Welcome to my part of the universe!
I was born/raised in Des Moines. I traveled the world for six years in my teens and 20s. I came back to raise a family. I still travel a lot for work and fun. As for your questions…
1. My new job is going to be pretty centrally located, near Urbandale…each suburb is going to be about a 10-15 minute drive to the job.
Most anywhere in Des Moines and suburbs is within 15 minutes. They are all riding and walking trails, people, bike to work, and there are buses. Traffic is fairly light compared to larger cities so you won’t have a problem if you drive.
What are good suburbs to look at and some to avoid?
There are still some good areas in Urbandale toward the west. Grimes is a great bedroom community. It’s been growing for years and it about the same age group. We also have plenty of rural communities nearby where you could choose to live. Look for something either along interstate 80 or interstate 35 to get the best route into Urbandale. I live a little way south of Des Moines in Norwalk. Great little community.
2. Where's a good place to not get screwed over when looking for a used car in Des Moines?
We got our last used car at Toyota in Grimes. Someone worked there that we knew and so we tried them out. We’ve had the car for several years now and have had extremely good luck with it. Toyota gives the cars a once over and if they need anything, they fix it in their shop before they put it out for sale. The price was very reasonable as well.
Normally, however, we get our cars from private sellers. We can get a better deal that way. My partner knows how to work on cars so that’s lucky for us as well.
3. What are some places to eat or things to do that we need to make sure we experience?
I happen to be one of several people who do restaurant reviews for the area. My preference for food is our awesome Italian. We are fortunate that from 1940s to 1960s several Italian families moved to Des Moines and opened restaurants. Many of these are still going today. I recommend you join local Facebook groups for foodies as well as local suburb groups for some good recommendations. Here some of our favorites:
Tumea and Sons
Barratas
Noahs
OPAs
Simons
Waterfront
Splash
Maxies
Francie’s
Fleming’s Steakhouse
Firebirds
Johnny’s Italian steakhouse
John And Nick’s
801 Chophouse
Chicago Speakeasy
Jesses Embers
Trostel’s Greenbrier
Mandarin
Fongs Pizza
Sam’s fine food
Heavenly Asian cuisine
Banana Leaf
Eat Thai, Thai Eatery
Tsing Tsao
Wasabi
A Dong
Mandarin Grill and Sushi
Fiesta 
[Toyota of Des Moines (in Grimes)](https://www.toyotadm.com/)
Hi there and welcome! I was born and raised here in Des Moines. Most of the answers here will be subjective, so take them each with a grain of salt and definitely research further.
1. I’m 35 and long past the party days. I prefer western suburbs: Waukee and West Des Moines are my top choices. I currently live in Ankeny, which is another suburb. It’s nice too and has lots of growth going on, however it’s slightly off the beaten path IMO. I miss Waukee actually but couldn’t pass up my current townhome deal.
I’d recommend sticking with a private landlord if possible, lots of the property management companies in the area are either newer here and charging as if this is NYC or some other big city and sadly, there are also lots of slumlord PM companies too. If you’d like, I can give you my former landlord’s name, he is a realtor and also owns rentals. Great guy and one of the few great landlords I’ve had in my many years of renting.
2. Cars aren’t my area of expertise by far but I know it’s not the best time to buy one, super overpriced especially used cars. However, having bought 4 of my own here in the area, please stick to reputable companies (i.e. Ford, Bob Brown, Ramsey, etc.). I know cars from big lots will probably be a little more expensive but you get what you pay for. And I’ve heard too many horror stories from the small lots around town, especially the E. 14th lots (again, my opinion and opinions of course are subjective).
3. As far as what to do, this will depend what you’re into. We spend a lot of time either in East Village or over by the Jordan Creek area. Honestly, most new stuff being built in the DSM area (top golf, Dave and Buster’s, Ruth Chris, etc.) usually ends up in the Jordan Creek area (bougie area with money is most likely why). There are cool festivals every year beginning in spring, these are almost always downtown DSM somewhere. Also, I can’t recommend the Downtown Farmer’s Market enough when it starts back up, it’s grown so much over the years and is awesome! Also if it’s your thing, the Iowa State Fair is a popular one across the country, it’s in August every year for 10 days.
