.

[Farnsworth]

I live in Ankeny and honestly I don't think I'd recommend it. I kind of wish we lived back on the west side again if you are going to do suburbia. Especially with the Catholic school ties.

I think Ankeny has some sort of christian school as our neighbors daughter always sell us some coupon book from there.

I think an area like Clive or Windsor Heights would be good

 

[JP4CY]

I live in Ankeny and honestly I don't think I'd recommend it. I kind of wish we lived back on the west side again

 

[dmclone]

I was going to tell you to watch out for the high property tax rates in the Des Moines metro but it sounds like you're coming from Marshalltown so don't worry about it. The day I retire, I'm moving out of state due to the ridiculous amount of taxes.

 

[SoapyCy]

I'm kind of worried about landing a job before we pick a specific neighborhood...

 

[EnhancedFujita]

I've been in the metro for almost 15 years now. We lived in the old part of Urbandale for 10 years and that was great. Close to lots of stuff, good schools, affordable housing. We moved to Johnston a few years ago and I really like it too. It's a lot newer development so everything is a little nicer and pricier on the housing front.

If you are deadset on Catholic schools, I'd agree with most in trying to get close to Dowling. For specific area, I'd look at anything inside the ring of I-35/80 and I-235. That'll get the older suburbs that are developed with nice homes for a reasonable price, it'll also get the character neighborhoods like Beaverdale. I'd stick to the central/west side of that area though, partly for the proximity to Dowling and partly to avoid the "east side" effect that will increase the number of tavern hoks you have to deal with on a daily basis.

 

[capitalcityguy]

I'm kind of worried about landing a job before we pick a specific neighborhood...

I think that is smart.

Traffic is not bad in Des Moines compared to other cities but I'm on my third home since relocating to Des Moines metro (W DSM and Ankeny previously two homes) and I'm grateful that my commute downtown no longer requires me to have rely on the Interstate. That was intentional on my part. It is a quality of life issue to me, but may not be as big a deal to some. I still smile every-time I take a bridge over I-235 heading to or from work and look down at cars sitting bumper to bumper or being held up due to an accident.

Some other personal opinions:

* if you attend a lot of ISU events, it sure is nice to live in the northern part of the metro. (Des Moines, Ankeny). Might not seem like a big deal, but is nice to save yourself 15 - 20 mins or more one-way to Ames.

* I live in neighborhood that borders Beaverdale (even though we are technically considered part of the Beaverdale Neighborhood Assoc). It is a nice area - 15 mins from downtown, 10 mins from I35/I80. A variety of housing stock. Business District of its own (which helps give you you smaller town feel. Lot's of bike trails.

* My experience after to living in two suburbs and now the city is this. While the shiny/new of the suburbs is nice, we found it easier to connect with neighbors in the city. Who knows why. One theory - I think people that choose specifically to locate in the city do it intentionally for various reasons....so you already likely have something in common with your neighbors.....i.e...you're not following the herd with everyone else in moving to the burbs....there is nothing unique about making that choice. I"m not saying one is right or wrong just that I think people that have a common appreciation and recognize it.

* Decide if you want to be beholden to your car to access everything or if you want some amenities within walking or a quick bike ride.

 

[isuno1fan]

Resident of Clive. Huge fan of the DSM metro. You cannot go wrong.

DSM metro is such a great place to live.

 

[capitalcityguy]

Here you go. Very unusual to be able to locate to a brand spanking new neighborhood without have to move to what was a cornfield a couple yrs ago.

https://www.kcci.com/article/constr...moines-largest-home-building-project/26950418

 

[JP4CY]

I think that is smart.

Traffic is not bad in Des Moines compared to other cities but I'm on my third home since relocating to Des Moines metro (W DSM and Ankeny previously two homes) and I'm grateful that my commute downtown no longer requires me to have rely on the Interstate. That was intentional on my part. It is a quality of life issue to me, but may not be as big a deal to some. I still smile every-time I take a bridge over I-235 heading to or from work and look down at cars sitting bumper to bumper or being held up due to an accident.

Some other personal opinions:

* if you attend a lot of ISU events, it sure is nice to live in the northern part of the metro. (Des Moines, Ankeny). Might not seem like a big deal, but is nice to save yourself 15 - 20 mins or more one-way to Ames.

* I live in neighborhood that borders Beaverdale (even though we are technically considered part of the Beaverdale Neighborhood Assoc). It is a nice area - 15 mins from downtown, 10 mins from I35/I80. A variety of housing stock. Business District of its own (which helps give you you smaller town feel. Lot's of bike trails.

