DES MOINES PROPER + THE METRO
Every side of town deserves to be named.
The Ultimate Guide to Des Moines Neighborhoods
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People in the Des Moines metro care deeply about neighborhood names, and they notice when a guide treats the South Side, East Side, or an older city neighborhood as an afterthought. This version starts with the City of Des Moines’ full recognized-neighborhood list, then separates those neighborhoods from the independent cities that make up the surrounding metro.
The City currently recognizes 46 neighborhood associations. Broad identities such as the South Side, the East Side, and the west side cover several official neighborhoods rather than replacing them. The same is true in the suburbs: Waukee, Ankeny, West Des Moines, Altoona, and Indianola each have multiple districts or town centers with their own identities.
START WITH THE OFFICIAL MAP
Neighborhood boundaries do not always match real-estate listings or the names people use in conversation. Use the City of Des Moines Find My Neighborhood tool to look up an address and its recognized association.
01 — ORIENT YOURSELF
Jump to a Part of the Metro
02 — IMPORTANT CONTEXT
How Neighborhood Names Work Here
There are three overlapping systems. First are the City of Des Moines’ recognized neighborhood associations. Second are broad local identities such as the South Side, East Side, north side, and west side. Third are informal district names used by residents, businesses, developers, and real-estate listings.
A person can accurately say they live on the South Side and also live in Indianola Hills, Watrous Heights, or McKinley School/Columbus Park. Someone can say East Side while belonging to Fairground, Fairmont Park, Douglas Acres, or another recognized association.
WORTH KNOWING
A neighborhood association boundary is useful for civic participation, but it does not guarantee that every block inside the boundary has the same housing, walkability, school assignment, or day-to-day feel.
03 — WHY THESE PLACES FEEL DIFFERENT
How History Shaped the Neighborhood Map
Neighborhood identity did not appear all at once. Railroads, coal mines, universities, streetcars, immigration, segregation, urban renewal, parks, and major institutions all helped determine where people lived and which places became community centers. These short histories explain why the names in this guide carry more meaning than simple map boundaries.
LATE 1800s THROUGH THE 20th CENTURY
The South Side’s Italian-American roots
Italian immigrants and their children built a close community around the river-bottom neighborhood now associated with McKinley School/Columbus Park. Railroad and industrial work brought families to Des Moines; groceries, bakeries, restaurants, parish life, mutual-aid groups, and community festivals helped the neighborhood endure. Graziano Brothers opened on South Union Street in 1912, and the surrounding area became widely known as Little Italy.
EARLY 1900s THROUGH THE 1960s
Center Street and Black Des Moines
Center Street was a major Black residential, business, and cultural district. Black-owned hotels, restaurants, pharmacies, professional offices, jazz clubs, stores, and community institutions served families who faced discrimination elsewhere. Urban renewal and Interstate 235 displaced the district in the 1960s. Its history remains important to King Irving, Sherman Hill, Oakridge, and the wider city.
1870s TO THE PRESENT
Sherman Hill grew as an early residential suburb
Sherman Hill began developing in the 1870s close to downtown jobs. Large Victorian houses, modest cottages, double houses, and later apartments placed different household types on the same streets. The neighborhood became Des Moines’ first locally designated historic district in 1982.
FOUNDED IN 1881
Drake University helped pull the city northwest
Drake University was founded in 1881 when its site was still outside the developed center of Des Moines. The campus became an anchor for housing, shops, schools, and transit along University Avenue. Over time, the city grew around the university, and the campus and neighborhood evolved together.
1915 TO 1925
Highland Park and Oak Park formed a streetcar suburb
The Sixth and Euclid business district became the Main Street of a streetcar suburb between Highland Park and Oak Park. Residents could buy a newer house with a yard, ride downtown, shop along Sixth Avenue, and walk to Riverview Park. That streetcar-era pattern still shapes the North Side today.
1920s THROUGH 1940s
Beaverdale reflects the rise of automobile-era subdivisions
Most Beaverdale subdivisions were developed between 1920 and 1940 as automobile ownership and federal mortgage programs changed homebuilding. The neighborhood’s best-known brick houses appeared in 1938, while areas such as Maryland Park and Ashby Manor used curving streets instead of a strict grid.
THE FAIR ARRIVED IN 1886
The Iowa State Fair helped define the East Side
The Iowa State Fair moved to its present East 30th Street and East University Avenue grounds in 1886. The permanent fairgrounds became a statewide landmark and a neighborhood anchor, shaping traffic, businesses, housing, and the identity of the Fairground area long after the annual fair ends.
INCORPORATED IN 1893
Valley Junction began as a railroad town
Valley Junction grew around crossing rail lines, car shops, and roundhouses. Railroad work drew workers and families, including African American and Mexican American residents. The historic Fifth Street core remains a visible reminder that West Des Moines began as a railroad community, not a modern office suburb.
