Where to live east of Des Moines? (Urbandale, Ankeny: best cities, for sale)

[Old Gringo]

I used to live in Burlington. It's a really nice small city. Big enough to have most of the conveniences, but small enough to avoid most of the problems. Very picturesque setting on a tall bluff above the Mississippi, too. Wonderful parks. Good schools.

[Tek_Freek]

Newton is a nice town for sure. You had better appreciate the sound of race cars, though.... They just finished a Nascar track there.

[metro223]

lol burlington might be a little bit of a commute... just saying

[ncfamily]

Any thoughts on Altoona? This looks like a town close enough to Des Moines, and commutable to Newton for my husband.

[pepe1]

Altoona is a nice city. Definetly an easy commute to Newton or Downtown Des Moines. Great diversity of housing stock in Altoona ( new construction, older homes, apartments, town homes) and is generally less expensive than other Des Moines suburbs.

Altoona is part of the SE Polk School District, which are terrific schools (they have alot of new buildings and will sonn be in a new high school too).

Altoona has all the basic shopping amenities you will need, i.e. Target, Wal Mart, Lowe's, Grocery Stores.

Altoona is also home to Prairie Meadows, a horse track and casino - I think it's a great entertainment option. Also, adventureland Amusement Park is in Altoona. Both are located somewhat separate from the city of Altoona itself, so you wont have to deal with traffic from these venues if you don't want to.

[Negotiator75]

Originally Posted by ncfamily

We are in the very early stages of considering a move from NC to Iowa. The job would be east of Des Moines. I have looked at Altoona and Newton as possibilities and we have a couple of things to consider:

1. High schools(Son is a freshman and other son is in 5th grade)
2. Competitive Swim Teams
3. Wrestling Clubs--somehow I don't think we'll have the problems finding clubs like we have had in NC.
4. What are the housing options? We live in a great kid-filled neighborhood where the children are always outside playing. We would like something similar.

Thanks so much!

If you can go west of Des Moines that would be much better. I would HIGHLY recomment Urbandale. Its is a wonderful place to live, great schools, good home prices, Hy-Vee grocery stores are the best! Also there is NO traffic and people are VERY NICE.

[Negotiator75]

Originally Posted by pepe1

Altoona is a nice city. Definetly an easy commute to Newton or Downtown Des Moines. Great diversity of housing stock in Altoona ( new construction, older homes, apartments, town homes) and is generally less expensive than other Des Moines suburbs.

Altoona is part of the SE Polk School District, which are terrific schools (they have alot of new buildings and will sonn be in a new high school too).

Altoona has all the basic shopping amenities you will need, i.e. Target, Wal Mart, Lowe's, Grocery Stores.

Altoona is also home to Prairie Meadows, a horse track and casino - I think it's a great entertainment option. Also, adventureland Amusement Park is in Altoona. Both are located somewhat separate from the city of Altoona itself, so you wont have to deal with traffic from these venues if you don't want to.

No disrespect, but Altoona is very slummy. It has Adventureland that attracts crime, etc in that area. Not to mention Casino's & Horse racetracks - its fun to visit and vacation but very run down area for the most part. New home construction going on there is packed tight. Go west, go to Urbandale!! Trust me its THE BEST for kids & families.

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by Negotiator75

No disrespect, but Altoona is very slummy. It has Adventureland that attracts crime, etc in that area. Not to mention Casino's & Horse racetracks - its fun to visit and vacation but very run down area for the most part. New home construction going on there is packed tight. Go west, go to Urbandale!! Trust me its THE BEST for kids & families.

"slummy" might be misleading. It's not as nice as Urbandale or the Western suburbs, but it's not like there's much in the way of crime or poverty in Altoona. It's just kind of there, really.

As far as shopping, things are about to start looking up for Altoona. I read in the paper the other day that they're going to put a decent sized shopping complex there with a Bass Pro Shops. That's gonna be sweet!

[pepe1]

I realize using the term "slummy" and "run down" is subjective, but I have a hard time believing anyone would really find Altoona "slummy" or "run down". The bulk of the housing stock is relativley new, most older homes and businesses are well kept, municipal buildings are mostly very new, and the roads are in very good condition. Crime in Altoona? That's laughable, really.

Perhaps your basing your entire opinion of Altoona from what you see off I-80 or the vicinity around the casino? Because that is really just the outskirts of Altoona.

If I had to commute to Newton, I would not choose Urbandale. That would add another 15-20 minutes to your commute (one way) versus the commute from Altoona.

[Negotiator75]

Originally Posted by pepe1

If I had to commute to Newton, I would not choose Urbandale. That would add another 15-20 minutes to your commute (one way) versus the commute from Altoona.

Very good point, however there is NO traffic whatsoever. Thats the beauty of the Des Moines area.