Talk:Des Moines, Iowa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Des Moines, Iowa is a former featured article candidate. Please view the links under Article milestones below to see why the nomination failed. For older candidates, please check the archive.
July 17, 2006 Featured article candidate Not promoted

Contents

[edit] Pronunciation

Why on earth does the French pronunciation of 'Des Moines' need to be explicated at some length at the very beginning of the article (even before the entry itself is defined)? Of course the beginning is where pronunciations typically belong, and the English one makes sense there, but the French pronunciation is so far from relevance to the overall identity of this mid-western US city that, at best, it belongs as a minor entry at the end of the article, if at all. Please note I am referring to the pronunciation key only. That the name is derived from French does belong in the article (though probably under the 'History' section). I would strongly suggest this trivial level of (pronunciation) detail be relocated or removed. 69.30.112.10 18:37, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

Someone keeps removing the pronunciation information from the first paragraph. I went ahead and restored the English pronunciation since that is an important part of the article but left the French pronunciation out for now. --Iowahwyman 16:17, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History

Wasn't a famous civil war battle faught in Des Moines? How come it's not under D.M.'s history? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 12.216.93.178 (talk • contribs) .

Not that I know of. --Iowahwyman 15:33, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

No, you may be thinking of a small skirmish that happened in Southern Iowa though. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.216.53.91 (talk) 16:48, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] TV stations

I'm curious: when did WOI-TV (Channel 5 ABC) move from Ames to Des Moines? -- Decumanus 21:30, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)

WOI moved its studios to West Des Moines a few years ago (I don't remember exactly when), but they're still licensed to Ames. Iowa State University sold the station in 1994. Iowahwyman 03:24, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I really don't know where the headquarters is for WOI-TV. As I see it, the list of TV stations are those serving the Des Moines "market" (metro).

As of July 28, 2004, most of the TV stations in the Des Moines metro, including WOI-TV, have their broadcast antennas located at "Alleman", population = 439 according to Wikipedia. But you don't really think those TV stations are there just to serve Alleman do you?  :-)

(irrelevant discussion) Interesting that these towers in Alleman are the same towers I see everytime I drive between Des Moines and Ames. I kinda reference to it as the half-way point between the two areas. --Ted 03:52, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

If you want to get real technical, the "Des Moines" Register has their new building in West Des Moines, and isn't that where their printing presses are located? I guess it gets pretty confusing. I got to thinking about it, and decided to verify if the new Des Moines Register building was actually in West Des Moines. It isn't. It's just south of the airport on "Register" Drive inside Des Moines. My mistake. Check out this Des Moines Register web page on their new printing press building. --Smiller933 16:12, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Metro Area

Wikipedia says that the Des Moines metro population is 522,624. The MSA and the U.S. Cencus Beareu both say that the Des Moines metro is just shy of 700,000. I changed it to make it more accurate, so please don't change it back. But is it safe for a city to be growing that paridly? In 2000 it was just shy of 500,000 and now six years later it's just shy of 700,000? That can't be good for it's economy. If the city keeps growing like this, than by 2020 it will have over 2,000,000 in the metro area. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.183.48.165 (talk • contribs) .

The 522,624 figure is for what the Census Bureau officially defines as the Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area: Polk, Dallas, Guthrie, Madison, and Warren counties. ([1] and [2]) That 699,666 figure is actually a combination of the Des Moines-Newton-Pella and Ames-Boone CSA's [3], which would encompass nine counties altogether. Boone and Story counties are not officially part of the Des Moines CSA. Unless anyone can verify that Des Moines and Ames are one giant metropolitan area now, the 522,624 figure should stand. --Iowahwyman 19:18, 15 July 2006 (UTC)
In 2005 Marion and Jasper counties were officially added to the metro area. That makes the metropolitan population 593,112. (See Des Moines metropolitan area) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.183.48.165 (talk • contribs) .
No, those two counties are part of the Des Moines Combined Statistical Area, which is a combination of the Des Moines MSA and the Newton and Pella micropolitan areas. The only change to the Des Moines MSA was to the name, which is now the "Des Moines-West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area" (source: link #1 above, page 36 of the PDF file). According to the Combined Statistical Area article, "The use of CSAs as a representation for a single metropolitan area is not always appropriate." --Iowahwyman 04:20, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Does Des Moines actually qualify as a major city? And what constitutes a major city? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Your Dad (talk • contribs) .

