Kiplinger's ranks Des Moines #1 - Best Cities for Families (high school, live)

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

When you read these rankings of Des Moines being a good place to live, it's always implying West Des Moines or Ankeny - even if that's not explicitly stated because the magazine has to pander to the entire metro. There's a few decent parts of the south side...of course those schools aren't considered as good as the average suburban school.

What are you talking about? The rankings compare ENTIRE metros, not parts of one metro in one area to parts of another metro in another area. There is nothing "implied". For all metros across the US, it is a collection of the good and the bad.

W DM or Ankeny couldn't make these lists on their own....they are not big enough. Your comment makes little sense.

Get a grip dude. Sometimes your inexplicable hatred (insecurity?)towards DM and people proud of DM makes your comments come off as completely unintelligible. This latest one take the cake.

[tollfree]

Originally Posted by capitalcityguy

What are you talking about? The rankings compare ENTIRE metros, not parts of one metro in one area to parts of another metro in another area. There is nothing "implied". For all metros across the US, it is a collection of the good and the bad.

W DM or Ankeny couldn't make these lists on their own....they are not big enough. Your comment makes little sense.

Get a grip dude. Sometimes your inexplicable hatred (insecurity?)towards DM and people proud of DM makes your comments come off as completely unintelligible. This latest one take the cake.

I only comment because there is this huge divide in DM between the suburbs and actual DM.

Then these lists come out, and even pro-DM/anti-suburb people like yourself are amazed.

Think how many times when someone has asked about moving to DM, you've tried to dissuade them from living in a suburb. Probably every time. Yet, these rankings largely come about because of the suburbs and not the urban Des Moines you so dearly admire.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

I never said it was a war zone, lol. It's not nearly as dangerous as the rundown parts of Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, or even Omaha, but really doesn't look all that different. Lots of weeds growing everywhere, rundown houses, strip malls with completely cracked parking lots with weeds growing through the cracks, abandoned buildings, etc.

?

I wonder what streets you are on? I see some of the above but its not the majority. There are many nice streets in that part of town and the houses and yards are kept up etc.

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

I only comment because there is this huge divide in DM between the suburbs and actual DM.

Then these lists come out, and even pro-DM/anti-suburb people like yourself are amazed.

Think how many times when someone has asked about moving to DM, you've tried to dissuade them from living in a suburb. Probably every time. Yet, these rankings largely come about because of the suburbs and not the urban Des Moines you so dearly admire.

Suburbia is a reality of almost any metro in the US....again, you're not shedding light on anything here. A metro wouldn't be a metro without suburbs and the suburbs wouldn't be of any significance (for rankings of such as Kiplingers) if they were stand alone cities not tied to a metro. Every metro's central city has their plus and minues and likewise do the 'burbs.

You make no noteworthy point here.

[steel03]

Sherman Hill, Waveland Park, and Greenwood/South of Grand are all in Des Moines proper and every bit as nice as suburban Des Moines, plus they have character, history, and mature trees. There's a much bigger difference between southern West Des Moines and Waukee than there is between eastern Urbandale, Windsor Heights, or even Clive and much of Des Moines proper.
And if you actually bother to read the threads, people here suggest suburban neighborhoods all the time. Johnston, Ankeny, Urbandale, and West Des Moines all come up quite a lot.

[tollfree]

Originally Posted by steel03

Sherman Hill, Waveland Park, and Greenwood/South of Grand are all in Des Moines proper and every bit as nice as suburban Des Moines, plus they have character, history, and mature trees. There's a much bigger difference between southern West Des Moines and Waukee than there is between eastern Urbandale, Windsor Heights, or even Clive and much of Des Moines proper.
And if you actually bother to read the threads, people here suggest suburban neighborhoods all the time. Johnston, Ankeny, Urbandale, and West Des Moines all come up quite a lot.

Obviously there are parts of DSM proper that are nice. Yet, we're talking about families here. The kids venture a few blocks north of Sherman Hill and they're in what appears to be a ghetto.

That wouldn't happen in the suburbs. I was only making the argument that when it comes to across-the-board staying "nice", in terms of how everything looks and is kept, safety, the suburbs are a different world compared to most of DSM proper.

For whatever reason, that shouldn't be said although it's obvious.

[tollfree]

Originally Posted by capitalcityguy

Suburbia is a reality of almost any metro in the US....again, you're not shedding light on anything here. A metro wouldn't be a metro without suburbs and the suburbs wouldn't be of any significance (for rankings of such as Kiplingers) if they were stand alone cities not tied to a metro. Every metro's central city has their plus and minues and likewise do the 'burbs.

You make no noteworthy point here.

Des Moines has a more extensive suburban network than cities of similar size. It's specifically the suburban network that makes Des Moines have a higher standard of living than say, Akron OH or Wichita KS metro.

[steel03]

Okay then.

[tollfree]

Let's not forget all the meth labs on the east side. Great place to raise.

[Tek_Freek]

[quote=Dport7674;25357799]What do you know about "most" cities?

Find any list that ranks cities in some way and there will be a thread about it started somewhere on this site.

Similar cities like Omaha and much larger cities, that have no reason to pay attention to lists, like San Diego, seem to start threads like this one all the time.

A lot of folks saw this thread and thought "That's pretty cool, good for Des Moines." and then forgot about it. But not good ol Ronnie Jonez. The z means you're hip, right?[/quote]

Cant spel