Best City in Iowa (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: work, high schools, university)

[DSMGuy]

Here is a nice bit of Christmas news for DM: (Kiplinger's Magazine Rates DM as one of the top 5 cities for Married with Children)

http://content.kiplinger.com/tools/s...tcitiesmarried

For the DM fans, good news, for people looking to move here, good news. And for the detractors, you only make yourself look bad with your sour grapes.

Also, sure these lists can be taken with a grain of salt, but DM has had a consistent pattern of being among the top rated cities on the Forbes list, Site Selection magazine (don't remember the exact name of the mag), and Kiplinger's so there must he something to it. Also, Iowa City is consistently rated high among the small city lists.

[DSMGuy]

I meant there must "be" something to it, not must "he" something to it. A little too much rum in the egg nog today.

[ruralboy]

Originally Posted by Stevie

Yeah, I'd have to agree there. I don't know how I missed the "50%" part. (maybe I was just tired last night, lol)

In Des Moines I never really see much blight. There maybe a few houses that have burned down but usually I just see older homes in the areas that are considered "bad" and it would take a lot of blight and poverty for "most of the families to be stuck in Des Moines". I'm just laughing at that one.

well, several Des Moines high schools were names "dropout factories" by a study by John Hopkins University recently. A "dropout factory school" is a school that has less than a 60% graduation rate.
Three Des Moines highschools [East, North, and Lincoln} were all names drop out factories because of their low graduation rates. The Des Moines school district is known for padding their graduation rates so that they do not look quite as bad.
It is pretty interesting that the Des Moines school district was "the Only" school district in Iowa that made this dubious honor.
i always have to laugh at the editorials in the Des Moines Register about how the smaller school should be combined because they are academically inferior when it is the Des Moines schools that have all the academic problems.
Oh, by the way, since you were a graduate of the des moines public school system, do you work for Mac Donald's?????

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by ruralboy

well, several Des Moines high schools were names "dropout factories" by a study by John Hopkins University recently. A "dropout factory school" is a school that has less than a 60% graduation rate.
Three Des Moines highschools [East, North, and Lincoln} were all names drop out factories because of their low graduation rates. The Des Moines school district is known for padding their graduation rates so that they do not look quite as bad.
It is pretty interesting that the Des Moines school district was "the Only" school district in Iowa that made this dubious honor.
i always have to laugh at the editorials in the Des Moines Register about how the smaller school should be combined because they are academically inferior when it is the Des Moines schools that have all the academic problems.
Oh, by the way, since you were a graduate of the des moines public school system, do you work for Mac Donald's?????

Uhh, dude, if you're going to try to insult people's intelligence can you please make an attempt to spell things correctly and use something close to proper grammar? I'm not going to say that doing that will make you NOT look like an idiot, as the content does that for you.... but think of it as a little damage control.

PS: I'm a graduate of the Des Moines Public Schools, even a "dropout factory" like Lincoln High and I'll gladly play dueling IQ's with you.

[scimitar12]

Born and raised in Iowa. Been all over the state. My top five cities (and towns) are:

Des Moines
Iowa City
Dubuque
Cedar Rapids
Washington (traditionally voted one of the top small towns to live in the U.S.)

Bottom five (boy, I could easily list more):

Waterloo
Council Bluffs
Fort Dodge
Davenport
Bedford

[scimitar12]

Originally Posted by DSMGuy

Here is a nice bit of Christmas news for DM: (Kiplinger's Magazine Rates DM as one of the top 5 cities for Married with Children)

Yep, DM is full of Peg and Al Bundys. Good shoe salespeople too.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by ruralboy

well, several Des Moines high schools were names "dropout factories" by a study by John Hopkins University recently. A "dropout factory school" is a school that has less than a 60% graduation rate.
Three Des Moines highschools [East, North, and Lincoln} were all names drop out factories because of their low graduation rates. The Des Moines school district is known for padding their graduation rates so that they do not look quite as bad.
It is pretty interesting that the Des Moines school district was "the Only" school district in Iowa that made this dubious honor.
i always have to laugh at the editorials in the Des Moines Register about how the smaller school should be combined because they are academically inferior when it is the Des Moines schools that have all the academic problems.
Oh, by the way, since you were a graduate of the des moines public school system, do you work for Mac Donald's?????

East: 81.8%
Hoover: 93.4%
Lincoln: 90.0%
North: 90.2%
Roosevelt: 94.0%

Sebring said the Johns Hopkins study oversimplifies the calculation of graduation rate by focusing only on enrollment, ignoring the issue of student mobility, and discounting graduates who take more or less than four years to complete their diploma.

“In an age when college students take 5 years, 6 years and more to complete their degrees, it is unfair to discount high school students who need extra time to graduate,” added Dr. Sebring.

In addition, the study – which calculated the graduation rate by dividing the number of freshmen by the number of graduates four years later – does not take into account the “freshman bubble” that exists in most high schools across the country. Ninth grade students who do not receive a certain amount of credit are classified as a 9th grader for a second year, meaning the freshmen classes always have an enrollment that is artificially higher than other classes.


Graduation rates for Des Moines Public Schools are calculated according to a formula developed by the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education. The same formula is used by all school districts in Iowa and most across the nation. The formula is:

Number of Graduates
Number of Graduates + (9th through 12th Grade Drops)
=
Graduation Rate

In Des Moines, the NCES formula calculated the following rate:

1,848
1848 + (98+56+70+127)
=
84.0%

[El Rhino]

I can't believe that we dignify the things Ruralboy says with an answer sometimes.

[metro223]

"ruralboy" ... DM wasnt the only district in the state to get this, w'loo, cr, council bluffs were too. (and i think one in d'port) its pretty common in bigger schools around the country, no reason to think people are smarter in the little farmer communities now.

[scimitar12]

Originally Posted by zz4guy

I hate to break it to you but there is more to a city than waking up on Saturday and saying hmm what event should I attend this weekend?

There are also things like:
Jobs - If you want to work in finance or government, DesMoines is great, but manufacturing, technology or engineering fields?? Forget it.
Crime - Dsm might be lower than say Milwaukee, but it is takes the cake each year in IA for homicides and violent crime.
Proximity to things besides um corn... sorry DM
Traffic - I-235 at rushhour... need I say more?

I do not doubt you that DM has a high homicide and violent crime rate, but per capita is DM higher that Waterloo or Davenport? I am sure all three towns are probably in the tops in the state.

I live in D.C.; Iowa does not have any rush hour issues. I guess it depends on what you are used to.