This neighborhood tour highlights one of my favorite neighborhoods in Des Moines: Beaverdale!
Beaverdale is a great community and yes, I'm biased because I live here!
Highlights:
00:00 - Intro
00:15 - Beaverdale Facts
01:11- Why do you want to LIVE in Beaverdale
02:10- Varieties of Home Styles
03:10- Downside of Beaverdale
04:37- Beaverdale Personalities
06:06- Beaverdale Parks, Parks, Parks!
06:58- Let's go to Downtown Beaverdale
08:54- Outro
Some resources about Beaverdale that you might find helpful:
Get more information on Beaverdale: https://www.beaverdale.org
Get more information on the Beaverdale Fall Festival: https://www.fallfestival.org/
And as always, if you're looking to buy or sell real estate in the Greater Des Moines area:
Get a jump start on finding your next home: https://www.desmoineshousehunters.com/
Get an automated home value report: https://www.desmoineshousehunters.com/sell
For more information on Heather Wright & Associates at RE/MAX Concepts visit https://mywrighthouse.com/
If you'd like to schedule a call with me or anyone on my team, you can get on our calendar here: https://mywrighthouse.com/hwa-contact-us/
VIDEO TRANCRIPTS
This is our video on Beaverdale Neighborhood Tour. Beaverdale. Let me get my stuff arranged here. Beaverdale is one of my favorite neighborhoods, and it might be because it's also a neighborhood that I live in. Beaverdale is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Des Moines. And yes, I'm probably a little bit biased because it's a na it.
And yes, I'm probably a little bit biased because it's also the neighborhood that I live in. Interesting fact that I learned when researching this video. Beaverdale is the largest of 51 neighborhoods, recognize neighborhoods in Des Moines. Now, Beaverdale purist would tell you, I actually did not live.
Now, Beaverdale purist would tell you that I actually don't live in Beaverdale. So the, the neighborhood itself has expanded over the years. So the current boundaries of the Beaverdale neighborhood are roughly between Meredith on the north side, Meredith Drive and Forest Avenue on the south side. And then between 30th on the east and 48th on the west.
There are 143 blocks in the Beaverdale neighborhood. Now, I live on the very north end of that neighborhood, and that was actually, I think we were in the Meredith Association before that, and it was sort of a defunct association that ended up folding into the Beaverdale Association.
So technically I can say that I live in the Beaverdale neighborhood, whereas before I used to say I live just north of Beaverdale. Beaverdale is a wonderful neighborhood. It's known for its, it's known for its closeness to shopping. There's walkability. You can go to little shops and restaurants within the downtown area of Beaverdale. It's close to almost everything in the Des Moines area.
You can get downtown or to West Des Moines within 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how much traffic there is or how fast you drive, you can get to the Drake neighborhood in just a few minutes. And Merle Hay Mall is not far away either. And there's of course a lot of businesses near Merle Hay Mall. And of course, there's a lot of businesses on Merle Hay as well.
Plus the neighborhoods are well established, so the trees are big and they're beautiful in the fall. They're beautiful and they're beautiful all the time in the spring when they're brand new. In the fall, when the leaves are changing color, yeah, maybe in the winter when there's no leaves, Okay, you got me there.
So technically I can say that I live in the Beaverdale neighborhood, whereas before I used to say I live just north of Beaverdale. Beaverdale is a wonderful neighborhood. It's known for its, it's known for its closeness to shopping. There's walkability. You can go to little shops and restaurants within the downtown area of Beaverdale. It's close to almost everything in the Des Moines area.
You can get downtown or to West Des Moines within 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how much traffic there is or how fast you drive, you can get to the Drake neighborhood in just a few minutes. And Merle Hay Mall is not far away either. And there's of course a lot of businesses near Merle Hay Mall. And of course, there's a lot of businesses on Merle Hay as well.
Plus the neighborhoods are well established, so the trees are big and they're beautiful in the fall. They're beautiful and they're beautiful all the time in the spring when they're brand new. In the fall, when the leaves are changing color, yeah, maybe in the winter when there's no leaves, Okay, you got me there.
But then in the summer where you just have big, beautiful, lush green trees everywhere, you'll find a lot of traditional homes in Beaverdale, namely the Beaverdale brick. Overall, there's a variety of homes overall. There's a variety of homes and styles overall, there's a variety of homes and styles that are reflective on the time that they were built.
The majority of homes were built between 1920 and 1950. Of course, you have some that are in the 18 hundreds, and you have some that are much newer like my neighborhood in the 1980s. But the majority between 1920 and 1950, there are cute little bungalows, of course, the Beaverdale bricks, some Tudor styles, even some mid-century modern homes.
And then in the newer neighborhoods, you'll have more traditional construction like you see today. It's expected that Beaverdale real estate will have some character, original hardwood floors, beautiful built-ins, telephone, cubbies, and glass doorknobs. You might have rounded doorways and other interesting architecture that you usually don't see in new construction homes built today.
It's actually very rare that you see a brand new brick home built today because the cost is astronomical in comparison to other building materials that are much easier on your budget. Now, of course, not everything is perfect in Bieber dough. Now, of course, not everything is perfect. It's not all hearts and flowers in Beaverdale.
