As a member of the Waukee Leadership Institute Board of Directors, I was fascinated recently by the presentation prepared by Waukee City Development Services Director Brad Deets that outlined both the economic and geographic growth patterns of Waukee since 1970.

For example, the City of Waukee has seen an unprecedented, 775 percent population growth in the past 40 years (1,577 in 1970 to 13,790 in 2010). That is a stunning figure when you consider the city of Des Moines had a 69 percent growth in population and the state of Iowa only saw a 7.8 percent increase.

Thanks to satellite imaging, we can take a bird’s eye view of how that remarkable growth has impacted the landscape of Waukee. Brad presented the images of Waukee (see left) along Hickman Road (Highway 6) between Warrior Lane and NW 142nd Street just since 1990.

Whether you love or hate development, there is no denying the economic boom Waukee is experiencing as a result of the population growth. In the past five years, Waukee’s commercial and residential property valuation has grown from $610,631,129 net valuation in 2007-08 to just under $1 billion in 2011-12. And the boom is just starting. With Alice’s Road Corridor, Waukee has a lot of growing left to do.