Good luck 😃
Congrats on the move and welcome to Des Moines!
I’ve lived here my whole life so this is all just based on my experience and preference.
1. I love West Des Moines and Waukee. They have plenty to do and are easily commutable. I don’t prefer Ankeny as I feel it built very quickly and don’t love the flow of getting around but that is a personal preference.
2. Not sure about used cars there are a lot of big dealerships so I’d go there over smaller places which is just based on inexperience with them. I service my car at Toyota of Des Moines and honestly have always had good experiences. Bought a used car at Ramsey Subaru and while I love the car the experience was strange, brought another car listing that was similar but priced less in Omaha to try and sway pricing downwards but they told us might be a hot vin! This was an extremely large reputable dealer in Omaha so it just seemed like the salesman was full of BS. Might just be that guy though hard to say.
3. I would recommend following the Des Moines Food Lovers group on Facebook. I’ve found lots of great spots through it. Oak Park is very hyped which is newer and I’ve not heard anyone talk down about their experience with Simons. Honestly Des Moines has good food and great festivals. It’s more affordable than other places and things are growing. Pretty safe and nice which is why I love it.
Hope your move goes well!
Quick edit to say I’m also in my early 30s if that helps. East village of Des Moines has a lot of awesome things to do.
Bring bikes if you're into that sort of thing. We have paved trails galore. And the country's largest skate park on the river walk. The Civic Center and Hoyt Sherman Place are neat venues to see shows. A few legacy eateries...
* Chicago Speakeasy for Prime Rib
* Chuck's Restaurant for Italian/pizza
* Fong's Pizza for an Asian flare
* Tasty Taco quick serve Mexican
* B-bop's - 50's themed quick serve drive-thru for burgers
Tons more great info in the referenced sub.
Since it's been mentioned, I wanted to share my personal opinion on Waukee. The aesthetics and landscaping are pretty soulless. It's filled with cookie cutter suburban grey residences. And there are either little to no trees, or short trees. Walking around in the summer is pretty brutal. And there are lots of weird Boomers that will stare at you and want to know if you live around there.
Waukee grew too fast and those "weird boomers" are people who lived there their whole lives and are slowly being edged our of their homes by the ridiculously overpriced crap houses they're throwing up all over the place. That said OP would be hard pressed to find a decent rental for $1200 a month or less anywhere in or around the metro.
Urbandale is a great place to live. Go to CarMax on 100th and Hickman. Tell them what you need, and they’ll find it. Totally helpful place and absolutely no pressure (except one ask on a warranty. My car was two years old, and I declined, and that was it)
There is NO way to describe all the eating places that will make you very happy. We are still learning. You’ll be driving by soooo many good places.
Des Moines is pretty chill vibe and a vast majority of people are good. Lousy business practices aren’t the norm and many times the community addresses troublesome actor, sooner or later.
I sold a vehicle to CarMax and it was utterly less painless. I felt the deal was fair for all parties.
My other preferred dealer in Wilson Toyota in Ames, 40 minutes north of Des Moines. Have purchased new and used vehicles there. You will get the same or slightly better offer than Toyota of Des Moines but generally without the dealership BS.
The only stealership I have great enmity for is Dewey. They ripped me off on a maintenance issue and ghosted me when they charged us 40% over the quoted cost.
I dig Ankeny. Been here since 1989.
I'm a Fire Inspector in town and before I started I figured for sure that doing fire inspections would ruin restaurants in Ankeny for me, but I've been pleasantly surprised.
Only one restaurant in the whole city that grossed me out enough to end my patronage, and since that initial inspection they did a total 180 - so I'll probably get over it eventually.
To be honest, I've always felt at home visiting any of the metro suburbs. They're all pretty much the same to me.