1920s THROUGH 1949
Coal mining shaped Waukee before suburban growth
Waukee’s growth story includes coal mines as well as railroads and farming. The Harris and Shuler mines created a substantial camp community with immigrants from Italy, Croatia, and Sweden. The camps had homes, churches, a school, shops, restaurants, and a dance hall before the last mine closed in 1949.
FOUNDED IN 1875
Ankeny began as a farming and railroad community
John Fletcher Ankeny and Sarah Ankeny founded the community in 1875. A narrow-gauge railroad connecting Des Moines, Ankeny, and Ames brought passenger service by 1880. Uptown Ankeny preserves the older town-center identity, while Prairie Trail represents a much newer chapter.
FOUNDED IN 1868
Altoona’s Olde Town remembers its railroad roots
Altoona’s public history uses 1868 as the city’s founding year and a steam locomotive as a symbol of the railroad history that shaped the community. Olde Town is the older civic and commercial center, distinct from the later entertainment and retail district near Adventureland and Prairie Meadows.
HISTORY IS NOT A FINISHED STORY
These summaries focus on major forces that still shape neighborhood identity. They do not capture every family, migration, institution, or displacement. Local residents and historical organizations remain the best sources for deeper and more personal histories.
04 — DES MOINES PROPER
Downtown and the Inner Core
These neighborhoods sit closest to downtown, the Capitol, Drake, Ingersoll, and the older streetcar corridors. They include some of the city’s densest blocks, oldest housing, and most recognizable historic areas.
Downtown Des Moines
The city’s business, government, entertainment, and apartment core. Different pockets—Court Avenue, Western Gateway, Market District, and the riverfront—feel distinct.
Historic East Village
A compact district between the Capitol and the river with independent shops, restaurants, older commercial buildings, and a strong neighborhood identity.
Sherman Hill
Development began in the 1870s as Des Moines expanded west from downtown. Large Victorian houses sit near smaller cottages, double houses, and apartments, reflecting the neighborhood’s long history of housing different household types. It became the city’s first local historic district in 1982.
Drake
Drake University was founded in 1881 on what was then the edge of Des Moines. The campus helped draw housing, businesses, schools, and transit northwest along University Avenue. The neighborhood and university have shaped one another for more than a century.
River Bend
A large north-central neighborhood with several historic areas, varied housing, and a long-established neighborhood association.
King Irving and Mondamin Presidential
These adjacent neighborhoods carry deep Black community history. The nearby Center Street district once contained homes, Black-owned businesses, professional offices, jazz clubs, and community institutions before urban renewal and I-235 displaced much of it in the 1960s. That loss remains essential context for understanding the area today.
05 — DES MOINES PROPER
The South Side and Southwest
The South Side is a broad local identity, not one city-recognized neighborhood. It includes several distinct associations stretching from older blocks near SW 9th Street to Easter Lake, Gray’s Lake, Fleur Drive, and the southwest edge of the city. Its history includes Italian-American settlement, railroad and industrial work, parish life, family businesses, and later Latino immigration.
McKinley School/Columbus Park
This area includes the heart of Des Moines’ historic Little Italy. Italian immigrant families built homes, groceries, restaurants, parish networks, mutual-aid organizations, and community traditions here. Graziano Brothers has operated on South Union Street since 1912, while later Latino families and businesses added new layers to the neighborhood’s identity.
South Central DSM
A broad central South Side neighborhood where older homes, commercial corridors, and long-established community institutions meet.
Indianola Hills
A residential South Side neighborhood with established housing and practical access to SE 14th Street, Indianola Avenue, and downtown.
Easter Lake Area
A large southeast residential area organized around Easter Lake, trails, parks, and a mix of older and newer housing.
Southwestern Hills
The city’s southwest corner, with larger lots in some pockets, winding streets, and quick access to Highway 5 and the airport side of town.
Gray’s Lake, Gray’s Woods, and River Woods
Three separate city-recognized neighborhoods near major parks, trails, the rivers, and the southern edge of the urban core.
06 — DES MOINES PROPER
The East Side and Northeast
Like the South Side, the East Side is bigger than any single official boundary. The State Fairgrounds, established at its present location in 1886, became one of the area’s strongest anchors. The city-recognized neighborhoods here range from the Fairground area to established residential districts near Hubbell Avenue and newer pockets near the eastern city limits.
Fairground
The Iowa State Fair moved to its current East Side grounds in 1886. The permanent campus became a statewide landmark and a local anchor that still shapes traffic, businesses, seasonal routines, and neighborhood identity.
Fairmont Park
An established northeast neighborhood near Easton Boulevard, Hubbell Avenue, and several parks.
