Des Moines vs. Omaha (Cedar Rapids, Davenport: highrise, job, house)

[metroplex2003]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

Could someone please describe the differences in weather between Des Moines and Omaha? I know both are similar, but I assume Des Moines is colder and Omaha generally a few degrees warmer and drier. Am I correct, is there more to this?

IF you go to Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed you can compare climates and number of days of sunshine.

But I can tell you that Des Moines and Omaha are roughly at the same latitude as they're on the same freeway I-80...Omaha is 100 miles to the west of Des Moines.

Comparisons:

Omaha metro is around 800-900K
Des Moines metro is around 500K (give or take)
Des Moines is the capital of the state of Iowa.
Des Moines is home of the Iowa State Fair.
Des Moines is the 3rd largest insurance headquarter center in the world behind London and Hartford, CT.
Des Moines minor league team is the Cubs.
Des Moines offers big city amenities in a small town atmosphere. You will find most chain stores in Des Moines.
The Farmer's Market in Des Moines is superior to that of Omaha.
Des Moines is the cultural capital of the state of Iowa.

Omaha:
Top 5 ranked Zoo
Largest metro in Nebraska
Cultural center of Nebraska
Minor league team is the Royals.
Has an expanding telecommunications industry
Has much newer and larger facilities for entertainment (ie Qwest Center)
2 major medical universities
Much larger freeway system (ie infrastructure)
Old Market beats out Des Moines Court Ave. historic district any day of the week.

[The_Iowan]

I have lived all over Iowa and in Omaha. I lived in Omaha very briefly, but now I am over by Council Bluffs, and I have to say Omaha. In my opinion, Nebraska people are so polite on the road. If you need a lane, they will give it to you, in Iowa, we crowd up and don't let someone in. I know we are all guilty of this, I do drive in Iowa daily, lol.

Omaha has so much to offer. The Old Market used to be a highlight and still is in many ways, but Omaha has really grown to the West. I have lived in this area since 1993, and I still have not ran out of things to do on the weekend. The only advantage I would say Des Moines has is Adventureland, Fun Plex just can't compete.

[metroplex2003]

Originally Posted by The_Iowan

I have lived all over Iowa and in Omaha. I lived in Omaha very briefly, but now I am over by Council Bluffs, and I have to say Omaha. In my opinion, Nebraska people are so polite on the road. If you need a lane, they will give it to you, in Iowa, we crowd up and don't let someone in. I know we are all guilty of this, I do drive in Iowa daily, lol.

Omaha has so much to offer. The Old Market used to be a highlight and still is in many ways, but Omaha has really grown to the West. I have lived in this area since 1993, and I still have not ran out of things to do on the weekend. The only advantage I would say Des Moines has is Adventureland, Fun Plex just can't compete.

Agreed. Omaha has grown westward. I do give the edge to Omaha as I've stated in previous posts for a variety of reasons.

[The_Iowan]

metroplex, you must be one of those awesome friendly Nebraska drivers You guys are so awesome behind the wheel, I love driving in Omaha because of you wonderful people

[metroplex2003]

Originally Posted by The_Iowan

metroplex, you must be one of those awesome friendly Nebraska drivers You guys are so awesome behind the wheel, I love driving in Omaha because of you wonderful people

Far from it...as much as I would like to be called those "friendly drivers"...

I am actually born and raised in Iowa, but reside in the DFW area...hence the name "Metroplex"...which is the name that refers to the DFW area...aka "The Metroplex"

I"ve lived all over Iowa though..spent time in DAvenport, Iowa City, Des Moines, Omaha/CB, and Sioux City. So quite familiar with all of the Iowa cities.

As for the road...I'm pretty aggressive when I get back to Iowa for family visits...it's instinct b/c in the DFW area, you have to drive defensively and aggressively...afterall, there's 6,000,000 plus in the area most of which have cars!...but before leaving the upper midwest, I guess I was definitely more laid back on the road!

[The_Iowan]

Haha, I am an aggresive driver too, and I love it in Nebraska, because everyone else is not, so I can drive like them, and i love it! I wish all of Iowa drove as nicely as Omaha drivers.

[RonnieJonez]

This is like arguing creamy peanut butter vs chunky

both are about the same, neither really beats out the other.

[Stevie]

^Glad to have you back, Style515. I guess dmjuice.com does get boring after awhile.

Anyway, if either Des Moines or Omaha "beat out" each other than there would be no reason for this thread. The fact that they are both similar, but not real similar, is what makes this debate interesting, at least to me and others. We're just comparing the cities to find out the differences and which differences are better than others.

If we just compared Des Moines to Chicago then it's apples to oranges. It wouldn't make an interesting debate because everyone would vote for Chicago.

But when you debate over cities that are similar in many ways (size being one of them) but still have many differences then it provides a lot more interesting ideas and point of views.

Anyway, I voted for Omaha (even as a Des Moines native).

[Steve_W]

It would be a long time before Des Moines MSA ever catches Omaha's....just like DFW catching Chicago as that's my MSA"s next goal...maintaining our current #4 rank and catching Chicago in the next 25 years, which by my calculations will not happen....but it will come close.[/quote]


Des Moines will never reach Omaha's MSA. Everything is too similar to think Des Moines is going to break out in much faster paced growth to catch up. Both cities are in basically the same geographic area with somewhat similar economies. There is nothing suggesting Des Moines population is going to dramatically rise out of nowhere. I think Des Moines Metros growth currently is 1 or 2 % higher than Omaha's? Statistically a city's growth will spike after reaching the 1 million mark. That mark is kind of an invisible barrier for some corporations and other companies wanting to do business in that city. Along with the business will come the population and more opportunities. The opportunity would include - economic, social, recreational, cultural, etc. Omaha is almost to that point and will continue to grow towards Lincoln which will also dramatically increase its MSA. I would say in the next 15 years Omaha's population growth% will far outpace Des Moines.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Steve_W

It would be a long time before Des Moines MSA ever catches Omaha's....just like DFW catching Chicago as that's my MSA"s next goal...maintaining our current #4 rank and catching Chicago in the next 25 years, which by my calculations will not happen....but it will come close.

Des Moines will never reach Omaha's MSA. Everything is too similar to think Des Moines is going to break out in much faster paced growth to catch up. Both cities are in basically the same geographic area with somewhat similar economies. There is nothing suggesting Des Moines population is going to dramatically rise out of nowhere. I think Des Moines Metros growth currently is 1 or 2 % higher than Omaha's? Statistically a city's growth will spike after reaching the 1 million mark. That mark is kind of an invisible barrier for some corporations and other companies wanting to do business in that city. Along with the business will come the population and more opportunities. The opportunity would include - economic, social, recreational, cultural, etc. Omaha is almost to that point and will continue to grow towards Lincoln which will also dramatically increase its MSA. I would say in the next 15 years Omaha's population growth% will far outpace Des Moines.[/quote]

Their was also some speculation on the Nebraska board awhile ago about a potential location for a International Airport between Omaha and Lincoln considering the two areas are growing toward each other. However, it is doubtful that any large International Airport will be built in Nebraska because Omaha/Lincoln just does not have the population density or growth rates to ever become another DFW or Minneapolis/St. Paul.