Cottage Grove Area in Des Moines (apartment, violent crime, house)

[jkelly33759]

Hi there-

I am moving back from FL to Des Moines after being away for 15 years. I am looking at a house in the Cottage Grove area.

Can anyone tell me how safe this area is now? I know it used to not be very safe, but it seems to be an up and coming area.

Feel free to email me at jkkelly230@hotmail.com

Thank you

[Luke9686]

Cottage Grove is definately improving. The further west you go, the better it gets. There have been a ton of beautiful rehabs in that area, some catching $300,000 and up. The area overall is not too bad. If you stay south of University you should be ok.

If you can post some cross streets, we can pinpoint the safety of the area.

[DMRyan]

I live on Cottage Grove and it's a beautiful street. Largely intact hisorically too. Plenty of renovation has gone here, but I would still recommend living west of 31st Street if you want to get out of the crunchy parts of the Drake Neighborhood. There's been some beautiful renovations of historic homes east of 31st Street, but there's several apartment buildings that aren't well cared for and attract a lower income crowd. I wouldn't really call Cottage Grove dangerous, but I suppose you would still find some property crime in the area. There are a decent amount of places that lure Drake University students, but it's not really the party atmosphere you find near a larger university campus. As long as you're not purchasing one of the $300,000-$400,000 homes, my bet is that you'll make plenty of money on your investment. I moved into a starter home 3 years ago and had the assessed value shoot through the roof since I've been here, mostly due to the amount of renovations and desireability of the area being close to downtown and several smaller pockets of intown semi-trendy commercial districts.

Let me know if you have questions about the area, I feel I know it well.

[CrazyHorsePete]

Cottage Grove has improved a lot in the past few years. I've walked around that area late at night without any problems. I haven't heard of any violent crime in the area. It is a much better area than, say, MLK and University or MLK and Forest. You are within walking distance of Drake University. There are coffee shops and a few stores in the area around 25th Street and University. Don't miss out on the barbecue joint just east of 25th and Cottage Grove!

[Luke9686]

You also may check out the area around Ingersoll. I love that area.

[jkelly33759]

Sorry for the delay-the address of the house on Cottage Grove is 2715. It sounds as though that is a safe area.

Wish me luck-topical storm Fay is going to hit us tomorrow