school you want to send your kids to as well, if you don't mind a larger school then some of the suburbs are just fine, if you want something smaller places like Norwalk, Carlise, etc. are good 3A schools and you'll have to go probably at least 40+ minutes away from the metro area to find decent smaller schools that aren't big 3A or greater but the drawback to that is conveinence if you work in the metro obviously.

There are nice places to live all around town really but if your priority is what kind of school that could drastically change where you look at. For instance I live in a nice Beaverdale neighborhood right now but when my wife and I decide to have kids I don't want them going to DSM schools so at some point we'll be researching schools within reasonable distance as we both work downtown. We both grew up going to small 1A schools and would prefer our kids not go to a 4A school but realistically know that isn't going to happen unless we want an hour drive to work so our best bet is trying to find something reasonable in a 3A or 2A district which is getting harder to find as the suburbs grow around here.

[3GenClone]

"Character" is great but I prefer homes built with 21st-century living in mind. Kind of lame I know, but with two young kids would want a strong neighborhood feel, nothing too busy, which is why I'd be interested in knowing what some of the outlying communities are like. 275-300k.

Based on this criteria, I would say Ankeny, West Des Moines, Waukee, Johnston.

Johnston is the smallest out of all of these, but not by much.

I like Ankeny as it feels like a city with the perk of being a suburb, and they are already being proactive with their growth by building the second high school - I think Ankeny has the potential to be the top school district in central Iowa in the next couple of years.

West Des Moines is great, the situation right now is that most expansion in West Des Moines is actually in the Dallas County side, which is the Waukee school district.

Waukee is growing like Ankeny, only their expansion seems to be more reactive than proactive. Once Waukee can get some new businesses in like Ankeny, they could be the new West Des Moines. May not be a bad idea to get in on Waukee as property values will increase when Microsoft moves in and Aviva starts filling positions.

[Al_4_State]

"Character" is great but I prefer homes built with 21st-century living in mind. Kind of lame I know, but with two young kids would want a strong neighborhood feel, nothing too busy, which is why I'd be interested in knowing what some of the outlying communities are like. 275-300k.

Beaverdale would be a perfect fit for you. Convenience of living in the middle of the metro area, and it really has a strong small town neighborhood feel. It comes off like a separate community, even though it's a neighborhood of Des Moines. There are various neighborhood festivals year round which have a lot of family friendly activities, and a good mix of restaurants and bars for when Mom and Dad need a break.

My girlfriend and I moved there because A) it's really close to Drake, but more importantly, because we loved the neighborhood pride, and small town feel with the big city amenities/opportunities.

[bellzisu]

Norwalk has changed a ton in the last 30 years. Heck the last 5 years it has changed a ton. When was the last time you were here NobodybeatsCy???

Norwalk is a very strong community that is still growing. We have new gas stations, restaurants, churches, and housing areas. Plus you are within minutes from almost anywhere in Des Moines. From my house near the swimming pool it takes me less then 10 min to get to Court Ave. Around 45 minutes to JTS. In all honesty you can get everywhere extremely quick from here.

The school is expanding quickly and looking at getting into 4A here in the next few years. A brand new football stadium is on the way along with a performing arts auditorium. The school also had several renovations lately.

What I love is Norwalk is a younger town. The average age is 33 I believe. I know all my neighbors around me. I live next to a Missouri fan, K-State fan, ISU fan, Iowa fan. We all know each other and help each other out. We always shut our street down once a year for a street party. It just has that small town feeling.

I have never once felt unsafe in this town. I'm from Sac City a small town of 2200 people. Norwalk feels almost like that. But you get the luxury of bigger town sports, shopping, and recreation spots.

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.

[Al_4_State]

Norwalk has changed a ton in the last 30 years. Heck the last 5 years it has changed a ton. When was the last time you were here NobodybeatsCy???

