The City That Renamed Itself Is Still Two Cities

West Des Moines used to be called Valley Junction — a railroad town built around car shops and roundhouses, with 5th Street as its commercial spine. When the rail jobs left, the town struggled enough that it voted, on its third try, to rename itself West Des Moines in 1937, hoping a fresh identity would help. It took decades, but it worked: post-war development pushed new neighborhoods out to the west, and aggressive growth since the 1990s turned the area around Jordan Creek into the largest shopping complex in Iowa.

What that history leaves behind is a city that's still genuinely split. Historic Valley Junction, revived rather than replaced, has older homes and a commercial district built for a different century. The neighborhoods around Jordan Creek and Glen Oaks are newer, built for a completely different kind of daily life. A remodel that makes sense in one doesn't automatically make sense in the other.

• Renovations and updates in and around historic Valley Junction, keeping the character that survived the lean years intact
• Additions and remodels in the newer neighborhoods near Jordan Creek and Glen Oaks, sized to match houses built in the last 20-30 years
• General contracting for the full range in between, since "West Des Moines" covers more housing eras than most of the towns we work in

Same city, two very different remodeling conversations. We've had both.