Opinion on Ankeny, Iowa?? (Des Moines, Delaware: condos, townhomes, public schools)

[AmeliaJohn]

Ankeny is clean, too; don't forget that! It's a typical suburb but large enough to be proud in its own right. Good schools with championship sports and academic teams, small-town atmosphere but almost touches DSM, all the major big-box stores, it has been the fastest-growing city in Iowa for several years. You'll be happy here.

[focail]

Well, I hate to be the one to bust up the Ankeny love-fest...

Ankeny is fine for certain people. Yes, it has good schools and safe neighborhoods. Those are nothing to sneeze at, but, if you are at all like me, you may find living here frustrating at best.

My husband and I are quite liberal--we're the freaks who take their own reusable bags to Target and actually use the recycling bins provided by our trash company (most people in our neighborhood don't and their paper goods and empty yogurt containers are always blowing into our yard...). Eating organic/natural is difficult unless you are willing to do the research and lots of footwork. There are tons of cookie-cutter neighborhoods, stores, and--I really hate to say it--but many "cookie-cutter" people as well. Once again, not a bad thing in and of itself, but we'd like something less homogeneous.

There's a small-town mindset, which is fine if you like that sort of thing. But I grew up in small town Iowa and it was not the happiest childhood for someone who is shy, artistic, and intellectual without much athletic talent. Our son is like that as well and we've been disappointed to find that he's going through even tougher times than I did even though we're in a town 50 times the size of the one I grew up in (I think it's worse for boys).

Unless you fit in with others who live in Ankeny, socializing is difficult. Des Moines people don't always like to travel this far north when there are more things to do in their own backyards.

It's very conservative politically. Most of the other stay-at-home moms here in Ankeny actually stopped engaging me in conversation once I began wearing my Kerry/Edwards button for the 2004 presidentiall election. Either that or they realized that I didn't share their obsession with talking endlessly about our children, the new Disney movie, or all of the dance classes and sports functions they were constantly running their kids to.

[metro223]

^^

That was probably one of the most conceited "I think I'm superior" posts I've ever read.

So - you moved to a family oriented neighborhood - and you're acting like just because these parents like to talk about their children, that they are some sort of robotic families that are all programmed the same.

Maybe your stupid button wasn't what made the people stop talking to you - but rather your superior attitude you clearly hold towards the people of Ankeny. Glad you think you are on a higher cloud since you recycled a pop-can and one or two of your neighbors didn't.

[DMRyan]

Amen to that. My girlfriend lives in Ankeny, and because of the cheaper townhome housing that is filling in large parts of Ankeny, several of my friends have opted to live up there as well. It seems like a fine place to raise a family, but I can't for the life of me understand why the average young single would want to live there. It's as plain as they come, sterile, and too family oriented for me at this point in my life. There is nothing unique about Ankeny, it's just a cheaper place to live than the western burbs. Hardly any bars, hardly any non-service oriented jobs, hardly any fine dining, hardly any trees, hardly anything to do that doesn't revolve around children. It will get better as it gets bigger, but it's too late IMO.

One of my friends that bought up there is already looking to get back down to Des Moines or West Des Moines to be closer to, well...just about everything besides Wal-Mart and Target. Ankeny seems to be the place for all of the rural Iowans moving to Des Moines. To each their own, but there are better suburbs to live in in the metro area than Ankeny if you don't have children.

[focail]

Originally Posted by metro223

^^

That was probably one of the most conceited "I think I'm superior" posts I've ever read.

So - you moved to a family oriented neighborhood - and you're acting like just because these parents like to talk about their children, that they are some sort of robotic families that are all programmed the same.

Maybe your stupid button wasn't what made the people stop talking to you - but rather your superior attitude you clearly hold towards the people of Ankeny. Glad you think you are on a higher cloud since you recycled a pop-can and one or two of your neighbors didn't.

Gee, not sure where that anger came from. I think I said several times that nothing is wrong with any of what Ankeny is if that's what you like. Personally, we want something different.

Yes, we recycle. And we recycle all of the stuff that blows into our yard from our neighbor's houses because they don't even bother to come pick it up from our yard.

And I never said I was superior, nor do I act like that around others. You obviously assumed I had a suprior attitude because you disagree with me. You may disagree. That's fine, but don't attack me for it and assume things/attitudes that are completely false.

Perhaps if you'd put yourself in my shoes or my son's shoes you might understand why we find this place frustrating. Perhaps you might think twice about what you wrote if you had a 9 year-old come home crying several times because the other kids aren't accepting of someone who isn't a sports nut or who cares deeply about others.