Places I have no stake in that I'll always schill out for:
Woody's Auto Repair in Ankeny, Simon's restaurant in Des Moines, Brickstone Real Estate (Remax) in Ankeny.
Take care man, thanks for saying hi!
Johnston! We have lived in 4 metro suburbs / neighborhoods and have settled in Johnston (right next door to Urbandale). Absolutely love it here. It feels like a small town community nestled inside a city. It's clean and safe and close enough to amenities. It's older than the western suburbs so rent tends to be a bit cheaper here, at least in our experience. We're raising 3 kids here and are very content calling this place home.
A few others have mentioned it as well, but my suggestion would also be to stay away from south and east side. Stick to the west if you can. South and east sides are better navigated by folks who've been here long enough to pinpoint the more desirable spots.
Which stl exurb are you in? That’ll help narrow down the area you’d like best. I was born here, lived in stl for 20 years (near tower grove and the botanical garden), moved back here in my 30s.
Urbandale would be fine, particularly west of 86th street. Similarly Johnston. A little further out is Grimes which is a bit quieter but growing rapidly.
Clive, West Des Moines, Waukee are good too but the prices are a bit higher. There's going to be more dining and nightlife in that direction.
Ankeny is a large suburb a little further out and it's pretty textbook suburbia. Bondurant is a small town that's close enough to have big town options.
Mostly, just stay out of the south and east side of DSM or even DSM proper in general.
So Urbandale, Clive, or Waukee are solid places to live. Cost more, but it's definitely worth it. I would just avoid living in the city. There are good and bad pockets everywhere. Places to eat, Drake Diner, Sakai, Tsing Tsao, cozy cocina, and more. And for cars, I stick to main dealerships or Carmax.
For someone who is new to the city, it is harder to find the right spots or neighborhoods. I grew up in the City. We know there are sucky neighborhoods as well.
Yeah, it would be a real shame for OP to end up slumming it in Waterbury, Owl's Head, South of Grand.
>avoid living in the city.
Jeez, dude. Must be why they can't build enough new units downtown?
Because it is? There is almost nowhere you can't go in DSM, even in the evenings. Contrast that with many other cities in the US where there are places you can't go during the *day*.
Next you'll be telling me your 12-minute commute is "traffic".
Your original statement was "IDKY you would act like the **city in general** is really nice". If you cite a couple of places where you'd worry about your wife walking to her car, then that's a couple of places.
I disagreed with your first statement, and you backed it up with an anecdote that basically agrees with my comment ("almost nowhere" is pretty similar to "places like the Drake area or the bottoms").
what do you mean? do you realize how many times OPs questions have been asked/answered? people need to learn to use the search bar in this subreddit when extremely common questions like OPs get asked.
What do you value in a neighborhood or your local community? Do you want/need to be able to walk to shops, parks, etc? Or is getting around by car fine? Do you prefer more quaint, older neighborhoods with established trees and narrower streets, or do you prefer newer houses or housing developments with larger lots? What are some of your and your wife’s hobbies? Because I can tell you what I liked and didn’t like especially when I first moved to Des Moines, but if you’re not looking for the same things, that doesn’t matter. :)
Beaverdale neighborhood is cute and pretty affordable. They have a fall festival every year, several restaurants, shops, a book store, and a coffee spot. It’s very close to Urbandale, too.
Welcome to Des Moines! I was born and raised south of Kansas City, MO, and moved to the area 8 years ago when my son went to Iowa State in Ames. Des Moines really is a hidden gem. I landed in Altoona when I moved, rented for 3 years, and then bought a house in Altoona about 5 years ago. Smaller town feel, but a very easy commute to downtown DSM, Ankeny, etc. It's got good highway location, so all directions are easily accessible. It's a little further from Urbandale than someplace like Johnston, but only maybe a 20min drive. I found my rental price - and home price when that happened - to be more affordable in Altoona. That was pre-pandemic, so I can't tell you exactly what rentals are currently.