[edit] Des Moines County

On the off chance that someone would come to this article looking for information on Des Moines County, I put a couple lines in about Des Moines County and provided a link to the article on the county, which is located on Iowa's eastern border.
JesseG 17:17, 12 March 2006 (UTC)


If the towers for WHI in Alleman were just for Alleman, then about 15 people would be watching WOI. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 152.163.100.74 (talk • contribs) .

If the towers had a short broadcasting range --Ted 04:08, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Insurance Capital?

I've seen mention that Iowa as a state is the insurance capital of the world, but is there any proof that Des Moines has overtaken Hartford, CT as the insurance capital city? AbsolutDan 01:53, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

In all fairness, Des Moines is a major insurance center. I think I read in Forbes Magazine that it surpassed Hartford. Iowa isn't as much of an insurance capital. The state itself gets most of it's income from agriculture then anything else. Iowa's two other major cities, Cedar Rapids and Davenport are more of manufacturing centers. I think it's justifiable to call Des Moines, "The Insurance Capitol of America". Maybe they should start calling Hartford, "The Des Moines of the East". IowaGuy 02:52, 6 July 2006
For what it's worth, I checked Forbes.com and didn't see anything about Des Moines passing Hartford. Besides, what claim is this based on -- the number of insurance companies based in the city, or the number of people employed in the insurance industry? --Iowahwyman 15:31, 5 August 2006 (UTC)
And even the city of Des Moines' website claims that it's only the third-largest insurance center in the world. [4] If anyone can find a legitimate source from the insurance industry claiming that Des Moines has indeed passed Hartford, please cite it. --Iowahwyman 01:43, 18 August 2006 (UTC)
Once again, I had to remove an uncited note about Des Moines being the world's second-largest insurance center today. Unless a reliable source is provided, please DO NOT add this claim to the article. --Iowahwyman 19:29, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I just noticed an outraged anon YELLING and removing the "Hartford of the west" bit, si I used Google and after 10 seconds found this: "Long known as the "Hartford of the West," Des Moines is the world's 3rd largest insurance center behind London and Hartford, Connecticut." Market Wire, August, 2006 --Dual Freq 18:28, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Just because something has been said doesn't mean it's worthy of encyclopedia mention. How many people from Des Moines have heard it called that? Not many, I'd bet. It would make more sense to include "Dez Moynez" as a nickname. Adm58 21:04, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Edits

I changed text in the second paragraph of this article. There were statements made that Des Moines would grow by 50,000 people in the city proper by the 2010 Census. However, Census estimates are showing a population decline for the past several years in the city proper. Also, a statement was made that Des Moines was known as DSM locally and nationally, and I was unable to find proof of that statement. If you feel that any of my edits are incorrect, feel free to change them. Ajwebb 16:23, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Not my usual area of WP so I won't bother signing in. However; I did stumble onto the Boise article (as I stumbled onto this one) and found the census citation needed here on that article page. Whether or not it is still found to be relevent will be up to the people here. Just trying to help. 69.244.37.79 12:37, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
"DSM" isn't really a nickname for Des Moines, but it is often abbreviated that way. --Iowahwyman 15:31, 5 August 2006 (UTC)
Isn't DSM the three-letter designation used for Des Moines' airport? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 12.152.199.3 (talk • contribs).
Yes. --Iowahwyman 04:04, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Other unverifiable items in this article

After some research, I couldn't find anything to verify these items in the article so I removed them:

  • "Des Moines was in the running to host the 2006 Special Olympics along with Omaha, Nebraska and St. Louis, Missouri, but was trumped by the neighboring city of Ames, Iowa." I found absolutely nothing on the Special Olympics' website or Newsbank mentioning that Des Moines was even in the running for the 2006 Summer Games.
  • "Forbes Magazine ranked Des Moines as the 4th best city to start a business, behind, Oklahoma City, Boston, and Seattle." Again, I checked Forbes.com and found nothing. I did note that Forbes ranked Des Moines 11th on its annual "Best Places for Business" survey this year. [5]
  • The Wells Fargo project in West Des Moines "holds the title for second largest construction project in the country, passed only by Donald Trump's Chicago project". I couldn't find anything to back that up.

