Kiplinger's ranks Des Moines #1 - Best Cities for Families (West Des Moines: neighborhoods, schools)

[steel03]

^I find it very interesting that your main attack on Des Moines is that its residents think it is akin to New York, when in fact YOU are the one with the completely outlandish comparison happening in your head. Gary? Seriously? Even for you, that's a biiiiig stretch. Every city has poor areas, and Des Moines is no exception.

[tollfree]

It looks like it I said. Which it does. Lots of old abandoned warehouses, old factories, etc.

Just because Gary, IN is close to Chicago and the rough part of DSM reminds me of Gary, IN - does not mean in any way I'm saying Des Moines is anything like Chicago in terms of what it offers. Although, midwestern cities generally carry a similar vibe and I would say that is true with Chicago and Des Moines.

[steel03]

In no way was I implying that Des Moines has anything to do with Chicago. That's you projecting your ridiculous, illogical biases and irrational pessimism on my words. You've completely missed the key point. Yet again.

[Dport7674]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

...just most cities aren't as easily impressed by such rankings as Des Moines is.

What do you know about "most" cities?

Find any list that ranks cities in some way and there will be a thread about it started somewhere on this site.

Similar cities like Omaha and much larger cities, that have no reason to pay attention to lists, like San Diego, seem to start threads like this one all the time.

A lot of folks saw this thread and thought "That's pretty cool, good for Des Moines." and then forgot about it. But not good ol Ronnie Jonez. The z means you're hip, right?

[smpliving]

Originally Posted by Dport7674

What do you know about "most" cities?

Find any list that ranks cities in some way and there will be a thread about it started somewhere on this site.

Similar cities like Omaha and much larger cities, that have no reason to pay attention to lists, like San Diego, seem to start threads like this one all the time.

A lot of folks saw this thread and thought "That's pretty cool, good for Des Moines." and then forgot about it. But not good ol Ronnie Jonez. The z means you're hip, right?

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

It looks like it I said. Which it does. Lots of old abandoned warehouses, old factories, etc.

Just because Gary, IN is close to Chicago and the rough part of DSM reminds me of Gary, IN - does not mean in any way I'm saying Des Moines is anything like Chicago in terms of what it offers. Although, midwestern cities generally carry a similar vibe and I would say that is true with Chicago and Des Moines.

Where are all of these abandoned warehouses and factories?

[tollfree]

Originally Posted by steel03

In no way was I implying that Des Moines has anything to do with Chicago. That's you projecting your ridiculous, illogical biases and irrational pessimism on my words. You've completely missed the key point. Yet again.

There are parts of Des Moines that you could drop in Gary, IN and no one would know the difference. You called that "outlandish". I don't think it's a far stretch at all. The North and East sides of Des Moines (which are at least half the city itself) look as rundown as anywhere in America.

When you read these rankings of Des Moines being a good place to live, it's always implying West Des Moines or Ankeny - even if that's not explicitly stated because the magazine has to pander to the entire metro. There's a few decent parts of the south side...of course those schools aren't considered as good as the average suburban school.

[tollfree]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Where are all of these abandoned warehouses and factories?

Take a drive down Maury St on the East side, you'll see them lined up. I'm sure Kiplinger's skipped that part of town if they visited.

There is this attitude in Des Moines that it's so amazing and white collar - that the bad parts of town magically don't exist.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

There are parts of Des Moines that you could drop in Gary, IN and no one would know the difference. You called that "outlandish". I don't think it's a far stretch at all. The North and East sides of Des Moines (which are at least half the city itself) look as rundown as anywhere in America.

When you read these rankings of Des Moines being a good place to live, it's always implying West Des Moines or Ankeny - even if that's not explicitly stated because the magazine has to pander to the entire metro. There's a few decent parts of the south side...of course those schools aren't considered as good as the average suburban school.

North and East Des Moines look like any average middle to lower middle class neighborhood in the midwest. That area reminds me of my old hometown in SE Iowa and a friend from Omaha said last weekend the area reminds her of where she grew up in NE. It's far from the war zone you paint it to be. Sure there are some dicey houses, but the area as a whole is fine.

[tollfree]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

North and East Des Moines look like any average middle to lower middle class neighborhood in the midwest. That area reminds me of my old hometown in SE Iowa and a friend from Omaha said last weekend the area reminds her of where she grew up in NE. It's far from the war zone you paint it to be. Sure there are some dicey houses, but the area as a whole is fine.

I never said it was a war zone, lol. It's not nearly as dangerous as the rundown parts of Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, or even Omaha, but really doesn't look all that different. Lots of weeds growing everywhere, rundown houses, strip malls with completely cracked parking lots with weeds growing through the cracks, abandoned buildings, etc.