??? about moving to DSM area--specifically Johnston, Waukee, Urbandale (Des Moines, West Des Moines: houses, neighborhoods)

[pepe1]

Dallas Center Grimes would certainly be a good choice as well. Dallas Center Grimes is a "medium" sized school district. It is a growing district, yet the growth is slower than what you would find in Johnston or Waukee.

Solid academically, and the distirct seems willing to spend money on facilities (new schools, and rennovations to existing schools).

BTW, No tax abatement in any of the Dallas Center Grimes communities either.

[mrs_moby73]

Sadly, we are finding the tax abatements are just not offered in the areas we are looking at. My husband is actually headed to DM tomorrow to look at houses and shore up some more details about his job. We have a list of houses for him to look at with the two front runners being located in Johnston and Grimes. We will just have to wait and see what happens. I am finding lots of great houses for reasonable prices, but when you add in the property taxes to the payment it just totally changes the picture. I'm afraid we may end up having to rent rather than buy. It's a little frustrating, but we are optimistic that it will all work out.

[pepe1]

Des Moines area home prices are deceptive. True that $250 K will buy alot of house in this market - It's just not advertised that Des Moines area property taxes are sky high resulting in a net housing payment that is equal to just about anywhere else....

Iowa does have a homestead exemption on property taxes (I'm not sure if every state offers this). You'll get a small deduction on the property taxes by claiming the residence as a homestead (It's around a $200 per year deduction) -as long as the home is your primary residence, your home will qualify for the exemption. If your husband is classified as a veteran, you will also qualify for another deduction on your property tax.

[mrs_moby73]

Thanks for sharing that. Knowing there are some deductions we might qualify for (no matter how small) is a real encouragement. Hopefully our realtor will know about all of that, or maybe it's an issue for the county assessor's office to handle.

Earlier today, I did a salary comparison for the area of California where we live now vs. Johnston and it was almost identical. It showed that the cost of food in Iowa is considerably less than out here, but that the cost of housing was MORE than the prices out here due, I am sure, to the property taxes. I just thought that was kind of crazy!

[freshfuture]

Hi, I'd like to share some educational gems here in the Des Moines Area. We relocated here from the east coast and found the best educational opportunities I've seen anywhere.

First, take a look at Central Campus. Des Moines Public Schools Central Campus This is a unique approach -- the city provides all of their special courses at a central location which enables them to utilize funding for one outstanding program instead of repeating programming in each school as most districts do. This encompasses programs that are rarely available to children at this age (mostly high school); culinary courses, graphic design, auto mechanics, something with piloting/airplanes, animal science, marine biology (remarkable program that has to be seen to be believed), nursing, language institute (japanese, chinese, etc), others I can't recall and a separate gifted/talented program called Central Academy. The city is small enough that the buses run every hour from their home school to Central. Students from some of those communities you mentioned can also attend Central.

I suggest you look at the following schools as they are very good and are in the Des Moines district--Windsor Elementary, Merrill Middle School and Roosevelt High School. We moved to the city proper to be in that district. The quality is top notch and have the advantage of being more racially diverse, somewhat smaller schools. In my opinion, I was least impressed with Ankeny because the area is a bit more waspy/snooty and much less diverse.

One unrelated thing. Des Moines has one of the best county assessors websites with exceptionally detailed info about houses. Polk/Des Moines Assessor - Home Page While house-hunting this site was very useful.

Hope this helps.

[mrs_moby73]

Thanks for the information freshfuture!

[mrs_moby73]

Just an update...

My husband is in Iowa right now. He saw several houses with a realtor yesterday and will be seeing more this afternoon. So far he just loves Johnston. He's headed out to Grimes this afternoon, but I think barring a miracle he will want us to be in Johnston. Not sure why he is so dead-set on it, but I totally trust his judgement. He has had nothing but wonderful things to say about the area and everyone he has met. Iowa has made a great impression on him!

[DMRyan]

Johnston may be one of the most beautiful suburbs in the Des Moines area. Rather than being surrounded by flat cornfields with tract homes, there are more custom built and upper end homes in Johnston and there's tree cover galore. You'll like living there in the summer months because of the proximity to the Saylorville Lake Recreation area, which is Des Moines' foremost recreational lake and park area. The only drawback to Johnston is that access to the rest of the metro is somewhat limited. If you or your husband is working downtown, there are no real direct routes there, but you're still looking at less than 30 minutes for a commute there. Access to the remainder of the western suburbs where the jobs and shopping is is a little more convienent.

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by freshfuture

First, take a look at Central Campus. Des Moines Public Schools Central Campus This is a unique approach -- the city provides all of their special courses at a central location which enables them to utilize funding for one outstanding program instead of repeating programming in each school as most districts do. .

Central Campus is a good program. I went there for the smart kid classes in 9th and 10th grade, got asked politely to not come back to the academy side of it due to low grades and took German 1-5 there from 10th-12th grade. Lots of programs to choose from that are either A. interesting B. would prepare a kid for college better than standard classes and/or C. could put a student on a good career path - mechanic, sheet metal, carpentry, etc.

[mrs_moby73]

Originally Posted by DMRyan

Johnston may be one of the most beautiful suburbs in the Des Moines area. Rather than being surrounded by flat cornfields with tract homes, there are more custom built and upper end homes in Johnston and there's tree cover galore. You'll like living there in the summer months because of the proximity to the Saylorville Lake Recreation area, which is Des Moines' foremost recreational lake and park area. The only drawback to Johnston is that access to the rest of the metro is somewhat limited. If you or your husband is working downtown, there are no real direct routes there, but you're still looking at less than 30 minutes for a commute there. Access to the remainder of the western suburbs where the jobs and shopping is is a little more convienent.

He will be working out near the airport. From what I can tell he will have about a 25-30 minute drive in to work which is about 5 minutes more than what he drives now. It looks like it is about the same amount of time on the road if he chooses to take I-35 or just stays on the surface streets. Of course the milage is different, but the actual drive time is pretty close.