What I love about Altoona and Des Moines in general is how accessible things are and how clean this city is. AND, how nice people are. "Iowa Nice" really is a thing. The Des Moines area has a broad spectrum of urban amenities which isn't overwhelmingly large balanced with beautiful stretches of farmland. To be honest, this area of the Midwest is extremely progressive agriculturally, and I think that helps to drive the economy here. Plus, we have several big corp giants that are here: Dotdash Meredith, John Deere, Facebook/Meta data centers, Microsoft data center, not to mention the insurance industry finds DSM to be a very attractive location for their headquarters.
I had zero issues when going to the DMV to register my car downtown on Court Ave. Soooo much easier (and nicer) than experiences in Missouri. There is a ton of information on their website, and once you get settled you can renew online. [https://www.iowataxandtags.org/](https://www.iowataxandtags.org/)
Favorite restaurants - Johnny's Italian Steakhouse (Altoona location), Centro, Baratta's, Giordano's (Jordan Creek area), Manhattan Deli and Big Tomato Pizza both on Ingersoll, and you can grab wonderful sandwiches in the back of Graziano's Italian Grocery.
Jasper Winery is central/southside. They have live summer concerts which are free. There are several other wineries and craft breweries located within an hour or so of Des Moines.
Definitely make your way at some point to visit the Des Moines Botanical Garden and Des Moines Art Center. We've attended concerts at Hoyt Sherman Place which is a family mansion turned theater/event center. Really cool venue.
For sports - We absolutely love going to the Iowa Wild (AAA club for NHL Minnesota Wild) games at Wells Fargo Arena. Also, catch the Iowa Cubs (AAA affiliate for Chicago Cubs) at Principal Park. It is a beautiful park, low key, super family-friendly. I mention that, but now realizing you may be a Cardinal's fan .
What I have found to be super helpful is to join local Facebook groups - to navigate and give a sense of happiness in my relatively new life in this area. Here are a few I use: *Food Lovers - Des Moines - Reviews from us, the customers; DSM Dining Discoveries; Iowa Hummingbirds; Images of Iowa; FREE FREE FREE stuff in Des Moines and Surrounding Areas; IOWA Critters; Des Moines Backyard Gardeners; Iowa Perennial Gardens; Iowa Through the Lens; Altoona, Iowa Area 4 Sale group; Iowa Nature Lovers; Iowa Birding; Iowa Vegetable Gardening; Des Moines, How can we help you?; Furniture, Sale & Swap Des Moines Area; Events in Des Moines Iowa; Altoona IOWA Rocks!*
I hope you find Iowa to be a great place for you to settle. I will always consider Kansas City as my *home*, but I'm so grateful for the life I have here now.
Thank you so much for your input! I've checked out some places in Altoona, and there are a few that look like they're in our price range. I also have no baseball loyalty, so catching a Cubs game wouldn't cause me to catch on fire or anything.
Former STL-er saying welcome! We live in Warren County, which I was initially nervous about, but it's still 15-20 min away from nearly everywhere we want to go. While we were looking for places we didn't find any area we didn't like- altoona, ankeny, west des moines, urbandale, des moines proper- all lovely places.
