Moving to Des Moines (Iowa City, Ankeny: fit in, for sale, apartment complexes)

[gavandgraciesmommy]

Hi! My husband and I are considering a job offer in Des Moines. We currently live in a very small town of 300 south of Iowa City. We moved here a year ago from IL and are still not completely aware of the area. We have two children one is 4 and has severe autism/ MR and we also have a 20 month old. We are nervous about moving and do not know the safest and most economical town/ neighborhood to move to. A good school district for the 4 year old and how to get services there. Also places to visit, things to do, fairs, etc. We have two vehicles and dont know if we should sell one or if we will utilize them frequently.

[iowatater]

I have lived in Norwalk and Waukee. Norwalk (southwest)has a little more of the small town feel, while Waukee (west) is more suburban. Both have great schools and are good places to live just 10-15 minutes from downtown.

[leeburns]

Originally Posted by gavandgraciesmommy

Hi! My husband and I are considering a job offer in Des Moines. We currently live in a very small town of 300 south of Iowa City. We moved here a year ago from IL and are still not completely aware of the area. We have two children one is 4 and has severe autism/ MR and we also have a 20 month old. We are nervous about moving and do not know the safest and most economical town/ neighborhood to move to. A good school district for the 4 year old and how to get services there. Also places to visit, things to do, fairs, etc. We have two vehicles and dont know if we should sell one or if we will utilize them frequently.

Check into Homestead for Autism for local information that may help with information beneficial to your son.

Lee

[gavandgraciesmommy]

Thank you for you help! Do you know of any daycares with excellent reputations?

[2tickets2paradise]

I am originally from the Des Moines area and I'm looking at moving back to be closer to my aging mother. It has literally been 25 years since I've lived there - any help on the following neighborhoods/areas/towns would be much appreciated. How's the crime and what's the demographic for:
Bloomfield-Allen Township next to Ewing Park and Easter Lake (EAST of Indianola Road)
Pleasant Hill
Altoona
North Ankeny (between the golf courses)

These are the areas that I remember being pretty nice. I'll be living alone and need a safe yet affordable place to call home - preferably a condo or townhome as I'm not into mowing or shoveling.
Thanks in advance!

[Luke9686]

Originally Posted by 2tickets2paradise

I am originally from the Des Moines area and I'm looking at moving back to be closer to my aging mother. It has literally been 25 years since I've lived there - any help on the following neighborhoods/areas/towns would be much appreciated. How's the crime and what's the demographic for:
Bloomfield-Allen Township next to Ewing Park and Easter Lake (EAST of Indianola Road)
Pleasant Hill
Altoona
North Ankeny (between the golf courses)

These are the areas that I remember being pretty nice. I'll be living alone and need a safe yet affordable place to call home - preferably a condo or townhome as I'm not into mowing or shoveling.
Thanks in advance!

I grew up in Altoona and Pleasant Hill, and am familiar with Ankeny. All three are very safe, virtually no crime. Altoona and Pleasant Hill are pretty small, but are growing very quickly. They're all virtually crime free. The demographic is going to be pretty much all white, although there is some diversity moving into the areas. It seems the Des Moines metro is getting noticed by people everywhere. All the suburbs offer a convenient commute, no safety concerns, and pretty much all the amenities you'll need.

You'll be surprised at the growth in these areas, especially Altoona and Ankeny. Ankeny's creeping up on a population of 50,000. Just a few years ago it was in the mid 30's.

[DMRyan]

On the Des Moines side, there are plenty of new homes and even empty lots to build on near Easter Lake, some of which you could grab for a steal right now. This is an area that's fairly nice, has great scenery and topography, but has been hit hard by foreclosures and there are a lot of homes for sale SE Des Moines. It's pretty easy to get downtown or to the bypass to get east or west, but the biggest drawback of SE Des Moines is what you have to go through to get home. SE 14th Street and the area north/northwest of Easter Lake is pretty crummy. There were way too many apartment complexes built, which really adds some unsuspecting pockets of crime not far away from Easter Lake.

[2tickets2paradise]

Thank you for your replies to my post - I just got back home from a trip to Des Moines over the 4th of July holiday. I can appreciate what you're saying about the SE 14th area near Easter Lake, DMRyan. I put an offer on a foreclosure in that Bloomfield-Allen area but haven't gotten a response. If I get the property I would move in and use it a a jumping off point for looking around to find a better property to call "home" and then rent out the foreclosure property until the market picks up in a few years.

I actually took a moonlit walk with a friend near Grays Lake and what a beautiful experience - I have truly missed this great city and I am more anxious now than ever to return to Des Moines! We drove through the downtown area and ended up on Grand Avenue westbound. What can you tell me about the condos on Grand - it looks like prices have really dropped - but are they a good value? 3660 Grand, 3663 Grand, The Barbican, etc...

Altoona looks like a top choice for me at this point. I looked at Pleasant Hill and found condos by Triton (defunct) that are new construction with really horrendous driveway designs that are reasonable priced but doubt my pickup would fit in the garage.

Any info on the economic outlook for Ankeny?

THANKS!

[DMRyan]

You can find some good deals with the condos on Grand Avenue, but most are older (1960's and 1970's) buildings. The association dues you pay don't often seem to come with the amenities they should be offering, but the Barbican is one of the more exclusive condos on the street, so maybe it's slightly better there. Seems like a lot of semi-affluent seniors love to call these condos home, so be ready to redecorate the unit, if purchased. I don't know if the units flucuate in value much or if it's a sound investment.

Triton Homes have a great concept at a great price point, but I'm leary of their construction. I have friends that have/had these units and it seems like there were semi-constant repairs being needed on new construction from either shoddy work or cheap building products. There are so many of these rowhome like townhomes in the burbs, I really doubt you make any money off of the resale of such a unit for a quite a while. My experience was that people either rented their units out or sold them for less than they paid for them. There were so many townhomes getting built in the DSM area, they're now saturated. Why buy a used unit when you can get a brand new unit for the same price, perhaps less when closing costs are entirely paid by the developer, they offer purchase incentives, furniture give-a-ways, etc.? No doubt you can find a great buy on these types of units, but be prepared to not get out from under it quickly.

Glad to hear you enjoyed DSM and welcome back.