Looking at Ingersoll/North of Grand (Des Moines, West Des Moines: for sale, renting, crime)

[lakeside20]

After renting for a year in West Des Moines, I'm considering buying a home in the North of Grand neighborhood near the new Dahl's. Can anyone tell me the good/bad of living in that area? I'd be commuting downtown, so the location seems great, and I love the older homes there. I don't have any sense of if there are safety issues there though. Also, forum posters seem to mention that it is a quite lively area. What in particular would you recommend doing there? Thanks!

[Luke9686]

It's a nice area with an urban feel. There is little crime there. I would imagine the bulk of the crime is property crime, and usually non violent.

It'll be more lively than West Des Moines, but still has that neighborhood feel to it. Lots of shops, restaraunts and bars right around there. A short hop to downtown and the western burbs. Pretty good location overall.

[capitalcityguy]

It is a nice area with a diverse option of housing and commercial amenities. A great location if you work downtown (as you mentioned).

A bit nit picky on my part, but by definition a "commute" tends to signify traveling some distance to get to your destination so actually you will no longer have to commute to work if you move to the Ingersoll area. from dictionary.com: commute -- to travel regularly over some distance, as from a suburb into a city and back: He commutes to work by train.

[dmguy30]

The North of Grand area is fantastic. You're centrally located to everything. We live nearby and simply love the convenience of everything (bars, restaurants, shopping, etc.), including Downtown, Drake University, and Valley Junction. If you need to get to a mall, Valley West is 6 minutes...and Jordan Creek is 10. Also, the new Dahl's is great as their selection has increased dramatically (plus you have Gateway Market down the street too).

We've lived in this area for 4 years now and haven't seen much in crime. There was a graffiti incident last summer, but it's been cleaned up and the vandals were caught. No murders or anything like that either.

[lakeside20]

Thanks for all the quick responses. The area sounds great. Re: CapitalCityGuy on "commutes", I hear ya! Even the 15 minute drive in from WDM would barely qualify as a commute in a lot of cities.

[tptvosox]

We moved back to Iowa summer of 2007, after having been gone for 15+ years. We took this exact path - first renting an apt in WDM (closest to where most family members / built-in baybsitters were), then buying a house in the NOG neighborhood last September. We walk to the new Dahl's, and I work downtown. Everything about it has been great. It's quiet, but there's a great neighborly atmosphere, and you're very close to great eats/drinks/live music/good shopping. It's a little of everything. It's an artsy, hip community overall (from what we've seen), where people are friendly and open-minded. There's a nice blend of young and old, families/couples/singles, diverse backgrounds, etc. We were last in NYC, living in Manhattan but also loving Brooklyn, and I'd say it's about as close to a Brooklyn vibe as Des Moines had to offer.

There are some gems among those old homes. We found one, and I'm sure you will too. Do a walk thru of all the homes for sale in our neighborhood, in a fairly short timeframe, so that you get an idea of how nice the "old" can be when people put a little money and time into their homes, paying particular attention to basements, attics, additions, pipes/electrical, etc. You'll quickly see what kind of "old" you could live with / fix up and what would be unacceptable for you. And you just may be surprised at how much better quality the old is, especially when cared for. Good luck!

[tptvosox]

A couple of other things.

The NOG Neighborhood Association is getting their work online more and more, where we have more access to announcements, email addresses, neighborhood events, etc: North of Grand NeighborHood Association > Home

And as far as what to do, there's a lot to choose from, depending on your mood / time of day (many businesses listed here: http://www.ingersollave.com/ I might miss a few:

Food/drink: Manhattan Deli, Star Bar (live music Wed nights), Bistro Montage, Palmer's Deli, Alpine Tap Room, Big Tomato Pizza, Zimm's, Ted's Coney Island, Wellman's Pub, Black Cat Cafe, DM Yacht Club, Noah's Ark, Flanagan's, A Dong, Gateway Market Cafe. Of course, our downtown / East Village faves are extremely close as well.

Groceries / staples: Dahl's (brand spankin' new, but with the regular neighborhood staff from the old place adjacent, which gets torn down), Walgreen's, Ingersoll Wine & Spirits, Great Harvest Bread, Gateway Market.

Specialty stores: Chocolaterie Stam, Suzette Candies, Boesen the Florist...just drive down there. There are a number of cool, quirky furniture, art galleries, clothing, home decor, and accessory stores I haven't had time to stop into.

Banks: Wells Fargo, US Bank, Bank of America.

And then, there's just the improvement project itself (see the Restoration section of the ingersollave.com site above).

Lastly, here's a little snippet from the Register:
Ingersoll Avenue area

(515) 282-5006
www.ingersollave.com

Beautification efforts are underway to make Ingersoll Avenue more accessible for shoppers, diners, visitors and residents.

“What I see as the biggest improvement will be how much more pedestrian friendly
the streets and sidewalks will be,” says Jennifer Espeland, president of the Ingersoll
Area Association. “Additional streetlights and walkways will control traffic, and substantially wider sidewalks will make it easy for families and groups to stroll the street.”

Ingersoll Avenue, located west of downtown Des Moines, boasts a diverse array of stores, restaurants, businesses and residences. Shoppers can visit art galleries, boutique clothing stores and stores housing wares from antiques to modern home décor.

“I like visiting the galleries and art shops along Ingersoll, especially Tandem Brick Gallery,” says Erin Seidler of Des Moines. “There are also some great places to eat and go out with friends and family along Ingersoll – Star Bar and Bistro Montage are two of my favorites.”

Each summer, Ingersoll Avenue hosts Ingersoll Live, an evening of food, drinks, art and live music.