If someone can find verifiable reliable sources to back these claims up, they can be added back into the article. --Iowahwyman 15:31, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

  • It seems that more unverifiable information has been added in, and I am unable to find sources. As such, I have added the Citation needed tag. Ajwebb 00:17, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
    • I do not think anyone can prove that des moines is at the same level as omaha, or hartford. It seems to me that with those two places being over one million and des moines being less than 500,000, or less in total urbanized area, it does not have the same standing as those cities. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 129.252.68.197 (talk • contribs) .

[edit] Population Changes made by 208.0.111.237

Regarding the population changes made on "06:55, 6 March 2007" by 208.0.111.237, these uncited population numbers replace numbers that appear to be properly cited. Also, the US Census does mid-decade revisions for some areas so population numbers for 2005 seems plausible, but without citing a source, I find 2006 numbers to be highly suspect. My opinion would be that this edit should be reverted. --Smiller933 17:23, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I reverted it. The Census Bureau hasn't released its 2006 population estimates for cities yet. --Iowahwyman 23:39, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Dmlogo.gif

Image:Dmlogo.gif is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 01:43, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Des Moines subdivisions

The article Southside des moines iowa has been nominated for deletion via WP:PROD and will be deleted shortly. I am including here the content (no citations were included) as there might be a bit or piece that can be included in this article, perhaps in the "Demographics" section. The content was originally created by Bigbob76 (talk · contribs). --User:Ceyockey (talk to me) 01:47, 5 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Southside of Des Moines (content from deleted article)

The southside of Des Moines Iowa is known historically for its high population of Italian and Irish Americans. It is a largly a Conservative Democratic blue collar neighborhood with the exception of West of Fleur Drive and the urban sprawl of Easter Lake. It is a growing area for Hispanics. The Southside consists of several neighborhoods Including Rosebud, Indianola Hills, Little Italy, The South East Bottoms, Magnolia Park, Sayer Area, Ewing Park. The Des Moines southside with the "brain drain' of the 1970's when many of Iowa's professionals were lured away to California and Texas combined with the losses of Meredith publishing, Des Moines steel, and Massey Tractors, Armstrong Tire and the entire meat packing industry. This middle class neighborhood has undergone several school closures as a result of this including Percy Hoak Elementary, Kurtz Jr High, and,

[edit] The Southeast Bottoms (content from deleted article)

The Southeast Bottoms is an area severely damaged by the "Flood of 93" home to many Hispanics and Italians is just south of the Capital Building. The southeast bottoms behind the packing houses is a historical area that has mostly disapeared under auto salvage yards. In the 1950's this neighborhood was home to all the tough guys in Des Moines. Courtneys, Ellis' Paytons' Pratts' and Weatherlys' had occupied the southeast bottoms for generations.

I would like to propose a piece be added to this article concerning east side / west side relations and the political, social, economic relations experianced by residents. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.43.65.245 (talk) 08:03, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] External Links

Moved RFCxxx template to relevant section - template should appear at top of section named in the section param, section param should contain name of section created for the RFC. DMcMPO11AAUK/Talk/Contribs 02:08, 26 October 2007 (UTC)


Absolutedsm.com - This doesn't appear to meet all the guidelines in Wikipedia:External_Links. Looking at Chicago, Illinois, the only external sites they have listed are city created websites and wiki related web sites. Cbogwill 12:12, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

About this link-I personally don't see what the big deal is about this. This website has hundreds of photos of the metro, shows what is happening here (in regards to construction projects), is linked on other wiki pages, and isn't advertising. If the external links is supposed to be only city websites, that requirement needs to be added to the "external links" guide for cities. The others, Partnership, Drake, etc. should all be removed as well if that is the case. It would be a shame that these are deleted, as they are great resources for providing information about Des Moines. dmguy30


From Wikipedia: Some external links are welcome (see "What should be linked", below), but it is not Wikipedia's purpose to include a comprehensive list of external links related to each topic. No page should be linked from a Wikipedia article unless its inclusion is justified.

