Urbandale, Iowa

Before Urbandale was incorporated, citizens raised $2,000 to build a two room schoolhouse and by 1916 it was ready to be used. To avoid being part of the Johnston School District, it needed to establish their own school district and could be done if it was legally incorporated.^[6]

Urbandale was 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. The cars mainly served coal miners and students attending Roosevelt High School or Des Moines North High School. Transit data showed that on one day, 4,900 passengers would use the service, with 10 total cars being used for a 15.2 mile long round trip. 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 while streetcar service ended in 1951. Gas shuttle buses and curb liner operations took over the service, and many current DART bus routes follow the old paths of the streetcars.^[7]

In 1956, The Suburban Press brought up Urban News which remains the only Urbandale-specific news publication in the city's history. By the summer of 1956, there were 800 people subscribed to the newspaper and by 1957 it had over 2,500 subscribers.^[8]

In 1920, shortly after the city incorporated, Urbandale had 298 people. Its population in 1950 was 1,777, but the city grew rapidly after that along with the rest of Des Moines' suburbs. By 1970, Urbandale had 14,434 people, and in 2000 it had 29,072.^[9] Although most of the city's developed area is in Polk County, Urbandale has expanded westward into Dallas County in recent years.^[10] In 2019, Dallas County was the 8th fastest growing counties in the United States, with a 36% increase of population. Though most of the population growth was in Waukee, parts of western Urbandale also saw growth and expansion.^[11]

In 2012, President Barack Obama held a re-election campaign rally at Living History Farms in Urbandale.^[12]

Urbandale is located in the northwest part of the Des Moines Metro Area at the intersections of Interstates 35 and 80, and Iowa Highway 141. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.94 square miles (56.82 km²), of which 21.92 square miles (56.77 km²) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km²) is water.^[13]

In January 2022, an agreement with the city of Grimes created an imaginary "annexation line". Both cities agreed that in the next 10 years of expansion, Urbandale could annex everything south of the line, and Grimes could annex everything north of the line.^[14] On June 17, 2025, a plan to annex 100 acres (40 ha) of land belonging to the Des Moines Christian School Association was approved. The property was previously a part of the city of Grimes.^[15]

Urbandale is in Tornado Alley which makes it more prone to tornadoes. Urbandale has been hit by two tornadoes, an F2 on October 16, 1966, and an EF1 on July 15, 2024.^[16][17]

Urbandale has a humid continental climate (Dfa) under the Köppen climate classification. January averages around -5.4 °C (22.3°F) daily. Every month's average temperature is above 22 °C (71.6 °F), and seven months average above 10 °C (50 °F). The coldest temperature recorded was -35.6 °C (-32 °F) which happened on Friday, January 12, 1912. The hottest temperature recorded was 45.0 °C (113 °F) which happened on Wednesday, August 8, 1934. Summer temperatures can often climb into the 90 °F (32 °C) range, occasionally reaching 100 °F (38 °C). Humidity can be high in spring and summer, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms. Winters vary from moderately cold to bitterly cold, with low temperatures venturing below 0 °F (−18 °C) quite often. Snowfall averages 36.5 inches (93 cm) per season, and annual precipitation averages 36.55 inches (928 mm), with a peak in the warmer months.^[18]

The median income for a household in the city was $59,744, and the median income for a family was $70,548 (these figures had risen to $69,269 and $86,885 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). 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.^[23]

The largest industry in Urbandale is Finance and Insurance with 17.9% of the population working in that industry. It is followed by Healthcare and Social Assistance with 11.8%, and Retail with 10.5%.^[30]

DART route 74 serves the business parts of northwestern Urbandale and is connected to stops in Windsor Heights and the Valley West Mall.^[36] Urbandale is also in the intersection of two major interstates. Interstate 35 and Interstate 80 both run through and collide in Urbandale. Iowa Highway 141 and U.S. Route 6 are also in Urbandale. Iowa Highway 141 ends in the urban loop and connects to Interstate 35 and 80, while U.S. Route 6 makes up the southern border of Urbandale with Clive.^[37]

Urbandale features 850 acres (3.4 km²) of parks and 54 miles (87 km) of recreational trails that connect to other trails in the Des Moines area.^[38][39]

Urbandale is the home of Living History Farms, where Pope John Paul II spoke to a crowd estimated at 350,000 on October 4, 1979.^[40] Living History Farms shows multiple different houses and buildings in Iowa from multiple time periods, including the Ioway tribe.^[41] The Buccaneer Arena, home to the Des Moines Buccaneers hockey team, is also located in Urbandale.^{[citation needed]}

Urbandale uses the council-manager form of government. The city council consists of the mayor and five council members, all of which are elected to four-year terms. There is no limit on how many terms a person can serve.^[42] The mayor of Urbandale is Bob Andeweg.^[43]

Urbandale has one historical site on the National Register of Historic Places, the Olmsted Family Farmhouse.^[44] In 1904 the house was built, and in 1937, 10 acres of land was used for building plots. The Urbandale Historical Society bought the house in 1987.^[45] The house was put on the National Register of Historic Places in August 2019, and is open to the public for events and tours.^[46]

Multiple public school districts serve portions of Urbandale: Urbandale Community School District, Dallas Center–Grimes Community School District, Des Moines School District, Johnston School District, Waukee School District and West Des Moines School District.^[50]

The Urbandale Community School District^[51] consists of six elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school (Urbandale High School). It serves Urbandale, and a part of southern Grimes.^[52]

Multiple Christian schools are located in Urbandale. Des Moines Christian School is in Urbandale and has over 1,500 students enrolled.^[53] St. Pius X Catholic School of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines is in Urbandale. It opened with an initial 120 students in September 1956. Initially its facility was one story tall and had eight classrooms, but an additional eight classrooms were added after construction began on another section on May 1, 1962. That section had two stories.^[54] The area Catholic high school is Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines.^{[citation needed]}

• Eddie Berlin, former professional football player, Chicago Bears and Tennessee Titans^[55]
• Gannon Buhr, professional disc golf player and 2022 United States Disc Golf Championship winner^[56]
• Scott Clemmensen, former professional hockey player^[57]
• Tom Hess, professional bowler and 2011 USBC Masters champion^[58]
• Allen Lazard, professional football player for the New York Jets^[59]
• Sean Runyan, former professional baseball player, Detroit Tigers^[60]
• Paul J. Springer, author of over a dozen books and professor