Kiplinger's ranks Des Moines #1 - Best Cities for Families

[tollfree]

Oh gosh. I'll just play along. Yes, even the bad sides of Des Moines are fine. The meth labs are hidden from plain view anyways.

[CincyIowan]

Always nice to see Des Moines getting the recognition it deserves!.

[amazinmets73]

Omaha has a ghetto and it doesn't have a much higher % of blacks than Des Moines. The city is twice the size though

[Meemur]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Oh gosh. I'll just play along. Yes, even the bad sides of Des Moines are fine. The meth labs are hidden from plain view anyways.

I've been here for 3 months now. Yes, there are some shady areas, as there are in any metro, but I haven't seen whacked out meth heads in the grocery stores or large groups of teenage thugs standing around smoking in parking lots.

I'm impressed with the number of activities that there are for families and seniors. I think I can see why some of the 20-something singles might be bored if they are into going to more of a Chicago-type club scene and sports venues, but that's a very small segment of the population.

I'm certainly finding plenty to do.

[fezzador]

Originally Posted by amazinmets73

Omaha has a ghetto and it doesn't have a much higher % of blacks than Des Moines. The city is twice the size though

The black community in Omaha is much older and more established than in Des Moines (for example, it's the birthplace of Malcolm X). The city has been 10-15% African American for decades. It was less than 5% black in Des Moines in the 1980s.

DSM has gained an appreciable black community only in the past quarter century or so, prior to that, only a modest smattering of African Americans were sprinkled throughout the city and could hardly be called a "community". If you're looking for black culture or history in the state of Iowa, Waterloo is the city with the largest (per capita) and most established African American community.

[amazinmets73]

Originally Posted by fezzador

The black community in Omaha is much older and more established than in Des Moines (for example, it's the birthplace of Malcolm X). The city has been 10-15% African American for decades. It was less than 5% black in Des Moines in the 1980s.

DSM has gained an appreciable black community only in the past quarter century or so, prior to that, only a modest smattering of African Americans were sprinkled throughout the city and could hardly be called a "community". If you're looking for black culture or history in the state of Iowa, Waterloo is the city with the largest (per capita) and most established African American community.

Very fair point. I notice that Des Moines was 8.07% black during the 2000 census and 10.2 at the 2010 census. Also, 87.8% white in 1990, 70.5 in 2010. Wonder what's the reason for the change in the demographics?

[atler8]

amazin
The hispanic & asian & mixed categories rose noticeably during that decade & made up most of the drop in the white percentage you noted.
If I'm not mistaken, Des Moines now has a higher hispanic population both in terms of raw numbers & percentage than any other minority group.