Douglas Acres
A northeast residential neighborhood with a quieter, lower-density feel than the urban core.
Brook Run
A far-east neighborhood with newer residential development and convenient access to Altoona.
Valley High Manor
A city-edge neighborhood east of the traditional East Side core, with a distinct association and boundaries of its own.
ACCENT
A recognized east-side neighborhood association that is easy to miss in general guides, which is exactly why it belongs in a complete list.
07 — DES MOINES PROPER
The North Side and Northwest
North-side neighborhoods include older commercial corridors, early streetcar suburbs, parks, colleges, and some of the city’s strongest neighborhood-association cultures. Sixth and Euclid, Riverview Park, Grand View, and the University Avenue corridor all helped shape growth on this side of the city.
Highland Park/Oak Park
The Sixth and Euclid business district developed between roughly 1915 and 1925 as the Main Street of a streetcar suburb. Residents could live in newer houses with yards, ride downtown, shop locally, and walk to Riverview Park. The historic commercial corridor remains the center of the paired neighborhood identity.
Union Park
An older residential neighborhood near Union Park, the Heritage Carousel, and the river.
Chautauqua Park
A small, architecturally distinctive neighborhood on the north side with a strong sense of place.
Beaverdale
Most of Beaverdale developed between 1920 and 1940 as automobile ownership and mortgage programs changed suburban homebuilding. Its signature brick houses appeared in 1938, while several subdivisions used curved streets and planned landscape features to create a distinct setting.
Lower Beaver
A northwestern neighborhood along the Beaver Avenue corridor, separate from Beaverdale despite the shared road.
Merle Hay and Sheridan Gardens
Two recognized neighborhoods near the northwest edge of the city, with different boundaries and housing patterns that should not be merged into one generic area.
08 — DES MOINES PROPER
The West Side
The west side includes several older, leafy neighborhoods near parks, schools, the Art Center, Grand Avenue, and the Waveland golf course area.
Waveland Park
An established west-side neighborhood around Waveland Golf Course, schools, and older residential streets.
Waterbury
A west-side neighborhood known for curving streets, mature trees, and early twentieth-century homes.
Linden Heights
A compact residential area near Grand Avenue, Greenwood Park, and the Des Moines Art Center.
Salisbury Oaks
A distinct west-side neighborhood surrounding the Salisbury House area and nearby residential streets.
Greenwood Historic
A city-recognized neighborhood near Greenwood Park and the Art Center. Its name is official, but it should not automatically be treated as identical to a local historic district.
Waveland Woods and Westwood
Smaller west-side associations that are often omitted when guides use only the best-known neighborhood names.
09 — NOTHING LEFT OUT
Complete Official Neighborhood Checklist
This checklist contains all 46 neighborhood associations currently recognized by the City of Des Moines. The regional groupings above are editorial navigation—not replacements for the city’s official boundaries.
| Official neighborhood association | Broad guide region |
|---|---|
| ACCENT | The East Side and Northeast |
| Beaverdale | The North Side and Northwest |
| Brook Run | The East Side and Northeast |
| Capitol East | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| Capitol Park | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| Chautauqua Park | The North Side and Northwest |
| Cheatom Park | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| Douglas Acres | The East Side and Northeast |
| Downtown Des Moines | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| Drake | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| Easter Lake Area | The South Side and Southwest |
| Fairground | The East Side and Northeast |
| Fairmont Park | The East Side and Northeast |
| Good Park | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| Grays Lake | The South Side and Southwest |
| Grays Woods | The South Side and Southwest |
| Greenwood Historic | The West Side |
| Highland Park/Oak Park | The North Side and Northwest |
| Historic East Village | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| Indianola Hills | The South Side and Southwest |
| Ingersoll Park | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| King Irving | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| Linden Heights | The West Side |
| Lower Beaver | The North Side and Northwest |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Park | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| McKinley School/Columbus Park | The South Side and Southwest |
| Merle Hay | The North Side and Northwest |
| Mondamin Presidential | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| North of Grand | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| Prospect Park | The North Side and Northwest |
| River Bend | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| River Woods | The South Side and Southwest |
| Salisbury Oaks | The West Side |
| Sheridan Gardens | The North Side and Northwest |
| Sherman Hill | Downtown and the Inner Core |
| South Central DSM | The South Side and Southwest |
| Southwestern Hills | The South Side and Southwest |
| Union Park | The North Side and Northwest |
| Valley High Manor | The East Side and Northeast |
| Waterbury | The West Side |
| Watrous Heights | The South Side and Southwest |
| Watrous South | The South Side and Southwest |
| Waveland Park | The West Side |
| Waveland Woods | The West Side |
| Westwood | The West Side |
| Woodland Heights | Downtown and the Inner Core |
Use the City neighborhood-association page and Find My Neighborhood tool for official boundaries, contacts, and meeting information.