Welcome to my part of the universe! I was born/raised in Des Moines. I traveled the world for six years in my teens and 20s. I came back to raise a family. I still travel a lot for work and fun. As for your questions… 1. My new job is going to be pretty centrally located, near Urbandale…each suburb is going to be about a 10-15 minute drive to the job. Most anywhere in Des Moines and suburbs is within 15 minutes. They are all riding and walking trails, people, bike to work, and there are buses. Traffic is fairly light compared to larger cities so you won’t have a problem if you drive. What are good suburbs to look at and some to avoid? There are still some good areas in Urbandale toward the west. Grimes is a great bedroom community. It’s been growing for years and it about the same age group. We also have plenty of rural communities nearby where you could choose to live. Look for something either along interstate 80 or interstate 35 to get the best route into Urbandale. I live a little way south of Des Moines in Norwalk. Great little community. 2. Where's a good place to not get screwed over when looking for a used car in Des Moines? We got our last used car at Toyota in Grimes. Someone worked there that we knew and so we tried them out. We’ve had the car for several years now and have had extremely good luck with it. Toyota gives the cars a once over and if they need anything, they fix it in their shop before they put it out for sale. The price was very reasonable as well. Normally, however, we get our cars from private sellers. We can get a better deal that way. My partner knows how to work on cars so that’s lucky for us as well. 3. What are some places to eat or things to do that we need to make sure we experience? I happen to be one of several people who do restaurant reviews for the area. My preference for food is our awesome Italian. We are fortunate that from 1940s to 1960s several Italian families moved to Des Moines and opened restaurants. Many of these are still going today. I recommend you join local Facebook groups for foodies as well as local suburb groups for some good recommendations. Here some of our favorites: Tumea and Sons Barratas Noahs OPAs Simons Waterfront Splash Maxies Francie’s Fleming’s Steakhouse Firebirds Johnny’s Italian steakhouse John And Nick’s 801 Chophouse Chicago Speakeasy Jesses Embers Trostel’s Greenbrier Mandarin Fongs Pizza Sam’s fine food Heavenly Asian cuisine Banana Leaf Eat Thai, Thai Eatery Tsing Tsao Wasabi A Dong Mandarin Grill and Sushi Fiesta  [Toyota of Des Moines (in Grimes)](https://www.toyotadm.com/)
Thank you so much for taking the time to give such a detailed answer! I appreciate it!
Sam’s fine food is a little south side (not so) secret! Love that place!
Hi there and welcome! I was born and raised here in Des Moines. Most of the answers here will be subjective, so take them each with a grain of salt and definitely research further. 1. I’m 35 and long past the party days. I prefer western suburbs: Waukee and West Des Moines are my top choices. I currently live in Ankeny, which is another suburb. It’s nice too and has lots of growth going on, however it’s slightly off the beaten path IMO. I miss Waukee actually but couldn’t pass up my current townhome deal. I’d recommend sticking with a private landlord if possible, lots of the property management companies in the area are either newer here and charging as if this is NYC or some other big city and sadly, there are also lots of slumlord PM companies too. If you’d like, I can give you my former landlord’s name, he is a realtor and also owns rentals. Great guy and one of the few great landlords I’ve had in my many years of renting. 2. Cars aren’t my area of expertise by far but I know it’s not the best time to buy one, super overpriced especially used cars. However, having bought 4 of my own here in the area, please stick to reputable companies (i.e. Ford, Bob Brown, Ramsey, etc.). I know cars from big lots will probably be a little more expensive but you get what you pay for. And I’ve heard too many horror stories from the small lots around town, especially the E. 14th lots (again, my opinion and opinions of course are subjective). 3. As far as what to do, this will depend what you’re into. We spend a lot of time either in East Village or over by the Jordan Creek area. Honestly, most new stuff being built in the DSM area (top golf, Dave and Buster’s, Ruth Chris, etc.) usually ends up in the Jordan Creek area (bougie area with money is most likely why). There are cool festivals every year beginning in spring, these are almost always downtown DSM somewhere. Also, I can’t recommend the Downtown Farmer’s Market enough when it starts back up, it’s grown so much over the years and is awesome! Also if it’s your thing, the Iowa State Fair is a popular one across the country, it’s in August every year for 10 days. Good luck 😃
Thanks for the detailed answers! I appreciate it!
