West Des Moines, originally known as Valley Junction dates back to its founding in 1893. The area was initially developed as a hub for the railroad. This strategic location helped the town grow rapidly creating an impressive main street that still remains in-tact with many businesses. In 1938, the name was officially changed to West Des Moines to better reflect its geographic position and growing status as a suburban community as the community expanded westward.
Throughout the 20th century, West Des Moines expanded significantly, transitioning from a small railroad town into a bustling suburban area. The population exploded from 5K in 1950 to 31K in 1990. The post-war era saw a boom in residential development. The construction of major highways, such as Interstate 235 and Interstate 35, further facilitated this growth. Wes Des Moines has since doubled its population and now sits at 70K.
The Valley Junction portion of Wes Des Moines and surrounding residential streets is a comfortable walkable neighborhood with great retail and cultural amenities concentrated along 5th Avenue, and good suburb amenities (i.e. schools, safety, and parks). For sale housing is cheap here but the type of housing stock is limited as rentals are sparse and condos non-existent. For Valley Junction to become a top notch urban area it needs a lot more density, better transit access, more vibrancy (especially outside of 5th Ave), more mixed use developments, and a taming of several stroads including Railroad St, W 63rd, and Grand Avenue.
Click here to view my West Des Moines album on Flickr
URBAN STRENGTHS:
- Solid diversity indicators especially economic.
- A couple of extended bike lanes the pick up on the edge of Valley Junction that traverse to Dwtn and far west into West Des Moines. No dedicated bike stations however.
- Good access to Dwtn especially by bike and driving.
- Overall a very safe community with really no blight.
- Good Sidewalk and ADA infrastructure but ADA standard curbs are missing in about 25% of intersections and not as consistent as Des Moines neighborhoods.
- Excellent historic commercial architecture along 5th Street but the historic residential stock is so so and pretty working class.
- Some excellent urban commercial infill in spots along 5th Street but also some awful autocentric corridors and uses along Railroad ,W 63rd, and Grand Ave.
- Several quality walkable public elementary and middle schools in Valley Junction. The high schools is a couple miles away in the suburban part of the community.
- Great park amenities including the gigantic Holiday Park Baseball Complex, Jordan Creek Recreational Trail, and several medium sized parks often connected to public schools.
- Good cultural amenities especially food & beverage businesses. Also several art galleries, a couple event spaces, and several bars that host live music.
- Good retail amenities too including a supermarket, pharmacy, tons of boutiques, gift shops, and unique independent stores concentrated on 5th Avenue, a public library, book store, a post office, plenty of dessert joints, a couple gyms, a couple banks, several antique stores, plenty of salons, and several churches.
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
- Some good pedestrian activity along 5th Avenue but not much outside of it.
- Missing larger big box stores and medical offices and the hospital are not walkable to Valley Junction residents.
- Pretty low density for an urban area. Same with the transit access.
- For sale housing is pretty plentiful and affordable. Really no condo options and housing options is pretty limited. 2-beds sell btwn 70K-275K. 3 & 4 beds sell between 100K-330K.
- Rental options are pretty limited but on the affordable side.”
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 