Moving to Des Moines...older, established neighborhood? (Franklin, Beaver: apartments, rental market)

[Autum1031]

I am considering a relocation to Des Moines after losing my job in the Twin Cities. The job I'm considering has a comparable, decent wage, so we're hoping we might be able to rent the kind of house we've always wanted-- older home, established neighborhood, mature trees, a good school district, safe, and walkable. (Walkable is not a "must").

I've done some research on this site and previous posters have suggested Waterbury, Ingersoll, possible Beaverdale as older, more established areas. We'd be looking to rent for the first year or two, not buy, and some initial searching isn't finding homes or apartments to rent--just buy.

Is this the kind of area that, generally, we'd only be able to buy a home? Are there other areas we should be targeting? We really want to stay away from the cookie cutter new homes but a safe area and decent school district are important. We are both 40, with a 2 year old son, wanting a nice, casual, friendly, relaxing vibe. Not looking for a party scene, also not looking for the PTA scene. ideally a place with small business would be wonderful, but may be too much to ask for.

Budget wise, we can spend up to around $1500 / month, about what you'd pay for mortgage for a $250K home or so. (Less would be wonderful, of course!)

[fezzador]

My grandmother used to live on 47th street, right next to Franklin. There isn't a name for the neighborhood per se, but the homes are older (I think most of them were built from the 40s-60s or so). Lots and lots of trees there, and about as safe as it gets. I'm not 100% sure where the nearest elementary school is, but I wouldn't imagine one being too far away.

[capitalcityguy]

I'm not close enough to the rental market to know where the available housing is. It seems whenever questions hit the forum on rental places, it is pretty quiet. Just doesn't seem to be a lot of knowledge on this topic from regular visitors out there.

Some thoughts to hopefully help:

* very nice, established neighborhood tend to be west of downtown. That is also were you find the better schools. That would include some of the neighborhoods you mentioned.

* I wonder if your best bet is to locate a realtor who has some listings in some of the neighborhoods you listed and see if they'll assist. A lot of them do this as a way to obtain future clients.

Good luck!

[Autum1031]

Thanks! As it turns out, we've decided not to pursue this particular job opportunity (not because of the lovely city of Des Moines, but because I was tipped off that this particular job was NOT one that I wanted). Thanks for trying to help.