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Quality of Life
Examples of the high quality of life are abundant throughout the city. West Des Moines maintains a comprehensive public park
and recreation system that includes 20 parks on 1,222 acres, more than 300 acres of which are mowed and highly maintained for various recreational activities, and a community center for all ages and uses. It has 35 miles of walking or biking trails that snake through a citywide greenbelt system connecting to other metro trails, 232 acres of lakes and 673 acres of natural areas. The city employs a full-time horticulturist to make sure its parks have an abundance of healthy plants and flowers.
The West Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department's goal is to provide plenty to do and much to enjoy for kids, adults and seniors. There are two aquatic centers, plenty of playground equipment, and courts or fields on which to play tennis, soccer, softball, volleyball, basketball, cricket and horseshoes. In planning its programming, the Parks and Recreation Department looks beyond the obvious to include such things as rugby leagues for both men and women, classes in fencing, cricket leagues and programs that embrace the city's growing ethnic diversity, including Latino soccer leagues created to incorporate the distinct playing style popular in Latin American countries.
CULTURAL AMENITIES Historic Valley Junction is still a central gathering point for citizens and visitors. Thousands upon thousands of visitors converge on the retail district every year for events such as a public art market in May, the Antique Jamboree held in June, August and September, and an Art Festival in May featuring the work of more than 100 Midwest artists using a variety of media. Also a hit with residents of the city are the farmers market and its companion event, Music in the Junction, held Thursdays May through September; Gallery Night, featuring regionally and nationally recognized artisans; an old-fashioned Christmas celebration that includes special open houses by Valley Junction merchants; and the Independence Day Street Dance Celebration, which caps off a day full of activities that begin with a huge parade starting at Valley High School. The quality of cultural institutions is one of the things that sets extraordinary cities apart from mundane ones. Nowhere is that philosophy more fully embodied than at the West Des Moines Public Library, a $6.95 million, 51,000-square-foot facility approved by 77 percent of voters in a 1994 referendum. The library's collection now includes more than 162,000 items, from books and periodicals to compact discs and videos. A variety of activities are offered, from a summer reading program for kids to Club Read, an adult book discussion group. A community gathering place where discussion is encouraged on community issues, the library periodically hosts lectures and special programs on everything from hobbies such as scrap booking to discussions of current events. It even includes a coffeehouse. more... SAFETY Some quality-of-life measurements are less tangible. For example, crime rates in West Des Moines compare favorably with those in the rest of the nation, making the city one of the safest in the United States. In 2004, for example, the city's violent crime rate was 1.44 per 1,000 residents, which compares with 4.75 crimes per 1,000 residents nationally. The West Des Moines Police Department defines community protection as customer service and has geared many of its programs toward crime prevention. Through the Crime-Free Multihousing Program, officers work with apartment complex managers to help them structure leases in such a way that they can attract tenants who aren't fearful of background checks and swiftly evict tenants if problems do arise. "The tenants agree to protect themselves and others," said Lt. Cam Coppess of the Uniform Patrol Unit. VOLUNTEERISM/HUMAN SERVICES From the transportation and handyman services for the elderly and disabled to the "scholarships for kids" program that provides low-income children with opportunities for athletic, academic and creative development, the West Des Moines Human Services Department has worked with low-income, elderly and disabled residents since 1979 and currently provides assistance to nearly 4,000 individuals in 1,500 households in West Des Moines and surrounding suburbs. Some of the other programs the department offers include a food and personal-hygiene pantry, a transit program, a school supplies program, a kids summer lunch program, a gardening program, a clothing closet, energy assistance, budget counseling, employment assistance, homelessness prevention, a transitional housing project, and assistance with meals and gifts at holiday time. CITIZEN SATISFACTION SURVEY West Des Moines set new national benchmarks in a 2004 survey measuring citizens' satisfaction with city services. Olathe, Kansas, based ETC Institute has conducted its Direction Finder survey in more than 100 cities and counties across the country and among them, West Des Moines had the highest composite satisfaction rating, said ETC Institute spokesman Chris Tathum. West Des Moines residents gave an above-average rating in all 50 areas measured, Tathum said. The city's services were ranked in the top 25 percent in more than 90 percent of the areas assessed in the survey. "Resident satisfaction with services is very high in West Des Moines," he said.
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West Des Moines is one of the country’s fastest-growing cities, but through careful planning and a philosophy of governance that
looks at what’s best for the citizens before decisions are made, it has avoided some of the growing pains of other cities and retained a strong sense of community.
