Des Moines or Sioux Falls (West Des Moines, Urbandale: home, live, fence)

[mfrerkes]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Central Iowa Buisiness

Whiteline lofts plans to include condo's up to $1.65 million, and "SOHO" lofts (come on now this is Iowa) in the Des Moines East Village has some around $1M (yes some people will actually get mad if you include "Des Moines" and don't exclusively refer to it as the "East Village") ......

Des Moines overall is a nice place but in some aspects it is very strange.

I agree with that last statement wholeheartedly. Its almost like Des Moines is not content with being categorized as a decent mid-sized city, and overcompensates with the type of rhetoric you've described. That by itself is not a big deal. Everybody who is proud of where they live will play up certain angles of their city with some hyperbole. Its harmless, really.

The thing that really irritates me (and others I've met) is that these over-the-top pro-Des Moines people have to trash-talk other cities around the state and region. And, they'll usually have some sort of quasi-statistical oddball comparison they think validates their trash-talking. I don't see people from Waterloo/Cedar Falls in here bragging about how much better the UNI-Dome is for football than anything Des Moines has. There's been nobody from the Quad Cities here crowing about how their area is headquarters to a bigger Fortune 500 company than Principal Financial in Des Moines.

Maybe people in those areas are just happy to live there, and feel no need to bash other cities that don't measure up to an obtuse set of arbitrary criteria.

[RonnieJonez]

What amazes me is how prevalent that mentality is. This idea of pretending you're a huge metropolis probably isn't as strong anywhere else in the world, that is what I find so strange about DSM. There are dozens of "civic action" groups dedicated to proving that. What's even stranger is that some of them will actually get mad if you bring up they aren't somewhere as hip as New York or LA - that is simply off the wall ridiculous.

The truth is, if you don't subscribe to their idea of civic pride, especially if you are young and work at one of the bigger corporations in town - many people will not accept you.

[mfrerkes]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

This idea of pretending you're a huge metropolis probably isn't as strong anywhere else in the world, that is what I find so strange about DSM. There are dozens of "civic action" groups dedicated to proving that. What's even stranger is that some of them will actually get mad if you bring up they aren't somewhere as hip as New York or LA - that is simply off the wall ridiculous.

I hate to say it, but I think that may have more to do with geographic location than anything else. If Des Moines was in Illinois, the bold rhetoric would be noticeably tempered. Des Moines is the biggest fish in a very small pond called Iowa.

I've lived in Iowa (both rural and urban) for a good part of my life and think its a great place to live. However, the further west you go from Iowa City-Cedar Rapids, the more sheltered and insulated people become. Eastern Iowa sits directly in the shadow of Chicago, whereas Des Moines does not. When you're that far removed from a major metropolitan area, your worldview tends to get smaller.

During my teenage years I lived in a town west of Fort Dodge called Rockwell City. Everybody there thought Fort Dodge was hopping and Des Moines was a bonafide "big city." They would talk about Des Moines traffic as if it was comparable to "The 405" in Los Angeles. Needless to say, many people in Rockwell City had not ventured too far outside the state of Iowa.

[RonnieJonez]

True but outside Iowa City I don't think the Chicago influence has much effect on Eastern Iowa other than the fact that people have probably been there a few more times. I wouldn't assume Davenport or Cedar Rapids residents to be more "worldwide" because they are 2 hours closer to Chicago. It's still Iowa.

[mfrerkes]

Iowa is Iowa, that is true...but having lived in western Illinois (1 mile from Iowa) for awhile, I can tell you the perception of what constitutes a big city is remarkably different. Developers in Moline are putting up some 20-story retail/office/condo complex in its downtown and hardly anyone there could give a crap. It got a few mentions in the QC press, but there aren't any local forums dedicated to blaring how such a project makes Moline a big city. Stuff like that just doesn't get the mileage it would in Des Moines.

[RonnieJonez]

lol, in Des Moines they got a little too excited over some special-concept Wal-Mart by Jordan Creek. (maybe because Omaha doesn't have one). Or if downtown gets a 5-story "midrise" they will definitely make a huge deal about it. Kind of odd because you'd think if they want to be a big city they'd realize this practice of bragging to ones' self does not help out their cause.

[El Rhino]

What's a special concept Wal-Mart?



That reminds me... When they were building the Wal-Mart in the Jordan Creek area, some lady from West Des Moines called into "Your 2 Cents Worth" in the Register and said something to the extent of "We don't want Wal-Mart in WDM. Put in an IKEA or something. Put the Wal-Mart on the East Side or something where those people need it"

I just thought it was kind of funny, especially since it probably came from some housewife who barely had a high school diploma, married a workaholic and is only a couple paychecks away from living on the East Side.

[mfrerkes]

Getting excited about a Wal-Mart being built in their city? The trend among big cities is to brag about keeping Wal-Mart OUT.

[GraniteStater]

I have never been to IKEA. They seem to be common in the Upper Midwest like around the Twin Cities. It would be great if they would expand more into areas like Kansas City and St. Louis.

[mfrerkes]

My girlfriend swears by IKEA, but they are not what you'd call common in the Upper Midwest. There are two stores in the Chicago area and one in the Twin Cities. They are not planning any immediate expansion into other parts of the midwest, according to their website.

Sorry Des Moines shoppers, but IKEA will have to wait. In the mean time, have another Wal-Mart Supercenter.