Neighborhoods in Des Moines (Ankeny, Altoona: apartment complexes, insurance, violent crime)

[dubblekat]

Hi all!

I am probably going to be relocating to Des Moines in the next couple of months, from WA state. My husband lived in DSM about 10 years ago (and I have been there too) but we are not intimately familiar with the neighborhoods nowadays. We want to make sure the areas we are considering are relatively safe. We are used to & okay with "lock your doors, don't leave stuff in plain sight,", but are trying to avoid areas where violent crimes and home break-ins are common. Currently, we are considering housing in the Accent neighborhood (3200 block of Kinsey St), and have also looked at Prospect Park (2400 block of Payne road), can anyone comment on those areas?

Thank you, any responses are much appreciated!

[mofford]

Of those two you mentioned, I would go with Kinsey, it's a little safer than anything in the neighborhood between MLK and 30th. That part of the east side is a little run down, mostly poor/working class neighborhood where people won't bother you too much. Kinsey is several blocks north of the state fairgrounds and will be a traffic hassle for you in August during the fair. But you can use Easton to slip in and out of there without much problem. You could walk to the fair from your house if you don't mind a 20 minute walk. It's also not too far from Pleasant Hill, and Altoona is just a few miles away for good places to shop.

That neighborhood west of Prospect Park is pretty bad, it's crime ridden and definite hood rat territory, it makes the news quite frequently for lots of bad stuff, there are a number of bad apartment complexes in the immediate neighborhood and crazy stuff goes on. Those streets are kind of hilly in many spots thru there and bad to get around in the winter when it snows. The only thing the neighborhood has going for it, HyVee just remodeled a new grocery store close by, to replace the old store which was damaged by flood (and probably regrets not pulling out of there when they had a good excuse to close it, like the bowling alley on Douglas that never got rebuilt after the fire.

[Meemur]

My $0.02: live as close to work as you can, and if you can't afford to do that (or it's unsafe), live close to an on-ramp, like over near Guthrie and Hubbell (Fairmont Park) if you are working downtown and want to live on the East Side. Aside from an occasional domestic dispute, it's a good area: I lived there recently for three years. (I moved farther north for work)

Lots of renovation going on in Accent! I had a friend who lived there. My complaint is the slow-going on Easton during rush hours -- that area just doesn't support the volume of traffic that it has. Hence my comment above. It's not like you'll be sitting in traffic for hours, but travel in that area at the rush hours can add an extra 12 - 15 minutes to your commute.

I totally agree with Mofford's comments about Prospect Park. To be fair, there is some renovation going on there, but it's an area I'd steer clear of for now. If Hatch becomes mayor, I imagine he'll try to get it cleaned up and spearhead some growth in that area, but it'll take awhile. (There will be a run-off election on Dec. 3 -- neither Hatch nor Cownie got the majority).

One last caution: perhaps due to building in Ankeny, Fourmile Creek has been flooding. Be sure to inspect any houses you want to buy near that area for flooding, plus check into the need for flood insurance (legally the owners have to declare if there is gov't mandated flood insurance, but I'd check on that as part of due diligence). Accent is far enough away, but I'd still be aware of the high water tables -- talk with neighbors before you buy anything. Accent also has an active neighborhood association -- give the president a call for additional insights.

https://www.manta.com/c/mmf653g/acce...od-association

Good luck with your move! Keep your weather ap handy. We've been getting early snow storms. I woke up to a half inch of snow in my front yard.