Opinion on Ankeny, Iowa?? (Des Moines, Ames: real estate, buying a home, buying)

[dknude]

Hello I am in the process of buying a home in the NW part of Ankeny, Iowa and although I have done as much research as I can on the city, I thought that personal experiances would help quit a bit. If anyone has any opinions of Ankeny and would like to share them it would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks.

[DSMGuy]

Was there a few months ago. Fast growing, clean, excellent school facilities.

[pepe1]

It is a very family oriented town that has really experienced rapid growth over the last five years. Excellent public schools. Very clean and safe city. Great if you have a family - may not be your cup of tea if you're young and single (doesn't offer much in the way of nightlife).

Ankeny has all the basics as far as shopping and restaurants (Wal Mart, Kohls, Target, Applebees, Chilis, several grocery stores) but doesn't really have any of the specialty retailers (Best Buy, Upscale Department store, or any mall stores for that matter).

Real estate in Ankeny has traditionally been a sound investment. Slow, yet steady increases in property values.

[Luke9686]

Very family friendly. Typical midwestern SUBURB. Urban sprawl cookie cutter homes, not that its a bad thing. Great schools, not diverse, has everything you need. Quality of life is important to most.

[El Rhino]

Like other people have said, Ankeny is a nice place that has grown a lot in the past few years. In addition to major retailers like Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc, it seems like Ankeny has picked up a lot of smaller specialty stores as of the past few years. It used to be that if you needed to find something in Ankeny, it was going to be on one of two streets, but now that seems to be changing.

Also like other people have said, it's not the most exciting, culturally stimulating place in the world. Des Moines and Ames are both really close though. Ankeny is also very close to Saylorville Lake, which is cool.

[Moving Iowa]

Ankeny is turning into one of the premier communities in central Iowa. You can't go wrong.

[moma24]

I lived on the NW side of Ankeny. We loved Ankeny! Great family town. People were fantastic. We would go back to Ankeny anytime.

[mayo2222]

I live on the NW side of Ankeny. My wife and I both love the area. It is close to the library, the new bike trail, the Praire Ridge sports complex and the city has everything you need to live.

The only thing bad about Ankeny I would say is all the growth. The city is growing too fast. Entire subdivisions of townhomes go up overnight.

If you don't mind living in the suburbs Ankenys is a pretty good place to live.

[capitalcityguy]

Ankeny is a fine city, but it all depends on what you're looking for. If I had a family, I'd be fine. If you're young and single or married without any kids in the near future, I'd live a little first and pick a part of the metro that bit more hip, interesting, cultural, etc.

[hockeymomma8]

Ankeny is a great city, but don't overlook Bondurant, near by which is a little smaller and less hectic, but is also growing like crazy. We lived there for 2 years and loved it.