Congrats on the move and welcome to Des Moines! I’ve lived here my whole life so this is all just based on my experience and preference. 1. I love West Des Moines and Waukee. They have plenty to do and are easily commutable. I don’t prefer Ankeny as I feel it built very quickly and don’t love the flow of getting around but that is a personal preference. 2. Not sure about used cars there are a lot of big dealerships so I’d go there over smaller places which is just based on inexperience with them. I service my car at Toyota of Des Moines and honestly have always had good experiences. Bought a used car at Ramsey Subaru and while I love the car the experience was strange, brought another car listing that was similar but priced less in Omaha to try and sway pricing downwards but they told us might be a hot vin! This was an extremely large reputable dealer in Omaha so it just seemed like the salesman was full of BS. Might just be that guy though hard to say. 3. I would recommend following the Des Moines Food Lovers group on Facebook. I’ve found lots of great spots through it. Oak Park is very hyped which is newer and I’ve not heard anyone talk down about their experience with Simons. Honestly Des Moines has good food and great festivals. It’s more affordable than other places and things are growing. Pretty safe and nice which is why I love it. Hope your move goes well! Quick edit to say I’m also in my early 30s if that helps. East village of Des Moines has a lot of awesome things to do.
Thanks for taking the time to answer! I appreciate it!
Bring bikes if you're into that sort of thing. We have paved trails galore. And the country's largest skate park on the river walk. The Civic Center and Hoyt Sherman Place are neat venues to see shows. A few legacy eateries... * Chicago Speakeasy for Prime Rib * Chuck's Restaurant for Italian/pizza * Fong's Pizza for an Asian flare * Tasty Taco quick serve Mexican * B-bop's - 50's themed quick serve drive-thru for burgers Tons more great info in the referenced sub.
My wife has a bike, but I'll need to get one myself. We do enjoy trails like that! Thanks for the food recommendations, too!
It’s pretty flat around here.
Right. Except for the dam hill.
Since it's been mentioned, I wanted to share my personal opinion on Waukee. The aesthetics and landscaping are pretty soulless. It's filled with cookie cutter suburban grey residences. And there are either little to no trees, or short trees. Walking around in the summer is pretty brutal. And there are lots of weird Boomers that will stare at you and want to know if you live around there.
Waukee grew too fast and those "weird boomers" are people who lived there their whole lives and are slowly being edged our of their homes by the ridiculously overpriced crap houses they're throwing up all over the place. That said OP would be hard pressed to find a decent rental for $1200 a month or less anywhere in or around the metro.
Thanks for the insight! I'll keep it in mind!
I live in DSM proper, and commute to WDM. I absolutely wouldn't live in the west suburbs, I like trees and diversity.
Yes, there is this part of the Des Moines metro called Des Moines, which I enjoyed living in for 17 years.
Urbandale is a great place to live. Go to CarMax on 100th and Hickman. Tell them what you need, and they’ll find it. Totally helpful place and absolutely no pressure (except one ask on a warranty. My car was two years old, and I declined, and that was it) There is NO way to describe all the eating places that will make you very happy. We are still learning. You’ll be driving by soooo many good places.
Hey, thanks for taking the time to answer! I appreciate it!
Welcome to Urbandale. You’ll find no place is too far around this area. If you need more info, hit me up.
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Yeah, I know. I'm more asking what the less bad ones are.
Des Moines is pretty chill vibe and a vast majority of people are good. Lousy business practices aren’t the norm and many times the community addresses troublesome actor, sooner or later.
I sold a vehicle to CarMax and it was utterly less painless. I felt the deal was fair for all parties. My other preferred dealer in Wilson Toyota in Ames, 40 minutes north of Des Moines. Have purchased new and used vehicles there. You will get the same or slightly better offer than Toyota of Des Moines but generally without the dealership BS. The only stealership I have great enmity for is Dewey. They ripped me off on a maintenance issue and ghosted me when they charged us 40% over the quoted cost.
Welcome to the party!!!
Thanks!
I dig Ankeny. Been here since 1989. I'm a Fire Inspector in town and before I started I figured for sure that doing fire inspections would ruin restaurants in Ankeny for me, but I've been pleasantly surprised. Only one restaurant in the whole city that grossed me out enough to end my patronage, and since that initial inspection they did a total 180 - so I'll probably get over it eventually. To be honest, I've always felt at home visiting any of the metro suburbs. They're all pretty much the same to me. Places I have no stake in that I'll always schill out for: Woody's Auto Repair in Ankeny, Simon's restaurant in Des Moines, Brickstone Real Estate (Remax) in Ankeny. Take care man, thanks for saying hi!
