Help me choose between Johnston and Waukee (Des Moines, West Des Moines: how much, houses)

[QueenieReighn]

I am thinking of going to Des Moines U and am now trying to see about how much I would like living there. After looking at many towns, I really like Johnston and Waukee but I'm not sure between the two which one is my dream town. :-) I'm looking for people to fill me in on each town (really any and all info is welcome on them including pics). Just so you know a little more about me: I am young and married with 2 kids (3 and 2 years old). I grew up on a farm in Western NY and then moved to Philly to go to school but miss my country living oh so badly. I want a nice yard for my family, a good church, neighbors that act like family (like my farm town in NY :-P), and an excellent place for my kids to learn all that they can in school and in life. So can you help me? :-D

[RonnieJonez]

Waukee is probably a bit younger, as Johnston has more older, established neighborhoods. Johnston is probably more expensive overall, although some neighborhoods in Waukee are also very expensive. Both have excellent schools. You'll probably find a house with a bigger yard in Waukee, I believe Johnston has the highest property taxes in the state.

Both are close enough to everything that it's a non-issue (nothing is more than 20 minutes away, traffic or not), except Waukee has easier access to West Des Moines and downtown because you're closer to 235.

Waukee is also in Dallas County so maybe the taxes are lower, I would assume they are.

[mofford]

I voted for Johnston because it's close to Saylorville Lake and many great bike trails. Waukee has a bike trail too, but you have to ride 4 miles west on it to get away from Hy 6 and into the shade. You also get to pay $10 a year fee to ride on it.

[capitalcityguy]

My preference between the two would be Johnston as it is a nicer city IMO. That said, if you're attending DSM U, the ideal location would be the west side of Des Moines (i.e...south of Grand Ave). You're just blocks from your school and in one of the nicest, well established neighborhoods in the metro. Big yards with large mature Oak trees. Good schools too. The downside would be the cost of housing as it not cheap there but I couldn't tell from your post what price range you are considering. Also, it is not really "country living".

While Johnston is my favorite suburb in the DSM metro, it simply doesn't have a great, direct route to downtown (and thus Des Moines U....which is just west of downtown). Waukee is is a decent haul too.

I'm guessing if you have young children you have a strong desire to minimize time away from them so I would strongly suggest checking out some of the beautiful neighborhoods just west of the university. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the housing and emenities that might be as close as a bike ride away from your school.

Good luck and welcome to Des Moines!

[annalyta]

I live by DMU and made the commute to both Waukee and Johnston this passed semester. If you live right of of 80 in Johnston its not to bad. Waukee always seemed to take forever. Both are more than I would prefer on a regular basis. I would second taking a second look at the area around DMU. I don't know what your price range is, but if South of Grand is out of it, look at North of Grand. You probably won't get as much land, but there is beautiful Greenwood park nearby. You can also connect to a large trail system at Greenwood Park. The schools in the area are also comparable to any of the schools in Johnston or Waukee. Finally, there are several very nice churches by DMU: Plymouth Congregational (has a good nursery school), the Catholic Church, a Quaker Meeting house and one or two more.

If you absolutely have to have Johston or Waukee, I would go with Johnston. Waukee has had a tremendous amount of growth and sometimes seems to be struggling with the transformation from a small town to a growing suburb. Johnston seems a little more settled. It also seems a little more diverse (perhaps because of Pioneer?).

[MastermindDSM]

I would also say look at DM west side. I live in Johnston and prefer it over Waukee. Waukee to me is alot more cookie cutter than Johnston.

I will also expand concerns over what annalyta said "Waukee has had a tremendous amount of growth and sometimes seems to be struggling with the transformation from a small town to a growing suburb. Johnston seems a little more settled. It also seems a little more diverse (perhaps because of Pioneer?)."

Before I moved to Johnston last year I remember a fire in Waukee that took like 15-20 mins to respond to because they were volunteer firefighters. That immediately threw Waukee out for me.

Here is the headline Neighbors Critical Of Waukee Fire Response Time
[SIZE=-1]WHO-TV[SIZE=-1] - Oct 29, 2007[/SIZE]
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] October 29, 2007--Some Waukee residents are questioning if fire crews responded quickly enough to a home engulfed in flames. Officials say the home is a ... [/SIZE]

[QueenieReighn]

Thank you for the advice everyone! These really are good things to know/think about. We have officially decided that we will be moving to Iowa so I am excited to read any other advice/info you guys have. Thank you!

[mrs_moby73]

Hey Queenie! We are moving to Iowa in less than two weeks and we struggled with this same decision. You can read about it here (http://www.city-data.com/forum/iowa/...-johnston.html). We looked in Urbandale, Johnston, Grimes, Waukee, and West Des Moines. Once I visited, it was an easy decision to make. From what I saw, Johnston is a pretty sleepy community, there didn't seem to be a lot of options for shopping or dining. The property taxes were very high and there really weren't many houses to choose from in our price range (approximately $250,000)--now if your price range is more like $300-$400K you will have lots of choices. We also looked in Waukee and found some really lovely homes, but it did feel like it was a ways out there. Waukee also seems to be mostly in the plains. It's pretty flat and there weren't a lot of hills or trees. Ultimately we decided to move to a part of West Des Moines that is in the Waukee school district. The house we chose is only about a mile from the Jordan Creek shopping center, which will give me lots of options for a job in a few months. Even though we are close to the shopping, we are also near the edge of town so it doesn't seem terribly congested or crowded. Don't know if any of that will help you at all. Best of luck to you and your family!

Just a side note: We ruled out Des Moines proper due to the research I did online about the school systems in the area. There are folks on here who have great things to say about the DSM schools, we just weren't sure we wanted to take the chance based on the information we were able to get from all the school rating websites.

[annalyta]

Queenie,
I was writing a whole post talking about the schools on the west side of Des Moines, when I accidentally hit delete. Just out of curiosity what grades are your children? I'd hate to write a lot about elementary schools, if they are all in middle and high school.

[QueenieReighn]

Mrs_Moby73, thank you so much for your post! We are now looking in the area that you picked and really liking what we see. Who knows...maybe we'll be neighbors. :-) Annalyta, I would love to hear about the elementary schools! Both of my children are preschool age. Thank you!