Where is it booming in Iowa?? (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: insurance, lofts, condos)

[AZ.twinmom]

We live in AZ. wanting to move to Iowa end of year to be near family. My husband has reservations because of how the economy here is booming and feels the midwest is dying out. PLEASE if you have any good info. on how Iowa is NOT dying out and is still thriving in some areas (house market, new business's etc..) let me know! We're open to different areas but really like the Cedar Rapids best.

Thanks for your help!

[Ben Around]

Iowa City is the boom spot for the state. Has been for a long time. Not sure how CR is doing these days, but I've heard Des Moines is doing well. You'll hear lots of stories about small towns in IA dying, but be careful not to generalize that to the whole state. As agriculture continues to modernize there are fewer and fewer opportunities for youg people in the small towns. Where do they go? Many to Des Moines and Iowa City where the economies are not farm-oriented.

[AZ.twinmom]

Thanks for helping me out!

Does anyone know of any sites to check out regarding the economy in Iowa and where the most profitable places to buy a house would be? We're used to flipping houses here. I understand thats probably not going to happen in Iowa but is there a few specific areas that are growing?

[DSMGuy]

The Des Moines Metro is Iowa's boom area. It has grown on average about 10,000 people per year over the last 5 years and gained over 22,500 jobs. 2/3 of all jobs created in Iowa are in Des Moines.

Des Moines has added the following new amenities in the last 5 years: 17,000 seat arena, convention center, science center & IMAX dome, library, zoo addition, AAA baseball park expansion, riverwalk, outdoor ice skating rink, largest mall in Iowa, AAA hockey team, countless condos and lofts.

Des Moines is the second fastest growing metro in the midwest behind Sioux Falls, SD. It is a great place to live and it is getting better!

[Tek_Freek]

With all that said West Des Moines is the actual leader.

[Tek_Freek]

This is not a slam about DSM. I just feel the OP should be aware of the difference between DSM proper and the Metro.

Originally Posted by DSMGuy

The Des Moines Metro is Iowa's boom area. It has grown on average about 10,000 people per year over the last 5 years and gained over 22,500 jobs. 2/3 of all jobs created in Iowa are in Des Moines.

2/3 of all jobs in Iowa are created in the Des Moines area. There is a big difference in those two statements. While some companies are building in downtown DSM, others are either leaving DSM proper or cutting back. Two examples:

1. Mercy hospital is working to close a hospital in DSM and replace it with one in WDM. While many are complaining about the move because Mercy is abandoning the east side they are totally ignoring Luthern, which is located a short distance away from the hospital Mercy wants to close. I'm sure that gives Luthern a warm, fuzzy feeling.

The biggest complainer of the bunch is Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield - they are very upset that they are not controlling this decision. After all an insurance company certainly knows what's best for hospitals and patients. With that said:

2. While all this is going on Wellmark has announced they are moving out of their downtown DM location. "At this time we cannot reveal the new location for our company" It's WEST DES MOINES! Gotta love it...

Des Moines has added the following new amenities in the last 5 years: 17,000 seat arena, convention center, science center & IMAX dome, library, zoo addition, AAA baseball park expansion, riverwalk, outdoor ice skating rink, largest mall in Iowa, AAA hockey team, countless condos and lofts.

It's been announced that the new convention center is too small. It's how old? Apparently most of the exhibits at the new Science Center don't work. They worked okay at the old location. Improvement? IMAX is an excellent idea! Unfortunately, the movies you have to pay $10.00 to see were on cable TV last night. Don't care a hoot about baseball. National waste of time. Riverwalk, riverwalk, riverwalk. Why? So I can drive downtown, spend 30 minutes finding a place to park, pay a fortune to do so, walk 1/2 a mile to a place where I'm going to..... walk! Ice skating I'm all for. Same scenario as getting to the riverwalk. Library. No parking! There's something like 30 slots in the basement. Tell me again how many people live in the DSM Metro. BTW we have plenty of really, really good architects in DSM. Anyone know where the one that designed the City library lives? Look it up. If you come to visit ask someone how to find the original library and see if you can tour inside. That's architecture! The largest mall in Iowa is not in DSM, it's in WDM. Actually, it might be in Coralville. Hockey - about as much fun as baseball. Lots of condos and lofts. Yep.

