Is Des Moines the Next Boomtown? (Ankeny, Newton: section 8, 2014, apartments)

[Zaba]

Safe, stable employment and low cost of living.
If you're already living in a state that freezes for 7 months of the year, may as well live in one where your qualify of life is higher than in Chicago or Detroit metro.

[maniac77]

Originally Posted by Zaba

Safe, stable employment and low cost of living.
If you're already living in a state that freezes for 7 months of the year, may as well live in one where your qualify of life is higher than in Chicago or Detroit metro.

This is a good point. I used to hate Des Moines, but as I've gotten older, I've started to appreciate it for what it is-a relatively safe city with decent schools and job opportunities and good people. There's nothing terribly exciting about it to me. Although it's growing, it still has a "status quo" kinda feel and I find it comforting to live in a place that I deem as relatively "drama-free" and "live and let live". I hardly ever get harassed by the homeless here unlike other cities and, in my experience, the people have been mostly friendly. And I get the appeal for small-town Iowa kids who are here for better job opportunities, transplants from other states attracted to a lower cost of living where their salaries will go much further, and immigrants who want a better life for their families in a place they will feel accepted.

Now, if money weren't an issue, I wouldn't be living here. I'd be in Hawaii sipping mai tais on the beach. I used to live there and miss the 80 degree year round weather with the ocean and mountains to enjoy. Unfortunately I can't afford it, and money is an issue for many people. And Des Moines is a great compromise for certain folks who want to enjoy mid-sized city amenities for less money than many other cities. But, yes, the winter sucks and that can't be overstated. The summer is no picnic either with the humidity.

Des Moines definitely isn't a boomtown. That was a very poor choice of words on my part. There's no singular industry that is propelling its growth. The insurance industry is big, but it's not bringing people in by the droves. They're coming at a steady rate for the aforementioned "safe, stable employment, and low cost of living." This will continue as word keeps spreading. And in my original post, I jumped to conclusions that costs of everything will rise with this growth. Costs will definitely rise, but I don't think they'll be outrageous in comparison to most urban centers. I mean, Phoenix, for example, has had much more substantial growth than Des Moines will probably ever have and rent, groceries, and such seem quite reasonable there.

[Zaba]

We just went through what was essentially a depression where tons of people lost their jobs and had to seriously reconcile how they intended to live their lives going forward into an economic abyss.

You had an entire country out of work, looking for an oasis of stability exactly like Des Moines, IA; a lot of them packed up and moved there like dust-bowl Okies.

As far as Des Moines being vastly white, don't feel any guilt about that. There are certain realities in this world that may not be popular but are nevertheless true. Des Moines' prosperity and security resembles its demographics as all cities tend to do. Rue the day Des Moines ever make the mistake Minneapolis did in the 70's and 80's and destroy itself out of a misplaced sense of white guilt. Unfortunately, that sentiment seems to be in play in Des Moines and the demographics are slowly-but-noticeably changing. Hope it doesn't ever hit critical mass.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Zaba

We just went through what was essentially a depression where tons of people lost their jobs and had to seriously reconcile how they intended to live their lives going forward into an economic abyss.

You had an entire country out of work, looking for an oasis of stability exactly like Des Moines, IA; a lot of them packed up and moved there like dust-bowl Okies.

As far as Des Moines being vastly white, don't feel any guilt about that. There are certain realities in this world that may not be popular but are nevertheless true. Des Moines' prosperity and security resembles its demographics as all cities tend to do. Rue the day Des Moines ever make the mistake Minneapolis did in the 70's and 80's and destroy itself out of a misplaced sense of white guilt. Unfortunately, that sentiment seems to be in play in Des Moines and the demographics are slowly-but-noticeably changing. Hope it doesn't ever hit critical mass.

Your statement about the Twin Cities is out of date because it is now has the fastest job growth, income growth, and population growth of any metropolitan area in the Midwest. So, the demographic "churn" and flux will lend itself to moving further up the food chain due to COL increases and desirability. With that being said, it certainly has issues of poverty with certain groups of people, similar to the issues that Madison, WI is dealing with on a smaller scale.