If you think this information is that important, you should create a new article gear towards photographs of Des Moines. Remember, Google is only one step away for users searching non-encyclopedia information. Cbogwill 19:58, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

As a Des Moines resident, I have found this website to be incredibly useful to finding information about the building environment here. On the web, you have to search through endless developer and architect sites, newspaper articles, and meeting minutes from numerous city council meeting minutes to find this information. At this website, it is provided to you in one spot. This is a great resource for the community. As someone who uses the website, lives in this community, I find it very relevent to the article labeled "Des Moines". The reasoning that keeps coming up here in the removing of this link continues to change (advertising--->should be city made sites only--->too many links--->create a page about Des Moines photography). Obviously, there is something not being said here. I just find that you are picking on this one particular website for no apparant reason when the other noted linked pages are not city sites, one IS a photography page (but no separate page dedicated to photography of Des Moines is required?), etc. This would mean they are not up to your standards. Wikipedia is supposed to be about community building and this has been a nasty experience for me. I believe the inclusion of this website is WELL justified concerning it includes information that isn't really covered in the article. Dmguy30DMGuy30Dmguy30 —Preceding comment was added at 20:16, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

I find google very helpful, perhaps we should add it too? You raise a good point though, regarding the other sites. I will remove them too. Cbogwill 20:32, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

This has nothing to do with google (and isn't an exclusive Des Moines external link). I also must say that your condescending remark is rude. You are doing Des Moines area residents a disservice by keeping valuable resources from those who use wikipedia. It meets the criteria and it should remain. You point where in that criteria of external links where it ACTUALLY doesn't meet the guidelines, then I will stop. This is all trivial and very uncalled for. dmguy30 —Preceding comment was added at 20:45, 22 October 2007 (UTC)


______

Hey Cbogwill, who are you? I'm familiar with absolutedsm.com and I think it's an undeniably useful resource for the community. As far as I can tell it doesn't seem to be a revenue generating site, and would be useful to anyone doing research on our community. Why are you the self-imposed dictator of this wiki entry? It seems like you are being extremely rude and sarcastic, as if your body of knowledge is not only more vast, but more important than others. Play nice. If consensus is what you are after, I think you need to review what the word consensus means. It dictates that there is understanding, but not necessarily agreement. —Preceding unsigned comment added by DSMWoman (talk • contribs) 20:51, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry if I was condescending. You are a new user here, so you most likely are unaware of the struggle to keep the links to a minimum on articles. That link is no different than any of the other sites that people are constantly trying to get added to articles, from photo-blogs to message boards. If we should just let people add sites *THEY* think are handy, then wikipedia would be nothing more than a repository of links (which, it isn't). Cbogwill 21:05, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

And please understand that there is a guide to appropriate links, created by consensus: although only two of us believe that this link should not be included, we believe so because it is based on the decisions of a large number of editors. Nyttend 21:15, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I've made changes on wiki for years...just have never registered until now. What do you mean it is no different? It has CONTENT! I've read the guide, and I don't see where this link would be disqualified (. It has valuable resources to economic development projects that are a major force into what is happening in Des Moines:

http://www.absolutedsm.com/downtown_central_proj_page.htm

It does have a forum, but that is not the purspose to why it is to be added here. It's the simple fact that it contains a huge resource to find information about the $3 Billion worth of Des Moines projects (which is not a topic that could be extensively discussed on such a short article). When someone wants to know what is going up at 2nd/Grand, they can go to this website to find it (with renderings, photos of progress, cost, etc.):

http://www.absolutedsm.com/Projects%20and%20Construction/Principal%20Riverwalk/principal_riverwalk_2005.htm

It also has photo galleries of the skyline, neighborhoods, and other related information. It has facts and stats of the city and metro. This is all stuff you can't GET anywhere else in one place. That is why I'm here trying to make sure it stays on here. It is a website that I firmly find to be a valuable information tool.

This isn't a blog. This isn't a message board (although there is one). If that is the issue, you might as well remove the Des Moines Register from the media section since it includes content and a message board. Absolutedsm.com is a COMMUNITY RESOURCE. There is a reason it has been included on this page for a long time without deletion (I don't know when it was added, but it's been there for quite some time). I would question it too if that is all it was. A similiar website in Ohio is included on the Cleveland page. As far as I know, this website will remain to be a resource for the community for years to come.

dmguy30 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dmguy30 (talk • contribs) 21:29, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

--- The way I found out about this website was through a WHOTV newscast. They use it as a resource and find it useful enough to broadcast it to their viewers. I've also seen it be given community adspace in publications here in Des Moines. It is a good resource to have it included on this page. Dmguy30 21:40, 22 October 2007 (UTC)dmguy30

