Urbandale, Iowa

Urbandale is a city in Polk and Dallas counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. A special census taken by the city in 2005 counted 35,904 residents.¹ It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.

While Urbandale is primarily a residential city, commercial and industrial development have increased in recent years, particularly in industrial parks along I-35/80. Urbandale also features 850 acres (3.4 km) of parks and 33 miles (53 km) of recreational trails that connect to other trails in the Des Moines area.²

In July 2005, Money magazine ranked Urbandale 53rd on its list of the "100 Best Places to Live" in the United States. The July 2006 Money Magazine list dropped the city from the list. Urbandale reappeared on the list in the July 2007 issue of Money Magazine as the 39th best place to live.³

HISTORY

Urbandale incorporated as a city on April 16, 1917. In its early days Urbandale served as a streetcar suburb of Des Moines with four coal mines. Urbandale served as the end of the "Urbandale Line" after plans to build a railroad from Des Moines to Woodward were abandoned because of right-of-way issues. The coal mines had closed by the end of the 1940s and streetcar service ended in 1951.

GEOGRAPHY

Urbandale is located at 41n38, 93w43 (41.636421, -93.736121)⁴.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.7 square miles (53.7 km), of which 20.7 square miles (53.6 km) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km) (0.10%) is water.

DEMOGRAPHICS

As of the census⁵ of 2000, there were 29,072 people, 11,484 households, and 8,038 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,404.9 people per square mile (542.5/km). There were 11,869 housing units at an average density of 573.6/sq mi (221.5/km). The racial makeup of the city was 95.18% White, 1.53% Afro-American, 0.09% Native American, 1.73% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.60% of the population.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $59,744, and the median income for a family was $70,548. Males had a median income of $45,470 versus $32,631 for females. The per capita income for the city was $29,021. About 2.5% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

REFERENCES

 ¹ United States Census Bureau. "Special Census Certified Counts for Governmental Units in Iowa (2005)". Retrieved on 2006-10-02.
 ² City of Urbandale. "Parks & Facilities". Retrieved on 2006-05-14.
 ³ "Best Places to Live". Money. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.
 ⁴ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
 ⁵ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.

LINKS

 * Official City web site http://www.urbandale.org/
 * Chamber of Commerce http://www.urbandalechamber.com/
 * Urbandale Community School District http://www.urbandaleschools.com/