Ankeny Living

[JY07]

We currently live on the west side of the metro, but were thinking of building on the northern side of Ankeny.

My concern is I've lived in the area for almost 10 years now, and have only gone up to ankeny a handful of times, so I'm afraid we're going to end up needing to drive down to DSM/WDM for everything.

For those of you that live in ankeny, is that the case? Or are you pretty much set regarding businesses/decent selections in restaurants/etc? She goes to life time fitness, so I'm sure that's going to be an issue; I wasn't sure if there were any clubs somewhat on par with that up there or not.

At some point I got the impression altoona was planning on building a lot of retail in the near future, which I'd hope would offset the need to go out to west des moines, but I can't remember what that plan was (or if I'm crazy and just made it up).

 

[4Cyclones]

Shopping Yes. Restaurants Yes. Home improvement yes. Schools and academics Yes. Fitness Yes. Clubs no.

 

[jtdoyle1]

I've lived in Ankeny for 12 years now and there is everything you need here, and the best part is that from the north side of Ankeny you are only 20-25 minutes from Ames. It's great for getting to those weekday basketball games.

 

[Cpech56]

I live in northern Ankeny off of 41st and I can tell you that I rarely go to Des Moines for anything. Everything I need is in Ankeny. In fact after living here for awhile I get upset that there's not more stuff on the North side of Ankeny and complain about having to travel down Delaware to the area where most stuff is at. If there's a city in Iowa that's growing as fast as Ankeny I would love to find out where. There's plenty of restaurants and shopping here. Couple of Taco Bell's opening soon and I'm set.

The schools are awesome and a great place for your kids to get a quality education. I believe it's Northeast Elementary that just recently won a Blue Ribbon award for being one of the top 5 elementary schools in the entire country.

As for your woman working out, they just build a brand new workout facility across from Jethro's. I'm not entirely sure what the name of it is but it looks very nice and has a good sized pool on the bottom.

If there's one area I would say that is lacking in Ankeny it's the nightlife scene. Lots of people go to Benchwarmers but they tend to close around 10:30-11 on the weekend unless they have a band. After that it's Jakes and my personal opinion is that it's too much like a college bar. The only other place I've been is Cabaret and it's a decent place but doesn't attract a lot of attention because it's so far north for most.

 

[JerseyGirl]

What about schools? Have you considered that? Some of the new housing in northern Ankeny is actually in the North Polk district-and that's not a bad thing,IMO. Just very different than Ankeny (4A vs 2A) If you are married to shopping at certain stores then you will always need to travel. I live east of Ankeny and rarely find the need to go to the west side of the metro.

 

[Cpech56]

I've lived in Ankeny for 12 years now and there is everything you need here, and the best part is that from the north side of Ankeny you are only 20-25 minutes from Ames. It's great for getting to those weekday basketball games.

Exactly this. It takes me 18 minutes from the time I leave my house to the time I park at Hilton/Jack Trice. And that's slowing WAYYY down to go threw Huxley where the cops def do not enjoy some road beers like the rest of us.

 

[chuckd4735]

Ankeny has everything I need. The two things my wife always points out that she wishes Ankeny had is a mall so she can go "browse" and a bookstore. That being said, we can get to Jordan Creek in 25 minutes, and that's really not that bad.

 

[CyStalker]

Restaurants are not on par with what you will find in WDM like Biaggi's, PF Changs, Cheesecake Factory (higher end chain style restaurants). There are plenty of chain restraints on the lower side such as Chili's, Applebees, sports type bar/restaurants.

Regarding shopping, your everyday shopping needs such as Target, Walmart, Mendards, grocer needs are more than met. Lower end fashion needs are also met, Kohls, TJ Maxx, etc. If being close to a mall is an important part of your needs, Ankeny does not meet that need.

There are no clubs here that are equivalent to Life Time Fitness IMO. Again depends what your needs are. If you are a cardio and circuit nut, there are more than enough options. If a pool is important, YMCA is your only option. The Y is okay, not nearly as nice as some of the DM locations, but it does have pretty much everything.

Sam's club will be opening soon. If you work in DM or WDM, you can easily meet any needs not provided in Ankeny retail related. Downtown is very easy access, so if you like to eat in that area, it's not really out of the way.

We only go to WDM maybe once a month and can usually plan to get everything done there at that time. Like I said though, if you are someone that wants to eat out at nicer establishments frequently or go to the mall a lot, Ankeny is a bit out of the way.

Schools are great, community is wonderful, Ames is CLOSE. That's important stuff right there :v_SPIN:. Many people drive to DM, WDM every day and think nothing of it. Just depends on what your looking for.

EDIT: I was unaware of the fitness club by Jethro's.

 

[mj4cy]

We live in SW Ankeny which I love because I can hop on the backgrounds and get to Ames in a half hour. Also, most of the shopping we need is in Ankeny, but it still feels like "an excursion" if the family wants to head out to Jordan Creek. We don't take it for granted. Also, we're only 15 minutes from downtown which has a better nightlife obviously.