[Zaba]

Those 'issues' that turned Minneapolis started in the 60's and were caused by a lavish welfare state that may have worked when 99% of your population was hard-working and productive but became like a food source for an invasive species once it became known in the ghettoes of Chicago that Minneapolis was giving away the store. It really peaked in the 80s, by that time, large parts of North Minneapolis and South St Paul were transformed into the image of their 'new residents'. Whether the urban renaissance can reclaim that, yet to be seen.

While the issue is racial on its surface, it's really socioeconomic as there is no group of people who hates quality-of-life lowering ghetto blacks any more than working and middle class blacks.

I lived in Chicago for a good period of time, during the dismantling of the CHA housing projects, and saw this issue unfold first hand. Its fascinating, like it or not its racial, but its not what people might think.

For Iowas sake, I hope they're able to draw the distinction between good colorblindness towards anyone and everyone who comes to make a better life for themselves versus not being afraid to address the racial realities of people who are moving there not to contribute, but to take.

[steel03]

I'm reeeaaaaaallllyyyyy not interested in proceeding into a conversation where we praise white-majority populations for being safer without acknowledging that the only reason nonwhite populations tend to be less safe is centuries of systematic oppression caused and enforced by white people.

Des Moines's lack of diversity is NOT a point of pride, especially since the diversity we do have is all but relegated to poorer parts of the metro. That is not something to be proud of, period. We have so much else going for us. Just focus on that if you're not willing to actively look for ways to end the institution of racism in middle America. Honestly...

[steel03]

Also do you realize that you just literally said that people of color don't contribute and all they do is take? Do you actually realize that you just said that? I don't know or care what you meant to say, but I hope you know that that is literally, unambiguously what you just said.

[Zaba]

Originally Posted by steel03

Also do you realize that you just literally said that people of color don't contribute and all they do is take? Do you actually realize that you just said that? I don't know or care what you meant to say, but I hope you know that that is literally, unambiguously what you just said.

Do you actually realize that's NOT what I said?

Do you actually realize that if you had the reading comprehension level above that of a small child, you'd see that I noted that is NOT what I said?

[Zaba]

Originally Posted by steel03

I'm reeeaaaaaallllyyyyy not interested in proceeding into a conversation where we praise white-majority populations for being safer without acknowledging that the only reason nonwhite populations tend to be less safe is centuries of systematic oppression caused and enforced by white people.

Des Moines's lack of diversity is NOT a point of pride, especially since the diversity we do have is all but relegated to poorer parts of the metro. That is not something to be proud of, period. We have so much else going for us. Just focus on that if you're not willing to actively look for ways to end the institution of racism in middle America. Honestly...

Yeah. Because the 3rd World is such an oasis of stability and prosperity.
Wait wait, that's right Colonialism, that explains it! And Guns, Germs and Steel!

None of that narrative withstands scrutiny. Idealistic rationalizations for painful truths they'd rather not face.
All I can say to naive types like you is I hope all that poor, oppressed, social-safety-net 'diversity' moves into your neighborhood, where your children play. You can write entire novels about why what you see before your eyes is the fault of 'history'.

I just spent 6 years living in Chicago's South Side.
Tell me about this issue in all your 'Iowa Wisdom'.

[fezzador]

First off, let's stop equating race with welfare, ghettos, and crime. Those are equated with POVERTY. Yes, there's a disproportionate amount of impoverished minorities, but in the end, it's still on them. Poor people can improve their lot in life - if they have the drive to even go to a two-year school and learn an honest skill, then it can be done.

Secondly, Des Moines proper is still majority-white, but it's not overwhelmingly so. In fact, it's pretty doggone close to reflecting the general U.S. demographics as a whole, so to say that it's "white" must mean that the rest of the country has to be "white".

The suburbs are a different animal, and just about all of them are north of 90% white. But let's not kid ourselves, this is not unique either. Most Midwestern suburbs are pretty doggone white, many of which are just as white (or close to) as DSM's. Midwestern cities, in fact, tend to have some of the starkest color lines of all US cities, and DSM is no exception.