Des Moins? (Seattle, Federal Way, Kent: apartments, houses, neighborhoods)

[coopmoving]

I am moving to the Seattle area SOON and need advice on where to look for an apartment. I will be working in Auburn and was looking at apartments in Renton but have been discouraged by some posts about that area. I happened upon Des Moins in my search and was wondering if anyone knows about it?
Is it safe? What type of recreational things are there to do around there? Is there a "town" area with shops/restaurants/coffee houses? What is the general feel of the place?

We are a couple in our late 20's and would like a nice place to come home to (newish, nice apartment, recreation, some type of nightlife-such as restaurants and movie theatres) that is affordable and pleasant.

Any opinons would be GREATLY appreciate! ...or suggestions for other areas nearby!! Thanks!!

[allforcats]

It's Des Moines (pronounced Deh MOINZ). Did you Google for information yet?
This is the official city website for starters.
http://www.desmoineswa.gov/

[scirocco22]

Ya know, allforcats, this pronunciation issue has bothered me for a long time. So I spent some time doing some research on it.

As you know, I grew up in the Seattle area and I too always pronounced Des Moines Washington with the hard “s” at the end. Everybody I knew growing up pronounced it that way. It seems to me that most still do. We always used to say, WE have “Duh Moinz” and Iowa has “Dah Moyne.”

However, officially, according to what reference I’m going to cite, even Des Moines Washington is supposed to be pronounced “Dah Moyne.”

Evidently, there have been many disagreements as to the pronunciation …even as recently as the spring of this year. However, as the following reference will cite, the Des Moines WA city council passed a motion back on September 22, 1975 approving the official pronunciation to be Dah Moyne.

The reference I’m citing is the May 3, 2007 city council meeting minutes. See “KOMO Radio Interview” at the very bottom of the page.

http://66.175.4.144/city_gov/city_council/minutes/2007/070503a.html (broken link)

I don’t think I will ever be able to pronounce Des Moines Way South as “Dah Moyne way south” because it just doesn’t sound right to me.

I protest that city council ruling.

[coopmoving]

Thanks for the website. I actually found that earlier and had a look around it. Although there is lots of information about the city council etc. I was really looking more for a personal opinion about the sort of personality or feel of the town itself. Like, if it's laid back, older/younger crowd, busy/quiet, upscale, safe etc.

[scirocco22]

Des Moines has its extremes, coop. You have young and old, busy parts, quiet parts, some nice upscale neighborhoods overlooking the sound and some extremely crime-ridden areas along Pac Hwy (Pacific Highway South). Look for places in the "downtown" area of town that's closer to the water for what you're looking at. There are some very nice neighborhoods in the Woodmont/Redondo areas. Avoid the area that abuts Kent along Pac Hwy S.

[allforcats]

Hey Scir, loved your post! Yeah, over the years I've heard the MOINZ most often, but occasionally, especially from local-station newscasters who aren't from here, they'd say MOYNE. I know you want to be accurate.

Back on thread, coop, in those parts of Des Moines closer to the water, it's so pretty, isn't it? Gentle, lovely, very "northwest"-looking.

[AzDreamer]

We lived in Des Moines about 20 years ago and the noise from the jets taking off from Seatac can be annoying, especially on weekend mornings when you're trying to sleep late. Other than that we liked the place. We were a couple blocks south of downtown with a view of Puget Sound.

[coopmoving]

I was thinking that something near the water would be nice. We actually just booked a flight out in the next week to check out various apartments so I'll take all of your good advice into consideration. Thanks VERY much! We are looking at a place on 260th Street between Pacific Hwy S and 16th Ave S. I'm trying to find something closer to the water-but we have a large (very very nice) dog and so the choices are somewhat limited.

[wannabeaTexan]

Originally Posted by coopmoving

I am moving to the Seattle area SOON and need advice on where to look for an apartment. I will be working in Auburn and was looking at apartments in Renton but have been discouraged by some posts about that area. I happened upon Des Moins in my search and was wondering if anyone knows about it?
Is it safe? What type of recreational things are there to do around there? Is there a "town" area with shops/restaurants/coffee houses? What is the general feel of the place?

We are a couple in our late 20's and would like a nice place to come home to (newish, nice apartment, recreation, some type of nightlife-such as restaurants and movie theatres) that is affordable and pleasant.

Any opinons would be GREATLY appreciate! ...or suggestions for other areas nearby!! Thanks!!

I've never lived in Des Moines, but grew up pretty much in Federal Way (neighboring). I don't believe there's much difference between Des Moines and Renton.

[Kathleenh54]

Hah. It's not surprising that there are pronunciation issues over 'Des Moins' in a state that has a town spelled 'Yachats' pronounced 'Ya-hots'. :-)