I won't respond to anything else negative.

[metro223]

Originally Posted by focail

Gee, not sure where that anger came from. I think I said several times that nothing is wrong with any of what Ankeny is if that's what you like. Personally, we want something different.

Yes, we recycle. And we recycle all of the stuff that blows into our yard from our neighbor's houses because they don't even bother to come pick it up from our yard.

And I never said I was superior, nor do I act like that around others. You obviously assumed I had a suprior attitude because you disagree with me. You may disagree. That's fine, but don't attack me for it and assume things/attitudes that are completely false.

Perhaps if you'd put yourself in my shoes or my son's shoes you might understand why we find this place frustrating. Perhaps you might think twice about what you wrote if you had a 9 year-old come home crying several times because the other kids aren't accepting of someone who isn't a sports nut or who cares deeply about others.

I won't respond to anything else negative.

Ok? I've never been in a sport. I'm a male, and I'm done with my public education. I survived. Yes I've been through the same thing as your son - Ankeny is not to blame though. Not sure how many 9 year olds I know who are "accepting artistic liberal intellectuals" as you described. Sorry for the lack of sympathy. But all of my friends were girls until the 5th grade - I find it almost ironic you tell me to put myself in his shoes!

As for people littering - trust me, I hate litter - hate it .. and I recycle! The most shocking part about this is, I'm not a liberal! I really think you are looking at Ankeny with a "grass is greener on the other side" sort of mentality. 9 year old boys love sports everywhere ... So Cal, Chicago, Kansas City, Dunkerton, Iowa ... you name it ... it's not just Ankeny.

As for saying "I won't respond to anything else negative." .... I'm not quite sure how I'm being negative, might as well say "I'm not responding to anything else realistic!"

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by metro223

you name it ... it's not just Ankeny.

This is a good point. As unfortunate as it is, kids get picked on everywhere for all kinds of different things. Definitely not exclusive to Ankeny.


When I was 9, we picked on a girl who was a vegetarian, had a hyphenated last name and believed in unicorns. What a weirdo!

[DMRyan]

Originally Posted by El Rhino

This is a good point. As unfortunate as it is, kids get picked on everywhere for all kinds of different things. Definitely not exclusive to Ankeny.


When I was 9, we picked on a girl who was a vegetarian, had a hyphenated last name and believed in unicorns. What a weirdo!

Some parents don't help the cause by doing things like that to their kids.

[capitalcityguy]

focail - for all the reasons you listed (as well as DMRyan) I would not chose to live in Ankeny. That is not a knock on Ankeny, just a recognition that what you see, is what you get. You seemed to somehow expect something different (which isn't Ankeny's fault, it is yours IMO)>

So I ask: why did you chose to live there?

[focail]

We chose to live in Ankeny because it was the place closest to my husband's work that we could afford to live. Everyone we talked to told us that we'd like it here despite our likes/dislikes.

Now for the rest of you who've chosen to attack my son (the only reason that I'm even responding to you) and assume that he's somehow "weird"...

1. He loves video games and Transformers--he's actually quite normal.

2. He likes to play sports at recess, but he's no longer allowed to play because he's not quite as quick as the others. And as we all know winning is everything. I guess it's better than having kids scream in your face and threaten you with bodily harm, which was what happened before they decided that he wasn't good enough to play.

3. He's shy and that's a big no-no apparently. So much so that one kid attempted to stab him with a pair of scissors, but thankfully my son was quick enough to slap them away.

4. He's considered weird this year because he knew the answers during a group project without looking at the textbook (*gasp*).

5. And lastly, he is currently ostracized because he stood up to a group of popular kids who were about to physically attack another child who happened to be poor and the wrong skin color (the horror!).

But, yes, continue to make wild, untrue and unfair assumptions about who we are and what we are like simply because we are proud that we recycle and would like a more heterogeneous place to live so that we can more fully enforce the principle of equality of every individual on this planet into our children. Yes, continue to assume that we're vegetarian, hate public schools, have a hyphenated last name, think we're that only ones in Ankeny who recycle, and are horrible people all because I used the dreaded '"L" word.

Yes, no place is perfect. Kids will make fun of others, but we have found a place where my son will be allowed to be who he is for the most part and we're moving there this summer.

He's never "good enough" for the kids here and my husband and I are never "good enough" because we happen to have had Democrat political signs in our yards and like to have at least some conversations that don't revolve around children. And it's not because we act superior or elitist despite your assumptions.

I should really thank those of you who attacked me because you proved my point better than I ever could. You have now solidified my opinion of Ankeny.