Des Moines Real Estate
About the City
Though there may always remain a mystery as to the origins of the name “Des Moines”, there’s little dispute that what was once a fort on the Iowa frontier has emerged as a 21st century Mecca in the Midwest as a town attractive to business growth, the professional careers of women and for providing a relatively safe environment for children and growing families.
Des Moines can be traced to 1834, when an Indian agent at recommended that a military post be established at the point where the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers merge. Nine years later, May 1843, the War Department began to use the name Fort Des Moines.
The origin of the name is uncertain, most historians agree that the name probably refers to the river derived from the Indian word 'moingona' meaning river of the mounds which referred to the burial mounds that were located near the banks of the river.
Settlers began coming almost as soon as the fort was established and quickly the future state capitol of Iowa emerged and the center of the state’s business and commerce reached its infancy. Today more than 200,000 people live in Des Moines, and the city is recognized as a center for government, education, business, culture and the arts.
Des Moines also has gained national recognition as a major insurance center, the third largest in the world, with nearly 60 life, health and casualty companies. The city's climate-controlled skywalk system serves as an important link to parking garages, hotels, restaurants, stores and businesses. Skywalks make up more blocks per capita in Des Moines than in any other city of comparable size in the U.S. The city's numerous tourist attractions and facilities have established it as a popular and thriving Midwest city.
Extensive redevelopment of the downtown area has continued in recent years with the addition of the new Science Center of Iowa and the Iowa Events Center opened in 2005. The World Food Prize Foundation, which is headquartered in Des Moines, announced in 2001 that it will restore the former Des Moines Public Library building as the Dr. Norman Borlaug/World Food Prize Hall of Laureates.
In 2002 the Principal Financial Group and the city of Des Moines announced plans for the Principal Riverwalk which runs along both sides of the Des Moines and features new trails, pedestrian bridges across the river, a fountain and skating plaza and a "civic garden" in front of the Des Moines City Hall.
Several other existing downtown buildings have either been converted or are being converted to loft apartments and condominiums in an effort to attract more residents to the downtown area. This trend is highlighted by the success of the "East Village" district of shops, studios and housing between the capitol district and the Des Moines River.
The Des Moines metro area also is experiencing a boom, in particular the western suburbs. West Des Moines now has more than 50,000 people and is home to the Jordan Creek Town Center, the largest shopping center in Iowa, as well as several Wells Fargo office complexes including a new corporate campus that is scheduled for completion in 2007 and holds the title for second largest construction project in the country, passed only by Donald Trump's Chicago project. Nearby, Dallas County is one of the nations’ fastest growing counties according to the U.S. census bureau.
The Des Moines metropolitan area consists of five central Iowa counties: Polk, Dallas, Warren, Madison, and Guthrie.
Des Moines' suburbs include Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Grimes, Johnston, Norwalk, Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Urbandale, Waukee, West Des Moines and Windsor Heights.
In 2003, Forbes magazine ranked the Des Moines metropolitan area 8th on its list of "Best Places For Business And Careers," based on the cost of doing business, housing affordability, educational attainment, crime rate and the number of Ph.D.'s per 100,000 residents.
As of the 2000 census, there were 198,682 people in the city.
The median income for a household in the city was $38,408 and the median income for a family was $46,590.
Men had a median income of $31,712 versus $25,832 for women.