Des Moines is the second fastest growing metro in the midwest behind Sioux Falls, SD. It is a great place to live and it is getting better!

Agreed as long as metro is left in.

Don't get me wrong. I love living here and have done so most of my life (I'm not retiring here, however). Clean, good educational system, growing, amazing network of bike trails, some really nice lakes and recreation areas, plenty of jobs if you're in the insurance industry, or banking. They are doing good things in downtown DSM, it's just that they are trying to emulate larger cities, and doing a rather poor job of it. You'd have to understand the politics here to realize why there are so many problems. We recently got rid of one bunch of crooks, but the remaining list is a long one.

Anyway, don't be afraid to move here. It is a wonderful area, and the people are friendly. Just don't let the friendliness put you off if you visit, as I've heard some say, it's just the way we are. Expect diversity, more than you expect, guaranteed. Oh yeah, the Iowa state Fair! Doesn't get any better if you're into that type of thing.

Search on my ID and you'll get a better idea of the area. Both Good and bad.

Okay everyone. Ready, aim, fire!

[dubuqueaskme]

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pb...701070330/1001

that link will show you, through the popular newspaper, "The Des Moines Register" that, actually DUBUQUE leads the state in job growth, followed by Des Moines, and third place Davenport. But, as said previously Iowa City has led the state, but for the past few years. theres a new player on the board.

http://www.greaterdubuque.org/news/jobcreation.html

Another site CLEARLY STATES Dubuque is #1 in job growth.

Cheap housing is THE market here, granted, there are a plethora of nice, secluded neighborhoods with homes in the 300K-800K region, but finding a cheap house, to fix up wont be hard... Check out KAUFMANN AVENUE, so many homes like 75K-120k house.

[DSMGuy]

I was talking in terms of sheer numbers, the DM Metro leads the state in job growth. As far as percentage growth relative to job market size, it is Dubuque.

[DSMGuy]

2. While all this is going on Wellmark has announced they are moving out of their downtown DM location. "At this time we cannot reveal the new location for our company" It's WEST DES MOINES! Gotta love it...

Actually one of the guys in city government at absolutedsm.com said they are looking at the current Polk County Convention 'plex location.

Apparently most of the exhibits at the new Science Center don't work. They worked okay at the old location.

I was there recently and out of about 50-75 exhibits/things to do, there were 4-5 that were broken down. I do agree that it is the usual popular exhibits and it is disappointing to see them down all the time. Would I want to go back to the old science center because of this? Never.

Baseball, a lot of people like it, myself included. It is the only AAA team in Iowa and 1 level below the majors, very good for a city DM's size. It is not for everybody, but it does add to DM's attractiveness for a lot of ppl.

Parking and getting to all the new things downtown. You get that in most cities and DM is far easier to deal with than most. I have had no problems parking near the new library and riverwalk areas. Contrast that to Chicago where I drove around trying to find a spot, then was fined $100 because I didn't have a "neighborhood sticker" on my car, which I didn't even know about.

I guess the bottom line is, we've come a LONG way in the last 5 years and built many great things. Are they perfect? No. But we are light years ahead of where we were and when you think about the fact that 5 years ago, for example, our convention facilities were anchored around a 1950's era outdated arena, we have come a long way.

Does the arena management need to do a better job selling it? Yes. Do we need to get more shows here (like Omaha does with their new arena)? Yes. Does DM need to get out there and support these concerts better? Yes. But at least we are on the map for this kind of stuff!

[Luke9686]

The Des Moines Metro (should I list all the suburbs so Tek Freek knows what I mean) is doing well. Probably not as good as AZ, but it is steady.

The housing market is O.K. You will not see 20-40% appreciation like you may in Arizona, but you don't have to worry about a housing crash in Des Moines like you would in Phoenix. I live in Silicon Valley (San Jose, CA) and that is what's happening here. Homes were appreciating at about 15-30% per year between 1998-2005, but the market is busting. Homes aren't selling like they were, and people are dropping prices like crazy. That will not happen in the Des Moines area. You will get the steady 6-9% per year, but it will not decrease.

You will probably also take a pay decrease, but the cost of living is much cheaper than Phoenix (assuming that's where you are at). A nice 4 bed 2 bath house in Johnston and Ankeny will run under $275,000. removed