Des Moines suburbs and schools (West Des Moines, Urbandale: houses, employment, transfer)

[c2c]

I'm in the process of researching suburbs and school systems in the Des Moines area. I want to stay away from the newer suburbs that, on the surface, seem appealing, but are awash in cookie-cutter houses and over-crowded classrooms. Commuting to downtown Des Moines will be necessary and I'm hoping that someone can tell me about some of the areas and school districts closer to the city. I've heard there's a small mass transit system that shuttles commuters to/from downtown during the week. Locations along that system would be nice to hear about. If I could describe the perfect location, it would have solid homes at least 20 years old, a mix of styles (not a sea of 2 story boxes), great schools, strong sense of community, a mix of blue/white collar workers and, of course, reasonable prices....within 10 miles of downtown. Does a place like that exist? I'm currently in a suburb of Indianapolis that can best be described as the place I'm trying to avoid in Des Moines.
Also, does anyone know what the work culture at Midamerican Energy is like? I've heard that dominant employers in mid-sized cities can be a little stuffy since there's typically less employment options for the local population.
Thanks in advance.

[Downtown]

From my experience, most of the Des Moines suburbs are pretty cookie cutter.

Windsor Heights, and the eastern parts of West Des Moines, Clive, and Urbandale have older housing.

[El Rhino]

There are buses that run from the suburbs to downtown, but I wouldn't put much faith in them... We're not really a public transportation kind of town, you know?


Are you opposed to living in the city or do you want a suburb? 10 minutes is pushing it for a commute from the suburbs to downtown, and like Downtown said, most of the suburbs are very cookie-cutter esque. Also like he said, you might want to try the Valley Junction area of West Des Moines. That's a slightly older neighborhood with a mix of blue collar people, retirees and young families with a sense of community.

[c2c]

Not opposed to living in the city...just seeking "highly rated schools" for the kids. I'm flexible with the commute, just trying to stay away from the 20 mile one-way daily grind. I've noticed in many towns that there are usually one or two closer neighborhoods that have great schools and solid homes.
Also, what's the inside scoop on the local school districts? After living through a few corporate transfers I've found that state test results don't tell the whole story for a school district. As a local, which districts are considered top notch? Those that people say "you can't go wrong."
Thanks.

[WoodwardGirl]

Originally Posted by c2c

Also, does anyone know what the work culture at Midamerican Energy is like? I've heard that dominant employers in mid-sized cities can be a little stuffy since there's typically less employment options for the local population.

I haven't worked at MidAmerican, but from what I've heard and seen, it's a pretty good place to work. I don't think "stuffy" is a word I'd use... the dominant employers in Iowa in general are just more bureaucratic than the smaller employers in Iowa are, just like big employers anywhere. If you can live with that, I think the main difference between working in a larger company in a mid-sized market vs. a large one is the whole "small town" thing; I don't imagine the folks at ConEd (for example) all know each other, but they do at Midamerican, and you'll run into coworkers at the grocery store, the mall, church, etc. And your next-door neighbor will know people you work with, and your kids will go to school with your co-workers kids. So, in effect, you are in a small town without being in a small town! THAT is something some people have a hard time getting used to.

I don't think the employers like Midamerican take advantage of employees more just because they know the employees don't have a lot of other options; after all, if they p*** off the employees and the employees leave, the EMPLOYER doesn't have a lot of other options, either!

This has been a tough year for all the public utilities in the state, with so much ice and now a big snow. I would imagine belts will be tight -- they didn't replace all those poles in February for free. Also, it seems like the Quad Cities have reported huge Midamerican outages with every storm, and I'm sure that will be an area of focus for the company. Should be an interesting place to work, actually!

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by c2c

. As a local, which districts are considered top notch? Those that people say "you can't go wrong."
Thanks.

I'm going to say Ankeny or West Des Moines. Both districts are also big enough to offer a few more programs than the others, I believe. None of them are known for being particularly bad.

Average commute times in Des Moines are a lot lower than most other places. Obviously if you live way off the freeway it can take a while to get downtown, but if you're close to the freeway it shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes to get downtown under normal circumstances.

[pepe1]

Windsor Heights or some of the older portions of West Des Moines (the east side of West Des Moines) would seem to be close to a fit. Reasonable prices in these areas? Entirely dependant on your perception of reasonable, but I don't think there overly expensive.

Iowa has top notch public schools. You won't go wrong regardless of the community you select in this regard.

[SharpHawkeye]

Welcome to Iowa!

Well, I'm afraid I'd go in a different direction than El Rhino. WDM and Ankeny are nice suburbs with excellent schools, that's true. But for the most part they lack a real community feeling. WDM is the "blob" suburb of Des Moines and Ankeny is on its way. Plus, your commute is bound to be worse if you're coming in from the same places that everyone else is.

I would think about Urbandale. It was one of the first Des Moines suburbs, so it's landlocked, it's closer, the homes are older, the streets a little narrower, more of a sense of community. The schools there are just as good or better as the others in the area, with less overcrowding issues than at WDM or Ankeny.

I'd also think about parts of WDM, particularly around Valley Junction. Valley Junction is what WDM used to be, before it became the blob it is today. It's an older area, built around an old Main St. kind of area with some quirky shops and niche places. Again, the schools are fine.

I don't know enough about the transit situation, but maybe the folks at http://www.absolutedsm.com/ can help you on that front.

[Luke9686]

Most of the suburbs are cookie cutter. Most of the public schools in Des Moines proper I would avoid.

If schools are more important, I would get into one of the western suburbs. If the lack of community/cookie cutter issues are more important, I would recommend Beaverdale, the Ingersoll area, some parts of the Drake neighborhood and south of Grand.

Price range will greatly impact which of these areas you will be able to buy in.

Go to Iowarealty.com and do a quick search. All the areas I mentioned are the west and northwest sides of Des Moines. I would not recommend the east side to raise a family, but to each their own.

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by SharpHawkeye

Welcome to Iowa!

Well, I'm afraid I'd go in a different direction than El Rhino. WDM and Ankeny are nice suburbs with excellent schools, that's true. But for the most part they lack a real community feeling. WDM is the "blob" suburb of Des Moines and Ankeny is on its way. .

I agree with you that WDM in general is like that, but I meant that Valley Junction has more of a community feel to it. People will actually say "I'm from Valley Junction" as opposed to "I'm from West Des Moines" or "The Des Moines area" or whatever. There seems to be a little more community identity there. I guess you don't hear people saying "Oh, I'm from Quail Park" or any other neighborhoods in WDM (except maybe Glen Oaks?)