* My experience after to living in two suburbs and now the city is this. While the shiny/new of the suburbs is nice, we found it easier to connect with neighbors in the city. Who knows why. One theory - I think people that choose specifically to locate in the city do it intentionally for various reasons....so you already likely have something in common with your neighbors.....i.e...you're not following the herd with everyone else in moving to the burbs....there is nothing unique about making that choice. I"m not saying one is right or wrong just that I think people that have a common appreciation and recognize it.

* Decide if you want to be beholden to your car to access everything or if you want some amenities within walking or a quick bike ride.

I would love to leave in the Beav but to find an attached two stall can be difficult and a three stall is a miracle.
That is a huge reason I'm in the burbs. I'm an adult and dont want to scrape my windows in the winter.

 

[SoapyCy]

I think that is smart.

Traffic is not bad in Des Moines compared to other cities but I'm on my third home since relocating to Des Moines metro (W DSM and Ankeny previously two homes) and I'm grateful that my commute downtown no longer requires me to have rely on the Interstate. That was intentional on my part. It is a quality of life issue to me, but may not be as big a deal to some. I still smile every-time I take a bridge over I-235 heading to or from work and look down at cars sitting bumper to bumper or being held up due to an accident.

Some other personal opinions:

* if you attend a lot of ISU events, it sure is nice to live in the northern part of the metro. (Des Moines, Ankeny). Might not seem like a big deal, but is nice to save yourself 15 - 20 mins or more one-way to Ames.

* I live in neighborhood that borders Beaverdale (even though we are technically considered part of the Beaverdale Neighborhood Assoc). It is a nice area - 15 mins from downtown, 10 mins from I35/I80. A variety of housing stock. Business District of its own (which helps give you you smaller town feel. Lot's of bike trails.

* My experience after to living in two suburbs and now the city is this. While the shiny/new of the suburbs is nice, we found it easier to connect with neighbors in the city. Who knows why. One theory - I think people that choose specifically to locate in the city do it intentionally for various reasons....so you already likely have something in common with your neighbors.....i.e...you're not following the herd with everyone else in moving to the burbs....there is nothing unique about making that choice. I"m not saying one is right or wrong just that I think people that have a common appreciation and recognize it.

* Decide if you want to be beholden to your car to access everything or if you want some amenities within walking or a quick bike ride.

This is or

Here you go. Very unusual to be able to locate to a brand spanking new neighborhood without have to move to what was a cornfield a couple yrs ago.

https://www.kcci.com/article/constr...moines-largest-home-building-project/26950418

Yes, this is what I was asking about. Pretty cool project.

 

[benjay]

Everyone raves about Beaverdale around here. Where can I go to see this community in action? e.g. some town square or something? Genuinely asking because I'm looking for a house now, and the compromises you have to make to live in Beaverdale are pretty steep (small compartmentalized houses, detached garages, no en-suite, etc).

To the OP - Some people convinced me to rent at first and I'm glad I listened.

 

[Bubbahotep]

Southside is the place to be, we have the Zoo, the airport, Italians and drive by shootings have been scheduled on Wednesday nights only. Besides, West Des Moines sucks

 

[cyclonesurveyor]

I live in the Westwood neighborhood of Des Moines and love it. We're walking distance to the elementary school where my 3 kids will go (currently have 1 that goes there). My daughter has less than 20 kids in her class right now - which I guarantee you will not get at any of the suburbs, especially Waukee, but we also are in one of the smaller elementary schools in Des Moines.

We're a 5 minute drive from downtown, or Merle Hay/Valley West areas for shopping. Only thing we need to get in West Des Moines/Waukee is when my wife goes to Costco once a month.

We lived in this neighborhood for almost 3 years and you cannot beat the location, as mentioned previously. Also right off of the bike trail to the south, 20-25 minute ride to Confluence and about the same to 515. Only reason we are not still there is due to wife's job moving us around the country.

 

[BCClone]

Gotta be downtown, hookers don't walk around in the burbs.

 

[capitalcityguy]

Everyone raves about Beaverdale around here. Where can I go to see this community in action? e.g. some town square or something? Genuinely asking because I'm looking for a house now, and the compromises you have to make to live in Beaverdale are pretty steep (small compartmentalized houses, detached garages, no en-suite, etc).