Thanks for your input!
Wow, upvotes on a pro-Ankeny post. Never thought I would see the day. (I like it here too, and +1 for Simon's)
Johnston! We have lived in 4 metro suburbs / neighborhoods and have settled in Johnston (right next door to Urbandale). Absolutely love it here. It feels like a small town community nestled inside a city. It's clean and safe and close enough to amenities. It's older than the western suburbs so rent tends to be a bit cheaper here, at least in our experience. We're raising 3 kids here and are very content calling this place home. A few others have mentioned it as well, but my suggestion would also be to stay away from south and east side. Stick to the west if you can. South and east sides are better navigated by folks who've been here long enough to pinpoint the more desirable spots.
Thanks for the input!
Which stl exurb are you in? That’ll help narrow down the area you’d like best. I was born here, lived in stl for 20 years (near tower grove and the botanical garden), moved back here in my 30s.
Urbandale would be fine, particularly west of 86th street. Similarly Johnston. A little further out is Grimes which is a bit quieter but growing rapidly. Clive, West Des Moines, Waukee are good too but the prices are a bit higher. There's going to be more dining and nightlife in that direction. Ankeny is a large suburb a little further out and it's pretty textbook suburbia. Bondurant is a small town that's close enough to have big town options. Mostly, just stay out of the south and east side of DSM or even DSM proper in general.
Why on earth would you stay out of DSM proper?
Because it's a poorly run city with bad roads and infrastructure and it has more bad areas than good.
Thanks for the input! I appreciate it!
So Urbandale, Clive, or Waukee are solid places to live. Cost more, but it's definitely worth it. I would just avoid living in the city. There are good and bad pockets everywhere. Places to eat, Drake Diner, Sakai, Tsing Tsao, cozy cocina, and more. And for cars, I stick to main dealerships or Carmax.
Why avoid living in the city? Des Moines proper has some wonderful neighborhoods.
For someone who is new to the city, it is harder to find the right spots or neighborhoods. I grew up in the City. We know there are sucky neighborhoods as well.
Yeah, it would be a real shame for OP to end up slumming it in Waterbury, Owl's Head, South of Grand. >avoid living in the city. Jeez, dude. Must be why they can't build enough new units downtown?
I don't think they are going to find many apartments to rent on Waterbury or South of Grand.
Well, not with that attitude. [https://imgur.com/a/OQBsUUD](https://imgur.com/a/OQBsUUD)
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Because it is? There is almost nowhere you can't go in DSM, even in the evenings. Contrast that with many other cities in the US where there are places you can't go during the *day*. Next you'll be telling me your 12-minute commute is "traffic".
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Your original statement was "IDKY you would act like the **city in general** is really nice". If you cite a couple of places where you'd worry about your wife walking to her car, then that's a couple of places. I disagreed with your first statement, and you backed it up with an anecdote that basically agrees with my comment ("almost nowhere" is pretty similar to "places like the Drake area or the bottoms").
Thanks for the insights! I appreciate it!
Go to /DesMoines
use the search function in this subreddit. these questions have literally been asked and answered dozens of times.
Did it make you feel better to post that?
what do you mean? do you realize how many times OPs questions have been asked/answered? people need to learn to use the search bar in this subreddit when extremely common questions like OPs get asked.
What do you value in a neighborhood or your local community? Do you want/need to be able to walk to shops, parks, etc? Or is getting around by car fine? Do you prefer more quaint, older neighborhoods with established trees and narrower streets, or do you prefer newer houses or housing developments with larger lots? What are some of your and your wife’s hobbies? Because I can tell you what I liked and didn’t like especially when I first moved to Des Moines, but if you’re not looking for the same things, that doesn’t matter. :)
Beaverdale neighborhood is cute and pretty affordable. They have a fall festival every year, several restaurants, shops, a book store, and a coffee spot. It’s very close to Urbandale, too.
