Small towns west of Des Moines (Adel, Earlham: violent crime, neighborhoods, school district)

[Ehret6]

We currently live in the country in Southeast Iowa. Our closest town has about 200 people in it, but for any real shopping we travel at least 30 minutes. We are looking to relocate due to work.

We have been looking at the following communities: Van Meter, De Soto, Adel, Earlham. What can you tell us about them? We have four children, so the school is vital. We of course want a good school, but also one that is inviting to new kids! Are the communities kid-friendly, will I feel comfortable walking the dog in the evenings?

Your help is very appreciated!

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by Ehret6

We currently live in the country in Southeast Iowa. Our closest town has about 200 people in it, but for any real shopping we travel at least 30 minutes. We are looking to relocate due to work.

We have been looking at the following communities: Van Meter, De Soto, Adel, Earlham. What can you tell us about them? We have four children, so the school is vital. We of course want a good school, but also one that is inviting to new kids! Are the communities kid-friendly, will I feel comfortable walking the dog in the evenings?

Your help is very appreciated!

I'd imagine these communities are extremely safe and kid-friendly.

[Chicago60614]

Yeah, I can't possibly imagine any of these cities are dangerous.

The state has a murder rate of 1.33/100,000. Arkansas, which has a few hundred thousand fewer people than Iowa had over 250 murders to Iowa's 40.

Just saying, it's almost HARD to find a truely dangerous area in Iowa. Des Moines has bad areas, but the metro had 5 homicides (in 04' or 05') for 535,000 people.

[Ehret6]

I do appreciate your help and opinions.

I think our biggest concern would be the schools. Does anyone have an opinion on if one school district is superior to the others, or the opposite, one that doesn't quite measure up? I know that where we currently live there are a couple of schools that surpass the others academically, however one is not very welcoming to new students.

And as far as safety, I guess being from a small Iowa town, violent crime isn't something that really comes to mind. It's more of an issue as to if my kids would be able to ride their bikes around town on a summer evening.

[calsac]

If I recall right Desoto and Adel are the same school district(ADM).
Van Meter I knew at one time had a higher than state requirements for graduation.
Other than that I do not know much about them.

Sure they all have some problems with funds and enrollment issues.

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by Ehret6

We currently live in the country in Southeast Iowa. Our closest town has about 200 people in it, but for any real shopping we travel at least 30 minutes. We are looking to relocate due to work.

We have been looking at the following communities: Van Meter, De Soto, Adel, Earlham. What can you tell us about them? We have four children, so the school is vital. We of course want a good school, but also one that is inviting to new kids! Are the communities kid-friendly, will I feel comfortable walking the dog in the evenings?

Your help is very appreciated!

IMO you can feel comfortable walking your dog at night almost anywhere in the Des Moines metro (less just a few select neighborhoods in DSM) let alone this small towns. I don't see how you have anything to worry about.