From its humble beginnings as a frontier military outpost on a vast and endless sea of prairie, Des Moines has emerged as an important regional urban center. The area retains some of its rural, homespun charm, as seen every summer at the mammoth and popular state fair, but Des Moines is far from being a square, staid town on the empty plains: It was dubbed “The Hippest City in the USA” in a 2007 article in Fast Company magazine. Downtown has not only been reborn as a dining and entertainment mecca, it has also gained several large office buildings and seen numerous commercial and residential development, part of the city’s overall economic health that led Forbes magazine in 2010 to proclaim Des Moines the number-one city in America for doing business, following on the heels of a similar ranking from the MarketWatch website. The population of Des Moines and surrounding areas has become a reflection of the nation’s makeup, with lots of diversity and large numbers of both ambitious young people just starting out and families with children making it their home.
With plenty of charming neighborhoods, good schools, lots of green spaces providing ample recreation opportunities, and an economy that has withstood much of the battering that has been visited on communities across the country, Des Moines is a nice place to live if you can stand the winter—if you move here, plan on getting acquainted with shovels, snow blowers, rock salt, and occasional school closings. When spring comes and the trees begin to bud and flowers begin to shoot up along the bike and hiking trails, it’s all worth it.
In this and the following chapters, you will find resources if you are planning on moving to Des Moines or thinking about doing so, including information on neighborhoods, real estate, education, and listings of local media.