Sorry, but this still seems to be added to promote a website, and the forum is a problem. Community websites are inherently vulnerable to the message board/forum thing: the Register website has that as a side thing, while we use a newspaper link to find news about the town from a reliable source; however, this website doesn't appear to be as reliable as is the Register. In short: how do we know that it's true? We can't ultimately know from any website, but this isn't as good of a guide as ones such as the Register. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nyttend (talk • contribs) 21:59, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

It is not "promoting" when there is nothing there really to promote BESIDES the community (they aren't selling anything, doing events, or anything like close that I'm aware of). The Des Moines Partnership and Downtown Community Alliance are "promoting" Des Moines. Should they be removed (which they shouldn't be)? Your not using the same standards for all links. There is nothing on the terms that say this type of website is discouraged. Are photos and using information from the actual developers (you can see their links on the pages) and other local media making this website "unreliable"? I would assume that the website is reliable if other media in the area use it, including the DM Register. You two keep changing your reasons on to why this website shouldn't be linked. All of this is subjective. Also, the strict rules you are interpreting from the external links rules that are being applied to this webpage are obviously not standard across the board on wikipedia (another similiar website is listed for St. Louis-with a forum). You are obviously not keeping the same standard when you leave other pages that just show pictures. Did you guys check the changes for the building heights that were added? This article was not accurate because the wiki police didn't verify it (you could have at absolutedsm.com and emporis.com). Don't worry, I did make the necessary changes. This page is for all wiki users to contribute, including me. I would hope those actively involved in their community should be able to say what is important and what isn't. Dmguy30 22:30, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

________________

I think you (Nyttend, and CBogwill) are interpreting the rules incorrectly. So does DSMGuy30, DSMWoman, and myself (I've also edited, but not registered ... I also rarely have the same IP for longer than one session). That all notwithstanding, wiki is a creation of the people, not two guys who keep changing the argument. I've stayed out of this ridiculousness until now, but this is getting to be too much. What do you lose by letting the link remain? Nothing. What do we lose by you removing it? Not a whole lot, because we already know about the site. What does the general wiki user lose? A valuable resource. So. Are your multiple arguments really WORTH winning? Exacting control over others does not make you powerful. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.167.75.159 (talk) 01:05, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

There's a purpose in deleting inappropriate content: Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information, and that which does not belong deserves to be pruned in order to make the rest more healthy.
At any rate, this is enough warring; even if I wanted to keep going, I can't, because I've hit my 3RR already. I'm sure that you would agree that Cbogwill (several hundred edits) and I (over twenty thousand edits) are both familiar enough with Wiki standards that we understand the principles of consensus. Time for an appeal to a higher authority, so that you'll realise that these links are inappropriate or that we'll be taught a lesson in not biting the newcomers, because one of these (who knows, possibly both) is likely to happen. Nyttend 01:44, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
I cant see any problem with the link, it seems to have relevant info to the article and there's no guideline that disqualifies it. There seems to be a bit of gaming the system here. The site comes under 'Sites that contain neutral and accurate material that cannot be integrated into the Wikipedia article due to copyright issues'. I can't see any reason whatever to suspect the site is being promoted, it contains relevant content and no advertising. --Neon white 22:33, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

This link looks fine to me, whats the big issue here? 65.29.77.247 18:56, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

I don't see any special reason given to include the link. Cbogwill's example of Chicago, Illinois makes a very strong case to not include the site. Minneapolis, Minnesota is very similar. I visited Absolutedsm and it doesn't seem like the kind of content that most people looking for information on "Des Moines, Iowa" would want to see. Thus, unless someone can make a very strong case for including the link, I think the link to it should be removed. --Smiller933 05:01, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

________________

Using Minneapolis and Chicago for reference in regards to this link isn't accurate. As far as I tell, neither one of these cities have websites that cover economic and building development in this capacity. I know St. Louis and Cleveland do and they are both on their wikipedia entries. Once again, this website is relevent as it is content that can't easily be included on this entry (in regards to current development projects). It also contains numerous picture galleries of neighborhoods and other related topics in Greater Des Moines. You may not find it to be an interesting website, but to those who are interested in knowing what is being developed at 13th and Locust (which is exactly why I like this site), looking at Des Moines to relocate, or to find out how the city is evolving, it is a good resource to find some of this information. It's a website that educates the public on development in Des Moines. As I noted previously, to get most of this information, you'd spend hours online trying to find all of it (many of it you wouldn't find at all). As a realtor, I've done digging on this type of information to be better informed. This website made my life all that much easier because it is mostly contained in one place.