10 — OLDER CORES
Historic Districts and Town Centers
“Historic” can mean several different things: a locally regulated historic district, a National Register district, a city’s older downtown, or simply a place with historic character. This guide uses the wording each city uses and avoids treating every older area as the same type of designation.
DES MOINES LOCAL HISTORIC DISTRICTS
Sherman Hill, Owl’s Head, and River Bend
Des Moines has three locally designated historic districts. Local designation is different from a neighborhood simply having older houses or the word “Historic” in its name.
WEST DES MOINES
Historic Valley Junction
The Fifth Street commercial core is a National Historic District and remains the historic center of West Des Moines, separate from the newer Jordan Creek side of the city.
WAUKEE
Waukee Downtown Triangle
Waukee’s city government calls the Downtown Triangle its historic downtown. It is the older center of town, distinct from Kettlestone and newer development along Alice’s Road.
ANKENY
Uptown Ankeny
The City of Ankeny describes Uptown as the city’s historic downtown. It is different from The District at Prairie Trail, which is a newer mixed-use center.
ALTOONA
Olde Town Altoona
Olde Town is Altoona’s historic neighborhood and downtown area, centered near Second Street SE and the city’s historical museum.
INDIANOLA
Indianola Downtown Square
Indianola’s historic downtown is organized around the courthouse square, with shops, restaurants, community events, and a Main Street revitalization program.
11 — OUTSIDE DES MOINES CITY LIMITS
Metro Cities and Their Distinct Areas
These are independent cities, not Des Moines neighborhoods. Each has its own government, services, zoning, school boundaries, and internal districts. Treating “Waukee,” “Ankeny,” or “West Des Moines” as a single neighborhood hides meaningful differences inside each city.
West Des Moines
The city began as Valley Junction, a railroad hub incorporated in 1893. Railroad shops and roundhouses drew workers and families, including African American and Mexican American residents. Historic Valley Junction is the older core; Jordan Creek and western growth areas represent a much newer city.
Waukee
Waukee’s history includes farming, railroads, and coal mining. The Harris and Shuler mines created camp communities with Italian, Croatian, and Swedish immigrant families before the last mine closed in 1949. The historic Downtown Triangle, Kettlestone, and newer subdivisions represent different eras of growth.
Ankeny
Founded in 1875 as a farming community, Ankeny gained passenger rail service by 1880 on the line between Des Moines and Ames. Uptown is the older town center; Prairie Trail and The District are newer mixed-use areas; other parts of Ankeny reflect decades of suburban residential growth.
Clive
A narrow west-side city stretching along major trails and the University Avenue corridor, with older areas near Des Moines and newer development farther west.
Urbandale
An established suburb with older neighborhoods near Merle Hay and newer development toward the west and northwest.
Windsor Heights
A small, close-in city surrounded by Des Moines, Clive, and Urbandale. Its compact size is part of its identity.
Johnston
A northwestern suburb with established neighborhoods, newer subdivisions, trail access, and major employers.
Grimes
A growing northwest community with an older town center and substantial newer housing around it.
Altoona
Altoona dates its formation to 1868 and continues to use railroad imagery in its public history. Olde Town is the historic civic core, while the Adventureland, Prairie Meadows, and outlet area forms a separate, later entertainment and retail district.
Pleasant Hill
An east-side suburb with established residential areas and newer development stretching toward Altoona and Highway 65.
Norwalk
A southwest community with older central neighborhoods and newer development near Highway 5 and the Des Moines edge.
Bondurant
A northeast community that still has a small-town center while adding newer neighborhoods around the edges.
Polk City
A smaller lake-oriented community north of the urban core, closely connected to Saylorville Lake and Big Creek.
Carlisle
A southeast community with a traditional town center and residential growth between Des Moines and Indianola.
Indianola
A separate college town with a historic downtown square, established neighborhoods, and newer development around the city.
12 — BEFORE YOU DECIDE
How to Choose Where to Live
Start with the things that shape ordinary weekdays: commute route, school boundaries, sidewalks, parks, transit, grocery access, housing age, property maintenance, and how the block feels after dark. Visit more than once, including during rush hour and on a weekend.
Historic designation may affect exterior changes in some areas. School-district boundaries do not always follow city limits. A familiar neighborhood name in a real-estate listing may also extend beyond the city-recognized association boundary.
QUICK PLAN
Drive the area at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Walk one residential block and one commercial block. Check the city boundary, neighborhood association, school district, and any historic-district rules before relying on the name used in a listing.
Neighborhood identity is personal. If a name is missing, grouped incorrectly, or described in a way that does not match how residents use it, go to the Was This Helpful? section below and tell us. The goal is a guide residents recognize, not a simplified map that erases local identity.
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