The 2012 city estimates by the Census Bureau show that Des Moines, with a population around 206,000, is the 104th largest city in the nation. It trails Birmingham by about 5,500.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be in the top 100, especially for promotional purposes? Is there an easy way to get there, or at least closer? Yes and yes. After seeing the suburbs continue to eat into Dallas County, it’s time for Des Moines to do some annexation of its own. The city added a bunch of land to the east and south in the last decade near the US 65/IA 5 beltway, even into Warren County, but one obvious strip visible in the map below remains ignored.
All that white space between Aurora Avenue (42nd Avenue) and I-35/80 has remained a part of Polk County for decades after the interstate was built. Because of this, technically, I-35/80 does not run through Des Moines. In the far right of this clip you can see the post-2009 city limits extend near there, but the city map (PDF) shows they stop at the right-of-way instead of the median/centerline. (Why? Beats me.)
The catch is, because the area is already populated, it would probably take a majority of property owners or residents agreeing to the annexation before it happened. The last annexation was largely an involuntary one, and it took a decade to become reality. That purple in the map is Ankeny creeping downward to grab more open space east of I-35, and who knows what other plans are in store.
On the surface, it seems logical. The area already has infrastructure, although there is the question of who is more responsive to repairs/upgrades, the city or the county. It would give the city more control over how it is presented to travelers coming south off the interstate. (Two words: Big Earl’s.) Finally, it would clean up the seeming geographic oddity of the land there not being part of Des Moines. On the other hand, tax rates would be a factor.
(And while we’re at it, Johnston and Urbandale, can you figure something out for that parcel northeast of 86th Street? It looks silly. Thanks.)