Pro's and Con's of Pella

[linn2721]

OK - first of all, Pella is not your regular run of the mill 10k population city. It has a unique character with its community Dutch heritage, but you don't have to be Dutch to participate and enjoy it. We moved to Pella over 30 years ago - we were told that it was a "closed" community, if you're not Dutch, you're not much, but none of that was true. People here are friendly and welcoming. If you are looking for a clean, relatively safe, and wholesome city with no "bars" on the town square, this is where you can find it. Also, we have two wonderful school systems - a National Blue Ribbon public school with some of the highest student achievement scores in the state and nation, and a private Christian school with an outstanding staff and quality education. Our city continues to grow, and the economy has slowed the growth of real estate values, but with DM only 35 miles away on a four lane highway, our community real estate values will climb, most certainly. Come to Pella - you will like it here.

[Blakebutters]

Well when I first moved I would've never even thought about Ankeny. I mean it's a weird name, haha. But I've lived here about 6 years now. And I've grown to love it! It's great here! The school system is fantastic. You have. Basically any food chain restaurant you can think of and Ankeny has it. Both menards and Home Depot literally right next door to each other. Movie theater, hyvee, Walmart, target. And if you live in ankeny all of this is in less than 10 min from my house. And they have a great sports complex with soccer fields, baseball, football, tennis. And plus new businesses are always popping up left and right. It is a great town. But with a booming town like you want it is a little pricy. Ankeny has a very specific building policy so that it never looks rundown or "ghetto" anywhere. And so in since it is so nice all around, property tax is pretty high. But still very great place.

[Movingrightalong...]

Originally Posted by Blakebutters

Well when I first moved I would've never even thought about Ankeny. I mean it's a weird name, haha. But I've lived here about 6 years now. And I've grown to love it! It's great here! The school system is fantastic. You have. Basically any food chain restaurant you can think of and Ankeny has it. Both menards and Home Depot literally right next door to each other. Movie theater, hyvee, Walmart, target. And if you live in ankeny all of this is in less than 10 min from my house. And they have a great sports complex with soccer fields, baseball, football, tennis. And plus new businesses are always popping up left and right. It is a great town. But with a booming town like you want it is a little pricy. Ankeny has a very specific building policy so that it never looks rundown or "ghetto" anywhere. And so in since it is so nice all around, property tax is pretty high. But still very great place.

Ankeny is a very different animal than Pella. It's one of the middle class to upper middle class suburbs of Des Moines. With regards to moving there, what I'd recommend is living in Prarie City or Monroe so you have a reasonable commute to Pella and still can find employment in and commute to Des Moines should the Vermeer job go south for whatever reason. Pella is a little bit like Leavenworth Washington in that it's a nice place to visit - very nice and tidy - but if you're not part of the Dutch inner circle leave your money and move on down the road.