West Des Moines, Families, Schools and African Americans.. Questions (Waukee: 2014, apartment complex)

[Danibelle]

I changed the topic title to be more specific...

We are an African American family moving to West Des Moines in a short time for my husbands job with the railroad. We have a four year old child who will need to attend childcare/school so I can work as well. Our child attends a small private school in Chicago. Can someone give us great recs on childcare/schools, Activities for families, great town home communities and any other recs. Also I'm wondering how life would be in a less diverse community (I've done some research on here). I grew up in a town in the Midwest surrounded by diversity and everyone got along so well, I was shocked by how diverse Chicago is but racial groups are not as friendly to each other. We were lucky to live in Hyde Park where race didn't exist, everyone is viewed individually in Hyde Park and being the only AA in class didn't bother us or our Child. I understand every place isn't like where I grew up or like Hyde Park. Please give recommendations or share experiences.
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[Angie515]

Both of my (white) kids have gone through West Des Moines schools from kindergarten through high school. When we moved to West Des Moines years ago (from Dallas TX) I was concerned about my kids not growing up with much diversity around them. I was happy and surprised that they ended up having friends throughout the years from many backgrounds... African American, Hispanic, Indian, Middle Eastern, Asian... There aren't as many minority families as you'd find in bigger cities or in different parts of the country, but our experience was that everyone is accepted based on who they are individually, and the kids meld friendships without much consideration of skin color.

A few times I've asked my kids whether they've ever seen their minority friends face harassment or discrimination, and they always look at me like, "what are you talking about?"

I think you'll find WDM to be a friendly place to live, with many conveniences, and with parents very involved in schools, community, and their kids' activities. We've recently moved into Des Moines just to have something different from the suburbs, but WDM is a terrific place to live with children.

[Danibelle]

Angie515, thank you! I've been reading so many mixed reviews. I've been so fortunate to be around wonderful people of different backgrounds without harassment/discrimination, I just wanted to make sure our child can experience the same. We say "everyone is unique and special like each color of the rainbow" and we live by that. Thanks for your response! We have to move and it's so comforting knowing we are making a good decision for our child!

[maniac77]

What Angie515 said is right on. I live in West Des Moines, and it's terrific here. The schools are excellent and increasingly diverse, and there is a prevailing "live and let live" attitude in the Des Moines area. People are simply accepted for who they are for the most part. I'm confident in saying that you won't likely encounter any harassment or discrimination here. People just don't care about stuff like someone's ethnicity in my experience living here.

[steel03]

West Des Moines is extremely white compared to what you are imagining for your child. You are moving to a place where your child will likely be the only person of color, or one of only two or three people of color in their class, especially at the elementary level.

By suburban Des Moines standards, West Des Moines is diverse, but by no means would I recommend it to a family specifically looking for a district with diversity.

My family moved to West Des Moines from a Twin Cities neighborhood similar to Hyde Park when I was starting middle school and I was never able to feel at home in that district, largely because it was so starkly white compared to my prior experience (demographically, it has not changed significantly since then). I transferred into the Des Moines city district in high school, and that was a fantastic solution for me. It's still not close to the multicultural environment I had in Minneapolis, but there is legitimate racial, ethnic, cultural, and economic diversity in that district that just plain does not exist anywhere else in the metro.

I don't want to freak you out by saying any of this, but I do have the perspective of having lived and gone to school in a very diverse place as well as having lived and gone to school in West Des Moines and in Des Moines proper.

I recommend looking at neighborhoods like:
Waterbury
Greenwood
Waveland
Beaverdale
Southwestern Hills
Sherman Hill
Windsor Heights (a small inner ring suburb - the rest are neighborhoods of Des Moines)

If your heart is set on West Des Moines, the most diverse neighborhoods are near Valley Junction.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by steel03

West Des Moines is extremely white compared to what you are imagining for your child. You are moving to a place where your child will likely be the only person of color, or one of only two or three people of color in their class, especially at the elementary level.

By suburban Des Moines standards, West Des Moines is diverse, but by no means would I recommend it to a family specifically looking for a district with diversity.

My family moved to West Des Moines from a Twin Cities neighborhood similar to Hyde Park when I was starting middle school and I was never able to feel at home in that district, largely because it was so starkly white compared to my prior experience (demographically, it has not changed significantly since then). I transferred into the Des Moines city district in high school, and that was a fantastic solution for me. It's still not close to the multicultural environment I had in Minneapolis, but there is legitimate racial, ethnic, cultural, and economic diversity in that district that just plain does not exist anywhere else in the metro.

I don't want to freak you out by saying any of this, but I do have the perspective of having lived and gone to school in a very diverse place as well as having lived and gone to school in West Des Moines and in Des Moines proper.

I recommend looking at neighborhoods like:
Waterbury
Greenwood
Waveland
Beaverdale
Southwestern Hills
Sherman Hill
Windsor Heights (a small inner ring suburb - the rest are neighborhoods of Des Moines)

If your heart is set on West Des Moines, the most diverse neighborhoods are near Valley Junction.

I agree with this. While the people of the DM metro are generally very accepting of others, there isn't a great deal of diversity. Your child will be accepted, yes. But don't expect many classmates to be anything but white, especially in the suburbs as was stated above.

[maniac77]

I agree with steel03 and ElleTea, but I just want to say that the diversity in West Des Moines has increased rapidly over the last few years. I live in West Des Moines, and the majority of the people in my apartment complex (and the complexes that surround mine) are of East Indian descent. There are also a good mix of families of Hispanic and African descent in addition to Caucasians. I understand that this diversity is relegated to a few small pockets in the city in and around Valley Junction and that West Des Moines is still very white, but the foreign-born population is really growing. I get that sense when going around town and there was a recent study that backs this up.

Ten Suburbs with the Fastest Growth in Foreign-Born Population since 2000 | Brookings Institution

I would agree that if being surrounded by diversity is something that is important to the OP that Des Moines would still be a better option. While West Des Moines is getting more diverse, it still won't be anywhere near the level of diversity that the OP experienced in Chicago. With that said, West Des Moines schools are excellent and the OP's children would receive a great education if her family does decide to reside there. Of course, a great education can be had in Des Moines too.

[atler8]

Good points maniac & a great catch there in finding/providing the Brookings Institution study link for corroboration.

[Danibelle]

Thank you for such great feedback! We spent the day in WDM and we were pleased and felt at home! Everyone was so inviting and warm! We didn't see a lot of diversity, we didn't see many people at all! We got the feeling that everyone spends time indoors with family (a plus). We looked for homes and met some wonderful people in the process! OK areas...we loved the areas closer to Crossroads school but we didn't like the area in the Waukee school district. The neighborhood in the Waukee area seemed a little closed in, less family oriented. We'll update more because we'll be back in a week!

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by Danibelle

Thank you for such great feedback! We spent the day in WDM and we were pleased and felt at home! Everyone was so inviting and warm! We didn't see a lot of diversity, we didn't see many people at all! We got the feeling that everyone spends time indoors with family (a plus). We looked for homes and met some wonderful people in the process! OK areas...we loved the areas closer to Crossroads school but we didn't like the area in the Waukee school district. The neighborhood in the Waukee area seemed a little closed in, less family oriented. We'll update more because we'll be back in a week!

Depends on where in Waukee you go, but in general it is very family-oriented there and the school district is often said to be the best in the metro.

As for no one being outside, isn't it ridiculously cold there? That would explain it! In the winter you stay in.