Can anyone tell me the good, the bad and the ugly of Des Moines ? (Seattle: work)

[napervilletodallas]

We are being transferred to the Seattle area and are looking for something near the Airport which is where my husbands office will be. What is Des Moines like ? Are the schools good, Mount Ranier High is rated hightly on great schools.com but it is not always accurate. What are some other area's with good schools and good access to both the airport and downtown Seattle ?

I appreciate your insights.

Thank you

[Ira500]

I like Des Moines. It''s got nice waterfront, a quaint downtown with a single screen movie theatre, and some nice eateries.
In general, south end school districts are not as good as eastside or northend districts.
I had a co-worker who lived in Des Moines, and her son went to middle school there. She thought highly of it.

[LordBalfor]

Des Moines is generally a pretty nice area since it's on the water and property values are accordingly high. Like nearby Burien it's an area often forgotten and overlooked because people don't generally pass through there to go somewhere elses since it not "on the way" to anywhere else. Most people only go to Des Moines when they are actually GOING TO DES MOINES.

A LOT of expensive homes in the area - many of them with AWESOME views, and the downtown waterfront kind of reminds me a quieter version of Kirkland's (which is a good thing). All in all, I would think Des Moines would generally be a good place to live.

Ken

[AzDreamer]

We rented in Des Moines for a while when we first moved to the area. The jet noise from the airport was more that we could stand. Forget about sleeping late on Saturday morning. Also, It took about 45 minutes to drive to Seattle and that was too far for us. Other than that we liked the area.

If noise bothers you you can check out google maps to see what areas are in the flight path. The airport runways are north and south.

[mayfair]

We rented near Des Moines and I totally agree the airport noise is very invasive. We paused our conversations whenever a jet went over (same thing when talking on the phone). You get used to it after awhile. I would never move back because of the noise but it was an OK place while we lived there.

[Ira500]

It's odd, the flight paths. I've been very near the airport, but barely heard any planes, but when I lived in the Central District, I'd hear planes all the time. More than likely, some parts of Des Moines are more heavily affected than others.

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by Ira500

It's odd, the flight paths. I've been very near the airport, but barely heard any planes, but when I lived in the Central District, I'd hear planes all the time. More than likely, some parts of Des Moines are more heavily affected than others.

Indeed, that is very much the case.

Ken

[AzDreamer]

The worst noise is to the north and south of the airport. If you live to the east or west the planes aren't flying directly over.