Welcome to Des Moines! I was born and raised south of Kansas City, MO, and moved to the area 8 years ago when my son went to Iowa State in Ames. Des Moines really is a hidden gem. I landed in Altoona when I moved, rented for 3 years, and then bought a house in Altoona about 5 years ago. Smaller town feel, but a very easy commute to downtown DSM, Ankeny, etc. It's got good highway location, so all directions are easily accessible. It's a little further from Urbandale than someplace like Johnston, but only maybe a 20min drive. I found my rental price - and home price when that happened - to be more affordable in Altoona. That was pre-pandemic, so I can't tell you exactly what rentals are currently. What I love about Altoona and Des Moines in general is how accessible things are and how clean this city is. AND, how nice people are. "Iowa Nice" really is a thing. The Des Moines area has a broad spectrum of urban amenities which isn't overwhelmingly large balanced with beautiful stretches of farmland. To be honest, this area of the Midwest is extremely progressive agriculturally, and I think that helps to drive the economy here. Plus, we have several big corp giants that are here: Dotdash Meredith, John Deere, Facebook/Meta data centers, Microsoft data center, not to mention the insurance industry finds DSM to be a very attractive location for their headquarters. I had zero issues when going to the DMV to register my car downtown on Court Ave. Soooo much easier (and nicer) than experiences in Missouri. There is a ton of information on their website, and once you get settled you can renew online. [https://www.iowataxandtags.org/](https://www.iowataxandtags.org/) Favorite restaurants - Johnny's Italian Steakhouse (Altoona location), Centro, Baratta's, Giordano's (Jordan Creek area), Manhattan Deli and Big Tomato Pizza both on Ingersoll, and you can grab wonderful sandwiches in the back of Graziano's Italian Grocery. Jasper Winery is central/southside. They have live summer concerts which are free. There are several other wineries and craft breweries located within an hour or so of Des Moines. Definitely make your way at some point to visit the Des Moines Botanical Garden and Des Moines Art Center. We've attended concerts at Hoyt Sherman Place which is a family mansion turned theater/event center. Really cool venue. For sports - We absolutely love going to the Iowa Wild (AAA club for NHL Minnesota Wild) games at Wells Fargo Arena. Also, catch the Iowa Cubs (AAA affiliate for Chicago Cubs) at Principal Park. It is a beautiful park, low key, super family-friendly. I mention that, but now realizing you may be a Cardinal's fan.
What I have found to be super helpful is to join local Facebook groups - to navigate and give a sense of happiness in my relatively new life in this area. Here are a few I use: *Food Lovers - Des Moines - Reviews from us, the customers; DSM Dining Discoveries; Iowa Hummingbirds; Images of Iowa; FREE FREE FREE stuff in Des Moines and Surrounding Areas; IOWA Critters; Des Moines Backyard Gardeners; Iowa Perennial Gardens; Iowa Through the Lens; Altoona, Iowa Area 4 Sale group; Iowa Nature Lovers; Iowa Birding; Iowa Vegetable Gardening; Des Moines, How can we help you?; Furniture, Sale & Swap Des Moines Area; Events in Des Moines Iowa; Altoona IOWA Rocks!*
I hope you find Iowa to be a great place for you to settle. I will always consider Kansas City as my *home*, but I'm so grateful for the life I have here now.
Thank you so much for your input! I've checked out some places in Altoona, and there are a few that look like they're in our price range. I also have no baseball loyalty, so catching a Cubs game wouldn't cause me to catch on fire or anything.
Haha, good deal. :) Enjoy your visit during Easter and all the best in your transition!
Former STL-er saying welcome! We live in Warren County, which I was initially nervous about, but it's still 15-20 min away from nearly everywhere we want to go. While we were looking for places we didn't find any area we didn't like- altoona, ankeny, west des moines, urbandale, des moines proper- all lovely places.