I live in Altoona, and we have 2 elementary age girls. Great school district, 20 min. from downtown, very nice town and far enough removed from East side to not be considered such. I've lived here for 7 years, and we love it.
Moving to Des Moines
- Thread starter CyVeteran
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I'd second this - My 20 year of living in DSM I've lived and worked on the west side of town - always dreaded the thought of commuting downtown. Couple years ago I started working on the NE side of town and still live in WDM - the commute really is nothing. Worst case is generally about 20 minutes other than a few days a year with bad (winter) weather or an accident or something.
Morning "rush" is typically 7:45-8:15, most days not even that long. Evening is a bit longer it seems - 4:30 - 5:15/5:30. And it's usually just that mile before or after 63rd street. clear sailing after that.
Don't let the commute worry you. Downtown parking is probably more of an issue for many I'd think.
*until it snows a little bit.
Honestly though, the suburbs aren't all that different from each other. There's no sense in living more than fifteen minutes from where you work unless you want to live in a small town.
I live on the South side of Des Moines. Its ok. One good thing about it is the houses are much cheaper then say WDM, Ankeny, Johnston. Most of the schools are ok as well. East side has some ok places, but that's about it. Pleasant hill is a nice area (S.E. Polk school district is good)
Anywhere in Johnston, Norwalk, Waukee, Ankeny, Carlisle, Indianola, is going to be nice, but higher $
Anywhere in Johnston, Norwalk, Waukee, Ankeny, Carlisle, Indianola, is going to be nice, but higher $
I get what you are saying but let's be honest, a "poor" education in Iowa destroys education in the state I currently live in...and many, many others. Of course there are schools in the DSM area that aren't as good as most but the standards set for education in Iowa honestly does not allow a child to fail. The child fails because of desire or the parents desire. Every child in Iowa has the opportunity to succeed in any district.
I'm a West Des Moines resident and my family and I like it alot. School is huge - sons class at Valley has 715 kids - but that also gives you tons of opportunities for AP classes, extra curricular activities not offered other places like a student radio station, etc.
If sports are important it is definitely difficult to break through when there are that many students but they generally do have success.
Can't go wrong with Ankeny, Waukee, etc either. Have co-workers who live in Beaverdale and south of Grand and love it. To each their own.
If sports are important it is definitely difficult to break through when there are that many students but they generally do have success.
Can't go wrong with Ankeny, Waukee, etc either. Have co-workers who live in Beaverdale and south of Grand and love it. To each their own.
The Waveland area is very nice but the houses are old. Better be handy. That, and property taxes are astronomical.
I've lived in Des Moines my whole life. Spent lots of time in West Des Moines, Waukee area, Ankeny and Downtown/Des Moines proper. I have no idea why people like the suburbs so much. I think they suck but obviously I'm in the minority. Can someone please explain suburban love to me?
If commute is a concern, Norwalk to downtown has to be one of the fastest and still offering a suburban style and pretty good schools. The home prices can be pretty high though since most of the homes are pretty new. There isn't much in that cheaper range of homes that were built 20-40 years ago.
Urbandale west of 80/35 because its awesome and I'm objective. Schools are great and easy access to the interstates. Best of luck and welcome back
Source: Someone who has lived in and went to school at Des Moines, WDM, Urbandale and I now have kids in school and my wife is a teacher.
PS- my neighbors house is for sale so as a Cyclone you will pass my first test
Source: Someone who has lived in and went to school at Des Moines, WDM, Urbandale and I now have kids in school and my wife is a teacher.
PS- my neighbors house is for sale so as a Cyclone you will pass my first test
Check out Altoona
I agree, brand new elementary and middle schools and new South East Polk high school that is state of the art with excellent teachers. Take Hubbell Ave. right straight to downtown, 20 minutes maximum to your desk. No sun in your eyes going to work in the morning nor coming back home in the evening, no freeway or interstate. Very nice housing prices and selection, lots of young families with children.
Prairie Meadows and Adventureland money helps pay for such niceties as the Altoona Campus, Library, new fire station, new water park, etc. Growing communitiy with BassPro, WalMart, etc. and now the Facebook datacenter. Big town amentities with small town traffic, low city taxes, and an excellent, well-staffed and well-equipped police force.