To the OP - Some people convinced me to rent at first and I'm glad I listened.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean my "community in action". The main business district is Beaver Ave/Urbandale Avenue intersection. A little further south you have the small Price Chopper (which pretty much serves the neighborhood) and Snookies Ice Cream Shop (which literally had people camping out for their opening day last Saturday).

The housing stock is more varied than you suggest, but yes, it is dominated by "Beaverdale brick" houses that drip with character, but don't come with the modern amenities.

If money was no object, IMO the best neighborhoods in the metro are just west of downtown (Oak HIll, North of Grand, South of Grand, Waterbury, Waveland, etc.) You have quick access to all the businesses/restaurants/bars on Ingersoll, not to mention downtown. Huge Oak trees, beautiful homes. The problem: these homes don't go on the market often and when they do, they come with a healthy price tag which can be tough to stomach, when you compare to how much more house you can get in a suburb for same price. You're truly are buying here for love of character of homes, location, and a more traditional neighborhood feel.

 

[capitalcityguy]

I don't know the quality of this website, but it looks like a tool that might help you narrow down your choices.

https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/search/best-neighborhoods-to-buy-a-house/t/des-moines-polk-ia/

 

[ArgentCy]

Avoid the area SE of Drake. Lol. We made the mistake of looking at an open house there once and the Realtor gave us quite the look. Of course she didn't say anything. Didn't take long to figure out why.

 

[capitalcityguy]

Avoid the area SE of Drake. Lol. We made the mistake of looking at an open house there once and the Realtor gave us quite the look. Of course she didn't say anything. Didn't take long to figure out why.

Generally speaking, unless you are a real urban pioneer, staying west of Drake is the usual consensus recommendation.

 

[BCClone]

This is a serious question that I hope will get some serious answers.

How do people actually afford the new houses in Waukee/West Des Moines/etc unless they make a $200k+ as a household. Then have a large SUV, boat, etc? We went to DSM last weekend just to look at houses for fun and all the new one were $380k +

I know the answer is "They make more than you make" or "They have lots of debt" but those aren't really helpful answers. Sometimes it baffles me how many wealthy people there are in Des Moines. We make 2.3x the average Iowa household income (no student loans but 2 kids in daycare) and we feel like we'd have to move to a house under $200k to have any sort of life.

We love the South of Grand/Waveland neighborhoods in DSM but my wife wants that character with a new house. To get a newer house with that character we'd be stuck out in the far-flung suburbs. The area west of Jordan Creek was weird - it seemed very random.

I guess this is all to say that coming from a smaller town we can be involved in lots of community projects and I fear if we lived in a tract house in Waukee/Grimes there really wouldn't be the same type of community feel. Does that make sense?

We do Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring, fundraising for the several local non-profits, wife is in a position of community leadership for a non-profit etc. I fear in a brand new suburb none of that would exist because everyone is wealthy and "from somewhere else".

/word vomit

1) Do you put extra away for Retirement?
2) Do you put money away for kids education?
3) Do you take regular vacations?
4) Do you want a 15-20 year mortgage or a 30?
5) Can you get a 3-3.5% loan for you house?
6) Did you purchase your house around 10 years ago or earlier?

All these things work into having or not having nicer material things. Comes down to priorities.

 

[jdcyclone19]

This is a serious question that I hope will get some serious answers.

How do people actually afford the new houses in Waukee/West Des Moines/etc unless they make a $200k+ as a household. Then have a large SUV, boat, etc? We went to DSM last weekend just to look at houses for fun and all the new one were $380k +

I know the answer is "They make more than you make" or "They have lots of debt" but those aren't really helpful answers. Sometimes it baffles me how many wealthy people there are in Des Moines. We make 2.3x the average Iowa household income (no student loans but 2 kids in daycare) and we feel like we'd have to move to a house under $200k to have any sort of life.

We love the South of Grand/Waveland neighborhoods in DSM but my wife wants that character with a new house. To get a newer house with that character we'd be stuck out in the far-flung suburbs. The area west of Jordan Creek was weird - it seemed very random.

I guess this is all to say that coming from a smaller town we can be involved in lots of community projects and I fear if we lived in a tract house in Waukee/Grimes there really wouldn't be the same type of community feel. Does that make sense?

We do Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring, fundraising for the several local non-profits, wife is in a position of community leadership for a non-profit etc. I fear in a brand new suburb none of that would exist because everyone is wealthy and "from somewhere else".

/word vomit

Most live paycheck to paycheck, everything is on paper, very little true assets, savings or retirement. A lot of people have been sold the "your house is an investment" down here.