 

[JP4CY]

Another Ankenite checking in. I hated the idea of moving there with my wife but have grown to really like the town. It probably helps that we don't live anywhere near the strip mall Universe on Delaware.
For an outdoors person its great: bike trails, Saylorville, tons of parks.
I wouldn't say I'm a foodie per se, but I love independently owned restaurants and Ankeny struggles in that area. We do go to Des Moines for places like Proof, Cafe Di Scala, J Benjamins. Ankeny has some places but a family owned steak house similar to Rubes would kill it on the North side.

 

[JY07]

We live in SW Ankeny which I love because I can hop on the backgrounds and get to Ames in a half hour. Also, most of the shopping we need is in Ankeny, but it still feels like "an excursion" if the family wants to head out to Jordan Creek. We don't take it for granted. Also, we're only 15 minutes from downtown which has a better nightlife obviously.

Thanks for the feedback everyone; it sounds like ankeny has pretty much everything covered, especially if that new fitness club works out.

I found that altoona development project I was talking about, although I'm not sure what the status of it is: http://theshoppesatprairiecrossing.com/

 

[CyStalker]

Thanks for the feedback everyone; it sounds like ankeny has pretty much everything covered, especially if that new fitness club works out.

I found that altoona development project I was talking about, although I'm not sure what the status of it is: http://theshoppesatprairiecrossing.com/

Johnny's Steakhouse is up and running.

 

[jtdoyle1]

Sorry I don't live in Ankeny but when we go to the DSM area from Marshalltown we never go to Ankeny unless it is to visit a friend. We always head to the Valley West area. We always said if we moved to the area we'd live out there because Ankeny does not have a mall and everything seems to be stacked along Delaware. A few friends who live there say the bar scene is terrible (they are all married) because it's either a chain restaurant or a place like Shooters. There is no "authentic" place. When we go out to eat with Ankeny friends we always go to WDM or downtown. Ankeny seems like it's 100% geared towards families which is good if you're looking for that.

If you are looking for something "authentic" you could check out the Yankee Clipper or Fire House Brewery near old downtown. I expect that area to build up a little more once the High Trestle extends into that area.

 

[jtdoyle1]

Thanks for the feedback everyone; it sounds like ankeny has pretty much everything covered, especially if that new fitness club works out.

I found that altoona development project I was talking about, although I'm not sure what the status of it is: http://theshoppesatprairiecrossing.com/

Prairie Trail is continuing to add on with Jethro's, Fongs Pizza soon, and a Fitness World currently anchoring the area. There is more being built but I think it was put behind schedule when the economy was in the tanks.

Also there is a new state of the art YMCA being built on the DMACC Campus soon.

They just did a special census in Ankeny to show that we are over 55,000 now to attract a lot more businesses, as well.

 

[CyStalker]

Prairie Trail is continuing to add on with Jethro's, Fongs Pizza soon, and a Fitness World currently anchoring the area. There is more being built but I think it was put behind schedule when the economy was in the tanks.

Also there is a new state of the art YMCA being built on the DMACC Campus soon.

They just did a special census in Ankeny to show that we are over 55,000 now to attract a lot more businesses, as well.

I thought I heard that wasn't happening. I could be wrong.

 

[chuckd4735]

Prairie Trail is continuing to add on with Jethro's, Fongs Pizza soon, and a Fitness World currently anchoring the area. There is more being built but I think it was put behind schedule when the economy was in the tanks.

Also there is a new state of the art YMCA being built on the DMACC Campus soon.

They just did a special census in Ankeny to show that we are over 55,000 now to attract a lot more businesses, as well.

The special census was done solely to get more federal funding for the City.

 

[jtdoyle1]

I thought I heard that wasn't happening. I could be wrong.

Well that stinks if true. I haven't heard anything since they announced it a year ago. The old YMCA needs replacement or serious upgrades for a town the size of Ankeny.

 

[CyStalker]

Well that stinks if true. I haven't heard anything since they announced it a year ago. The old YMCA needs replacement or serious upgrades for a town the size of Ankeny.

Yea, I initially heard that it was going to happen about a year ago too, but then heard from some people "closer to the situation" that it wasn't happening. I don't recall if they said what the reason was though. That could have changed recently though.

I agree, the Y sucks for the size of Ankeny. Anytime a Y is connected to a school, they are not great IMO. I think it was when Waukee opened their Y connected to the school, I knew people that lived just minutes from that Y but went to the one in WDM, not because the Y wasn't new and shiny, but because you have to deal with the BS of the school.

 

[Stewo]

I've lived in Ankeny for coming up on 4 years now and find it kind of annoying, to be honest. It's a town full of soccer mom's, strip malls, chain restaurants, and it lacks an identity. The property taxes are high, too. Basically, the population is outgrowing the infrastructure and the city is constantly in scramble mode trying to keep up (certainly not their fault, just an observation). The plus side to Ankeny is that it's relatively clean and from my understanding, the schools are really good as well.

It's a developing town and it appears that it's going to be growing for quite some time still. I won't live in city limits if I stay in Ankeny when it comes time to purchase the next house. Might end up moving back towards the WDM area again.

 

[Stewo]

I thought I heard that wasn't happening. I could be wrong.

It's not happening now. Basically, the YMCA was going to have to drop more cash than they wanted. DMACC is still going to do the updates to building 5 (and I believe 4 is still going to be joined with 5) as they were initially, but it just won't include the YMCA now.