Best of all, it's a very fast and short drive to Jack Trice/Hilton and the Iowa State Campus. Although we raised our son on the west side of Des Moines doing the Hanawalt, Merrill, Roosevelt school system (it was great), I wouldn't hesitate to have him educated in the South East Polk school system.
I agree, brand new elementary and middle schools and new South East Polk high school that is state of the art with excellent teachers. Take Hubbell Ave. right straight to downtown, 20 minutes maximum to your desk. No sun in your eyes going to work in the morning nor coming back home in the evening, no freeway or interstate. Very nice housing prices and selection, lots of young families with children.
Prairie Meadows and Adventureland money helps pay for such niceties as the Altoona Campus, Library, new fire station, new water park, etc. Growing communitiy with BassPro, WalMart, etc. and now the Facebook datacenter. Big town amentities with small town traffic, low city taxes, and an excellent, well-staffed and well-equipped police force.
Best of all, it's a very fast and short drive to Jack Trice/Hilton and the Iowa State Campus. Although we raised our son on the west side of Des Moines doing the Hanawalt, Merrill, Roosevelt school system (it was great), I wouldn't hesitate to have him educated in the South East Polk school system.
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I would encourage you to look at the west side of Des Moines proper. Lots of great neighborhoods and schools. If you are in some combination of the following school boundaries, then you will find nice houses, schools, short commute, and easy access to lots of activities:
Elementary
Hannawalt
Greenwood
Hubbell
Perkins
Middle
Merrill
Callanan
High School
Roosevelt
I have lived in suburbs and City of Des Moines, and strongly prefer City.
Elementary
Hannawalt
Greenwood
Hubbell
Perkins
Middle
Merrill
Callanan
High School
Roosevelt
I have lived in suburbs and City of Des Moines, and strongly prefer City.
Agreed. This is why OP needs to determine what is most important, by his standards, not ours.
For example, for me. The only way I'd consider living as far out west as Waukee is if I worked in West Des Moines. Working downtown, I would hate the commute down i-235 (I did it for 5 yrs when I lived in W DM) only to then be subjected to the grind of Hickman Rd (or University) . I was just in that area yesterday running errands at 5:00 or so and it was annoying. It is the type of traffic that I NEVER have to deal with on a daily basis living in northwest Des Moines proper. I cherish that. Others might not (or they simply don't realize that they don't have to accept this as a part of daily life because that is all they've known). Is it as bad as other metros, no, but is it completely avoidable for anyone living in the DM metro and the bottom-line is that Waukee, for example, doesn't offer anything someone commuting to downtown can't get in any other closer suburb. Why settle when you don't have to?
People are all different. The important thing is for the OP to decide what his priorities are and line those up with what the different options offer. The biggest mistake is picking a place to live because that is where people say everyone is (or isn't) moving to,. The questions needs to "why do people liver here or there?" and does the answer to "why" matter to me or not.
Suburban living might line-up with what is most important to him.
I've lived in both Ankeny and W DM. There were things I liked about both but I realized I really desired being closer to things and to be able to actually bike from home to amenities and also commute to work by bike. None of those were possible until I moved to DM proper.
For me:
1. I'm a 3 stall guy with hobbies. I'm an adult and don't want to scrape my windows in the winter because most of the Beaverdale bricks have a single stall.
2. Outdoor activities are abundant. I can be to Saylorville, golf course, or High Tressel trail in 5 minutes.
3. Infrastructure, utilities. My sewer is going to work, all of my utilities are buried, there are sidewalks that are double wide for school kiddos to walk on.
Cookie cutter with non established trees is a huge defect but I'll take what I consider the pro's.
H
HGPuck
Guest
Haven't read through the whole thread but I think this is a pretty good summation on both sides. I can't get past lack of established trees and monotonous houses, but it would be nice to have a better parking situation. It really all comes down to personal preference.
Schools are kind of the same way. There are definitely pluses for a school district like Roosevelt, large suburban schools like Valley have their benefits, and so do smaller 2A or 3A schools in towns surrounding the metro. My pick would be a 3A school (if I had kids), but that's just my preference.