Norwalk is a very strong community that is still growing. We have new gas stations, restaurants, churches, and housing areas. Plus you are within minutes from almost anywhere in Des Moines. From my house near the swimming pool it takes me less then 10 min to get to Court Ave. Around 45 minutes to JTS. In all honesty you can get everywhere extremely quick from here.

The school is expanding quickly and looking at getting into 4A here in the next few years. A brand new football stadium is on the way along with a performing arts auditorium. The school also had several renovations lately.

What I love is Norwalk is a younger town. The average age is 33 I believe. I know all my neighbors around me. I live next to a Missouri fan, K-State fan, ISU fan, Iowa fan. We all know each other and help each other out. We always shut our street down once a year for a street party. It just has that small town feeling.

I have never once felt unsafe in this town. I'm from Sac City a small town of 2200 people. Norwalk feels almost like that. But you get the luxury of bigger town sports, shopping, and recreation spots.

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.

I'm mildly shocked by your commute times to Court Ave and JTS.

[Al_4_State]

Altoona also has a great system of trails if you like to bike, run, or walk.

Definitely. I mowed lawns between undergrad and law school, and at that time, the company I worked for mowed all the Altoona city property, so I got to know that trail system like the back of my hand. Very impressive for a suburb under 20K.

[bellzisu]

I'm mildly shocked by your commute times to Court Ave and JTS.

From Norwalk all you have to do is take the back way out of town and take 9th St up to Court Ave.

To get to JTS you take Hwy 28 through Valley Junction to I235 and then head north. On the weekend when 235 isn't so busy, it doesn't take long. Don't recommend doing it during rush hour in the morning or afternoon.

My wife teaches on 9th St and it takes her 5 mins to get to the school in the morning.

[DRCHIRO]

I'm mildly shocked by your commute times to Court Ave and JTS.

He's not to far off, Depending on the traffic, you can be to Court Avenue in about 15 minutes.

Jack Trice and Hilton takes about 45-50 minutes unless you stop for beers and turn it into a 3 hour trip.

I like Norwalk. We moved here in April of 2009 and bought a house this past March. It's growing, just not as fast as a town like Waukee did. The school will be 4A in a couple years and is making a lot of nice improvements.

I don't think the OP can really go wrong with any of the choices. The metro is full of alot of nice areas and schools.

[Bader]

Definitely. I mowed lawns between undergrad and lawn school

You started mowing lawns before going to lawn school?!? Wow man if you ever got caught, well, ever seen the end of Fargo?

[Al_4_State]

He's not to far off, Depending on the traffic, you can be to Court Avenue in about 15 minutes.

Jack Trice and Hilton takes about 45-50 minutes unless you stop for beers and turn it into a 3 hour trip.

I like Norwalk. We moved here in April of 2009 and bought a house this past March. It's growing, just not as fast as a town like Waukee did. The school will be 4A in a couple years and is making a lot of nice improvements.

I don't think the OP can really go wrong with any of the choices. The metro is full of alot of nice areas and schools.

I didn't know there was another way.

[Al_4_State]

You started mowing lawns before going to lawn school?!? Wow man if you ever got caught, well, ever seen the end of Fargo?

Thus evidencing why it was a minor miracle I got into law school in the first place.

Then again, it's only Drake.

[bellzisu]

I didn't know there was another way.

It's always the most interesting way too....

[CyBroncos]

Beaverdale would be a perfect fit for you. Convenience of living in the middle of the metro area, and it really has a strong small town neighborhood feel. It comes off like a separate community, even though it's a neighborhood of Des Moines. There are various neighborhood festivals year round which have a lot of family friendly activities, and a good mix of restaurants and bars for when Mom and Dad need a break.

My girlfriend and I moved there because A) it's really close to Drake, but more importantly, because we loved the neighborhood pride, and small town feel with the big city amenities/opportunities.

What school district is Beaverdale in? I'm thinking Hoover or Roosevelt...no thanks