how has the des moines market changed since adoption of a new neighborhood revitalization approach?

SUMMARY

Following czb's 2018 recommendations to the City of Des Moines to revise its approach to neighborhood revitalization, the 2019 establishment of the Invest DSM revitalization organization and its four Special Investment Districts (SIDs), and three years of Invest DSM revitalization programming, the City was interested in updating its understanding of housing market and neighborhood conditions. We were tasked with scanning the local market for highlights of any important changes and with assessing the first few years of Invest DSM's operations. 

The 2023 analysis found that although market trends in Des Moines were generally positive, they were not distinct from those of the broader region, and the relative hierarchy of neighborhoods within the 2018 market strength rankings did not fundamentally change. It also found that three years was too little time to truly assess progress made by Invest DSM, but that initial results showed significant promise. 

The report suggests actions to continue and increase Invest DSM's positive impact in "middle neighborhoods" as well as to expand City-led efforts in both stronger and softer neighborhoods in furtherance of a number of outstanding neighborhood-related goals.