Dmguy30 21:24, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

I assume you mean well, but the examples of Chicago and Minneapolis are very relevant. Those city pages could have dozens, if not hundreads, of linked sites on various niche topics. For example, what about the Chicago Punk Scene?
We could end up with a very long list of links if we all contributed one or two links we consider "useful", but that's really more appropriate for someplace like DMOZ, or for search engines like Google (search for "des moines development"). --Smiller933 07:42, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

I would like to proprose including descriptions of neighborhoods in the Des Moines area so people can get a sense of the different neighborhoods. I noticed that Tucson, AZ was one example of a city page that described the different areas of its city in brief detail. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.192.143.238 (talk) 21:48, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 'Des Moines' name origine and evolution

Mwangwena >> Moingwena >> ... >> Des Moines

In french, in 'Riviere des Moingwena'(2)(3), 'Moingwena' is nearly unpronouceable without intense concentration. I tested it on my collegues, everyone failed to pronouce it and everybody laughed. In english try 'River of the Mwangwena' to better understand, 'River of the Mwan' is much easier.

So, the Moingwena indian tribe was living along a river. Some french came on a canoe : "Me French", "Me Mwangwena", "hein ?"(1), "Mwan_gwe_na", "ah ! 'Moin_gwe_na'"(2) ; French can't spell simple.

It's probably after a lot of fun that everyone agreed to short it to 'Riviere des Moines' meaning 'River of the Monks' where there have never be a single monk but only Mwangwenas whose big mistake was to choose an unpronouceable name for themselves.

I want to be the first, in the name of the Mwangwenas, to reclaim the right name for 'Des Moines' that should be 'Mwangwena'.

Erdemaal

(1) tough canoe guy french word for 'Could you repeat, please' 
(2) 'w' was not a french letter before ??1800, so it was probably 'Moinguena' first ??
(3) it should be spelled 'Riviere des Moingwenas' but it will be confusing

[edit] Caucus

Hi all, I am new to editing wikipedia but I believe it is relevant and important to include some information about Des Moines' importance in presidential politics as the capital of Iowa during the Iowa Caucus. I added a brief snippet of information on this subject. The source i used for the NY Times article qoute was: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/travel/02journeys.html?ex=1354251600&en=07f7515293abc6cb&ei=5124&partner=facebook&exprod=facebook although I am not sure how to attribute on wikipedia. Feedback would be appreciated. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.192.143.238 (talk) 21:05, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Dmlogo.gif

Image:Dmlogo.gif is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 06:44, 1 January 2008 (UTC)


New Edits - 2/18/2008 I made 2 changes: 1.) I added a qoute from a '94 Business Wire article which stated that Des Moines is the "number one spot for US insurance companies." The source for that is - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1994_Nov_4/ai_15892065 2.) The second change I made was citing a Men's Journal magazine ranking - that was taken from January 2008|Volume 16|Number 12 on Page 32 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.192.143.238 (talk) 07:20, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Skyline Photo?

Does anyone have a good photo to post next to the skyline description? If anyone owns the right to a photo which has a good-looking shot of Des Moines skyline, that would be great! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.192.143.238 (talk) 21:21, 29 February 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Foliage

What is the foliage around Des Moine Iowa like? is it green and lush? Forrested? Desert semi dessert? Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.191.136.3 (talk) 12:50, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Citation does not support content

I remove these since the article in used to support it does not make reference to the phrase "de moyen" as having any relationship to the name Des Moines: "or connected to the phrase de moyen in French, meaning middle, because of its location between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers"

---chemica (talk) 05:55, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] March 27th clean up

Just going through and doing a little routine clean up/formatting. I removed the "sites of interests" section and all the links that were adverts/external links or already linked in the article. Here is a list of the ones that are probably appropriate to incorporate into the body of the article if anyone knowledgeable about the city wants to give it a go:

-Grey Wanderer | Talk 20:56, 27 March 2008 (UTC)