outskirts vs. suburbs vs. exurbs

[Torie]

Personally, I never really use the term "exurb."  If a city/town/village/whatever is anchored around a "major city," then it is that city's suburb.  Inner, outer, whatever; it's a suburb.  I appreciate the clarity that suburb vs. exurb provides some people, however.  Additionally, there is probably a cutoff for me where at a certain point I feel silly calling somewhere a suburb due to the cultural connotations the word has.  For example, West Des Moines is absolutely a suburb of Des Moines, but I feel kind of goofy calling Morton a "suburb" of Peoria, because it has more of a small town feel (even though, objectively, Morton really IS a "suburb" of Peoria).

Do you consider Indianola a Des Moines suburb?

It seems to be a law of Newtonian physics that Des Moines may not sprawl to the south.

[Torie]

Personally, I never really use the term "exurb."  If a city/town/village/whatever is anchored around a "major city," then it is that city's suburb.  Inner, outer, whatever; it's a suburb.  I appreciate the clarity that suburb vs. exurb provides some people, however.  Additionally, there is probably a cutoff for me where at a certain point I feel silly calling somewhere a suburb due to the cultural connotations the word has.  For example, West Des Moines is absolutely a suburb of Des Moines, but I feel kind of goofy calling Morton a "suburb" of Peoria, because it has more of a small town feel (even though, objectively, Morton really IS a "suburb" of Peoria).

Do you consider Indianola a Des Moines suburb?

It seems to be a law of Newtonian physics that Des Moines may not sprawl to the south.

wow, it's almost like sprawl is simply following the Interstate's routes around the area or something.

You will find little clusters of population near the exit/entrance ramps. Suburbs have particularly grown on the west and northwest along the I-35/I-80 overlap that form a loop around the city, while I-235 is the route through the city. The I-35/I-80 belt permits development of offices and shopping centers, which can in turn facilitate commuting from along the interstate.

You can commute 50 miles in an hour along an interstate (as long as you overlook those few days when facing a blizzard). You don't need many services - gas stations, and maybe a grocery store. Schools will add classrooms. If you need a dentist, or lawyer, or a car dealer, you can drive in to West Des Moines. You don't need employment.

Winterset and Indanola might be considered exurban. There distance from the interstates makes them a little harder to commute from, but there may be affordable houses and some jobs, and there is the attraction of living in a small town. One spouse might commute to Des Moines, or perhaps start to do so after they lose a job in the cities.

It's odd though that development has not gone south along I-35 south of I-80.  And the NE corner of Madison County has never been developed much, even though it is quite near to Des Moines. The county line seems to be some sort of barrier. It reminds me of the county line between LA and San Bernadino counties, where in LA is the city of Pomona that has been around a long time, and is densely built, and Chino next door which was dairy farms until quite recently. The streets just stopped at the county line.

But I see a bridge is being built across the Raccoon River that might jump start things.

[Torie]

I remember my grandmother saying she took the railroad from Winterset to Indianola to get to Simpson College. That would have been from 1903 to 1907. She bemoaned that the RR was gone (she hated automobiles, and never learned to drive).  It must have been that green line that shows up on the map.

I guess that new Microsoft plant and the new roads and bridge will change a lot in the NE corner of Madison County in time.

Interesting Jimrtex. Thanks. It still puzzles me though that development did not flow south along I-35. It has been there for a long time now.

[Torie]

My grandmother's oldest brother Caleb found Carver sick laying on the ground along a road. He had moved from Kansas to Winterset because the college in Kansas would not admit blacks. He got a job as a cook at downtown hotel in Winterset and fell ill. My great grandmother was a folk doctor, so the brother took Carver home to mother, who nursed him back to health over the summer. She told her oldest son that George would share Caleb's bedroom. Caleb said he did not want to share his room with a black. He mother said that is fine Caleb, you will spend the summer sleeping in the barn, while George uses your bedroom, so Caleb spent the summer in the barn. That fall, my great grandparents and some others in Winterset arranged for Carver to be admitted to Simpson College. And based on that familiarity, that is where my grandmother went to college too, and met her future husband. Absent the Carver saga, I suspect grandmother would not have gone to Simpson, and I would not exist.

The road to the west of the family farm is named Carver Road, and a photograph of the barn where Caleb spent the summer is below. The farm house was torn down, and replaced by a new home by my grandmother in the 1950's, but the barn still stands. I hope to preserve that barn somehow given its historical provenance.