Ankeny, Iowa

Ankeny is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 45,582 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History
Ankeny was founded by John Ankeny in 1875 and was incorporated on February 28, 1903. A railroad link from Des Moines through Ankeny to Ames was completed in 1874 and passenger service established in 1880.

Coal mining became an important activity in the Ankeny area in the early 20th century. The Anderson Coal Company sank a shaft two miles (3 km) southeast of Ankeny in 1908. Enterprise, four miles (6 km) east of Ankeny, was the company town of the Enterprise Coal Company, with two large mines opened in 1903 and 1907. In 1914, the Enterprise Coal Company produced over 100,000 tons of coal, ranking among the top 24 coal producers in the state. In 1912, United Mine Workers Local 2476 in Ankney had 246 members, over half of the total population at the time, and Local 2511 in Enterprise had 395 members.

Ankeny started off as just one square mile, and just 445 people. Electricity was first introduced in 1907. Ankeny's first fire department was first established in 1907 and was volunteer based. They had only three ladders and 14 water pails when the department started.

During World War II Ankeny was home to a federal ordnance plant that manufactured ammunition. After the war, Deere & Company purchased the plant for its Des Moines Works, while Iowa State University used the remainder of the land for its research farm. In June 2005 ISU sold the land to the city of Ankeny, which plans to develop it into a mixed-use development known as "Prairie Trail."

In 1940 Ankeny had a population of 779, but its population began to grow with the rest of the Des Moines suburbs after World War II. Ankeny's population jumped from 2,964 to 9,151 between 1960 and 1970. By 1990 it had 18,482 people, and in 2000 the population was at 27,117. The 2009 estimate of 43,319 makes Ankeny the third-largest city in Polk County, behind Des Moines and West Des Moines. The city of Ankeny estimates that the city's population will reach 55,000 by 2020.

Geography
Ankeny is located at 41.72667°N, -93.60417°W (41.726788, -93.604283). It is located along Interstate 35 and U.S. Route 69 approximately 7 miles (16 km) north of downtown Des Moines.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.8 square miles (43.4 km²), all of it land. City limits through 2007 (not yet reflected at the Census Bureau) encompass 29.14 sqmi.

Demographics


As of the census of 2000, there were 27,117 people, 10,339 households, and 7,278 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,616.5 people per square mile (624.3/km²). There were 10,882 housing units at an average density of 648.7 per square mile (250.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.94% White, 0.76% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.94% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.38% from other races, and 0.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.08% of the population.

There were 10,339 households out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.7% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.6% were non-families. 21.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 33.4% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.

In 2008, the median income for a household in the city was $70,197, and the median income for a family was $88,231. Males had a median income of $54,532 versus $41,507 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,527. About 1.6% of families and 2.8% of the population are below the poverty line, including 2.5% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy
Major employers in Ankeny include the Ankeny Community School District, Des Moines Area Community College, Deere & Company's Des Moines Works, Perishable Distributors of Iowa (a Hy-Vee subsidiary), Tone's Spices, Casey's General Stores, the City of Ankeny, SYSCO Food Services of Iowa, Praxair, and Mrs. Clark's Foods. are headquartered in Ankeny.

In recent years, several retail chains have opened stores along Delaware Avenue near Interstate 35, including Home Depot, Kohl's, Menards, SuperTarget, a Wal-Mart SuperCenter, and a Best Buy. There are several large car dealerships right off of I-35 and Oralabor Road (Karl Chevrolet, Bob Brown Pontiac-GMC-Buick, Dewey Ford, and Dewey Dodge-Jeep). Olive Garden opened a location in Ankeny, the second in the Des Moines Metro Area.

In December 2008 the city received attention from news organizations across the United States when it was revealed that Tone's Spices had donated 18,000 lbs of expired garlic salt for use in melting ice and snow on its roadways.

In 2008, Ankeny was recognized as one of the top ten towns for families by Family Circle Magazine. In 2009, Ankeny was ranked #62 in MONEY Magazine's top 100 places to live list. In 2010, it was designated a Playful City USA by the KaBoom! Foundation for the fourth consecutive year, one of only 19 cities across the U.S. to receive this distinction.

Ankeny sports
Prairie Ridge Sports Complex is home to little league baseball and softball and to soccer and Ankeny Junior Football. There are 12 baseball fields, 6 softball fields, 6 soccer fields and 2 football fields.

Ankeny is a very athletic town with a verifiable focus on improving health and fitness to its citizens. Ankeny has sold BPA free, reusable water bottles in the past for charity and encourages citizens to drink more water.

Ankeny Community School District is very athletically focused as well with a graduation requirement of a semester of physical education each semester taken at Ankeny.

Education
Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary and the main campus of Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) are located in Ankeny. Simpson College and Upper Iowa University also operate classroom facilities there.

The Ankeny Community School District consists of eight elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school.

Ankeny Christian Academy is a private Preschool-12th grade school. ACA is a non-denominational Christian school and is accredited by the State of Iowa.

Ankeny Community School District is changing to a two part feeder system diverging into two high schools in the same district. The citizen-voter-chosen name for the northern high school is "Ankeny Centennial High School" and the southern high school will retain the name "Ankeny High School". The Hawk/Hawkette mascot will go with the high school of original name, however, Ankeny Centennial will have the Jaguar as a mascot.

Ankeny Centennial High School is named after the Class of 2013 which will be the 100th High School Class to graduate from Ankeny Community School District.

In December 2010, the Diocese of Des Moines announced a new parish to be built that will include a school. More details are to come in 2011 as to when the school will open as well as the grades it will serve.

Notable people

 * Carmine Boal (born 1956) Republican Iowa State Represenative
 * Chris Fehn (born 1972) won a Grammy Award as a musician in the heavy metal band Slipknot
 * Jeff Lamberti (born 1962) Republican Iowa Senator and State Representative
 * Larry Noble a Republican Iowa Senator
 * Paul Rhoads (born 1967) college football coach, head coach at Iowa State University
 * Connie Yori (born 1963)  head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball team