Heading to Iowa to view homes any help would be greatly appreciated! (Des Moines: lofts, houses)

[jfiss2]

We are heading to look at some houses around Des Moines. We are driving from Pennsylvania. Any advice on things to make sure we bring with us or information on the areas to the south of the Des Moines would be great. Thanks!

[Chase03]

check out homes.com. The south side is O.K. There are alot of nice places to live, just depends on where you want to be. West Des Moines and the suburbs like Norwalk, Waukee, Pleasthill. I like the downtown lofts. Beaverdale is cool, kinda older brick homes with character. Plus the Roosevelt area off Grand is one of my favorite areas for houses. Once again not cookie cutter.

[mofford]

It's a bit more quiet and liveable on the SE side if you stay to the west of SE 5th and west of Indianlola Road. The exceptions to that would be the Easter Lake neighborhood on the SOUTH part of Easter Lake, off Easter Lake Drive. Another exception would be south of Kenyon to Cummings Rd west of SE 14th is pretty good. Steer clear of anything within a few blocks of McKinley until you get west of South Union. The areas to the south and west of Southridge Mall are OK, including the Greenfield Plaza neighborhood south of County Line Rd in Warren County.

As you Get closer to the airport on the SW side, once you get west of SW 12th you notice the housing gets a little nicer and better kept as you get closer to Wakonda Golf/County Club area along Fluer. The neighborhood off Park Ave from Fluer to 42nd is very nice indeed, and Waterworks Park with a fantastic network of bike trails is close at hand. The only drawback to this area and much of the SW side is the occasional noise from the airport, mostly from military aircraft.

Probably the weakest part of the SW side would be a thin corridor along SW 9th a block either way, it's noisy and there are some seedy appartments spread out along there, and lots of fast food places. The other weak spot housing wise in SW DSM would be the neighborhood south of Army Post Rd and West of SW 9th. Way too many Billy Bob's in thru there that have forgotten that when a house gets 50 years old or so, it's time for a fresh coat of paint (not dark blue, green or red) and/or some of that new fangled vinyl siding of a lighter shade. The hoody appartments along SW 9th and the homeless shelter do not help the neighborhood too much either. However, this neighborhood is still OK to live in, I like SW16th and SW17th because there is a nice open green space along there a few blocks south of Army Post. The area south of Mason/Amos to county line is a tad bit nicer as well.

[CampbellsChunkySoupra]

Norwalk just got rated as one of the top suburban communities to live in the country. Read it in the local Warren County news.

Definitely would suggest checking that area out. Definitely a suburban "bed room" community with hardly any crime.

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by CampbellsChunkySoupra

Norwalk just got rated as one of the top suburban communities to live in the country. Read it in the local Warren County news.

Definitely would suggest checking that area out. Definitely a suburban "bed room" community with hardly any crime.

Link to Norwalk "most affordable" story.

Newsroom -- Greater Des Moines Partnership

IMO, if I was going to live on the southside, I'd look for houses around Fleur Drive (you can go several block east-west and stay in really good neighborhoods) . There are some really nice established neighborhoods in that area. If you want newer, more suburban type living (but still in the city), Easter Lake area might be to your liking.
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[Salty1]

I live in the SE part of Des Moines. I feel decently safe (3 of my direct neighbors work for the Sheriffs office), but there are definitely safer places if you can afford over $120,000 (I am a student my budget was quite limited). Being from PA I am sure the Des Moines housing market will be a pleasant surprise. If I was looking to buy on the South side of Des Moines, I personally would look west of Fleur drive. There are pockets of decent areas east of Fleur, but its more predictable if you go to the neighborhoods to the west.

[mofford]

Originally Posted by Salty1

I live in the SE part of Des Moines. I feel decently safe (3 of my direct neighbors work for the Sheriffs office), but there are definitely safer places if you can afford over $120,000 (I am a student my budget was quite limited). Being from PA I am sure the Des Moines housing market will be a pleasant surprise. If I was looking to buy on the South side of Des Moines, I personally would look west of Fleur drive. There are pockets of decent areas east of Fleur, but its more predictable if you go to the neighborhoods to the west. I would HIGHLY recomend you contact Kim Polder White with ReMax Realty (kim@wediditagain.com). We used her when we moved here from Colorado and she was fantastic. Never pushy and always made sure she navigated us to the parts of town that would be safest for us on our limited budget and never tried to sell us a home outside of the budget we set. We would have considered homes in areas that were far from safe but looked OK, had it not been for her. I hope that helps!

The housing from SW 14th to Fleur is definately nicer than one would think looking at it along the major streets that pass thru it. Watrous, McKinley, Fleur and Army Post are busy streets, the housing along those streets will sell cheaper because of the noise and traffic. Said properties will also tend to be more neglected, but not so when you get off on the side streets. You can still find an occasional crap shack that you won't find west of Fleur, but very few of those west of SW 14th from Thomas Beck Rd down to Leland. The area west of SW 12th from Kenyon down to Payton is pretty nice too.

For all the bad talk about the SE side, there are some nice pockets here and there and people should not think of it as being the worst part of town to live in. I didn't have the heart to tell the guy in one of the other threads about my thoughts of East Grand as I passed thru there the other day. At least by the time you hit E 26th the abandoned houses thin out a bit, felt bad for the guy walking along E16th and Grand last week that got stabbed and robbed because he refused a light to some passing "bandits"

The SE side is still safer than pretty much anything north of downtown out to 30th and up to to Douglas on on the west side and pretty much up to Euclid over to about E 25th or so on the east side. At least there's places to shop on the SE side and the housing is still in pretty good shape.

[bcrichdesmoines]

If you are going to the South Side definitely live somewhere like Norwalk or Carlisle. The south side of Des Moines proper can be pretty rough because I guess there are a few Italian gangs around there so just be careful where you decide to settle down.

[Luke9686]

Originally Posted by bcrichdesmoines

If you are going to the South Side definitely live somewhere like Norwalk or Carlisle. The south side of Des Moines proper can be pretty rough because I guess there are a few Italian gangs around there so just be careful where you decide to settle down.

Italian gangs? Never heard that one before. Maybe mexican gangs, but I doubt Italian gangs... The south side is a huge portion of Des Moines, with very nice and very bad areas.

[cjb22]

Norwalk is definitely the place to be especially if you have children in school. We raised our two boys here & the school system is great! It is a safe community too!