Sometimes there is a downside, and the downside is commonly in the kitchen. These older homes just don't have big kitchens. A lot of times you see really small kitchens. I call them one butt kitchens cuz there's room for one butt, and they might be in a galley style. They're very small, efficient, and cozy.
Of course, that's not always the case, but if you are somebody who likes to have a lot of room in your kitchen, you might find an issue with that. In Beaverdale Homes. Another small problem would be the closet size. These homes were not built for today's fashionistas shopaholics, I don't think were a thing back then.
Now, I have some ideas on how you can combat the small closet problem if you were to live in a beaverdale home. But just know upfront, the closet sizes are going to be disappointing and you're going to have to be creative. The water table in Beaverdale is kind of high, so wet basements are pretty common.
If you're shopping for a home, we'll look for those things and point out signs that there might be a wet basement issue. We'll share with you ideas on how you can combat that or correct it moving forward. But just know that there are, the water table is high in Beaverdale, so that makes wet basements kind of a common problem.
If you're shopping for a home, we'll look for those things and point out signs that there might be a wet basement issue. We'll share with you ideas on how you can combat that or correct it moving forward. But just know that there are, the water table is high in Beaverdale, so that makes wet basements kind of a common problem.
Now, if you're shopping for homes, we will look in the basement, we will talk about foundation issues that may or may not cause you stress later. And of course, we have some ideas on how you can correct wet basements and fix those foundations so that they no longer keep you awake on a rainy night.
But honestly, that's an entirely different video. But honestly, foundations, that's an entirely different video. Beaverdale neighborhoods have a lot of personality and the owners take pride in their homes and their life. So you'll see various flags, signs and other decor throughout the area.
The homes are old enough that covenants have expired. So almost anything goes in beaverdale. You wanna have a garden in your front yard, no problem. Chickens in the backyard, there are some rules that the city has. Now, there are some city rules you'll have to follow, God damn it.
Now, there are some, there are some rules that there are some rules by the city that you'll have to follow around animals, but you could totally be an urban farmer. Yard sizes vary from a slice of a backyard to what seems like a sprawling estate. And you'll also wanna be aware of local customs.
Ashby Avenue is well known as a Christmas light destination, and they're pretty festive at Halloween. As you can see in this video. Of course, you'll wanna be aware of local customs specific to your street. For example, Ashby Avenue is known as like Christmas Tree Lane.
Ashby Avenue is well known as a Christmas light destination, and they're pretty festive at Halloween. As you can see in this video. Of course, you'll wanna be aware of local customs specific to your street. For example, Ashby Avenue is known as like Christmas Tree Lane.
So everybody who lives on Ashby Avenue, and maybe everybody is the wrong thing to say, but it is well known that if you live on Ashby Avenue, your street is a destination for Christmas lights when people drive around town looking at the Christmas lights.
So I would say almost everyone on Ashby Avenue is expected to decorate for Christmas. If that is something you're not into, well, you need to be aware of that before you buy a house on Ashby Avenue. And you can see by this video that they're pretty excited about Halloween too, based on the decorations that they've got up already.
Beaverdale, the Beaverdale neighborhood contains over 50 acres of Parkland. The Beaverdale neighborhood contains over 50 acres of parkland where you can hike or bike or there's, oh my God, the Beaverdale neighborhood contains over 50 acres of public parkland, including trails for biking, hiking, and lots more fun activities.
The three city parks are Ashby, which is located at 38th Street in Davison Avenue, and you can basketball, volleyball. They have tennis courts, a baseball diamond. There's activities for young children where there's a waiting for young children. They have play equipment and a waiting pool. And of course, there's a covered shelter open year round for picnics or parties.
Beaverdale Park is at 34th Street in Adams Avenue, and it's designed as a passive park with accommodations for various types of ball fields and picnic facilities. Whitmer Park is at 34th and Whitmer Parkway, which is a, And this is a 22 acre recreation area that offers baseball diamonds, basketball, horseshoe, and tennis courts. And there's also a waiting pool for small children.
So there's lots to do. There's lots to do in the parks in Beaverdale. Downtown Beaverdale is bustling with business. There's an ACE hardware for all your home maintenance, and if you need a snack, they have free popcorn, not bad. Fairway Meat Market is new in 2022. It's a smaller version of the regular Fairway Grocery store, and it has a good size meat counter with some items that are unique to Beaverdale.
It's pretty cool in there. It's like, No, it's pretty cool in there. They also carry Boar's Head lunch meat in the deli, which is my favorite lunch meet, and their sandwich menu and deli sides look pretty good too. Other businesses you'll find in downtown Beaverdale include UPS Store, Beaverdale Confections for Your Sweet Tooth, Beaverdale books, Happy DSM for Local Gifts, Back Country and Beaverdale Bicycles, just to name a few.
Beaverdale Park is at 34th Street in Adams Avenue, and it's designed as a passive park with accommodations for various types of ball fields and picnic facilities. Whitmer Park is at 34th and Whitmer Parkway, which is a, And this is a 22 acre recreation area that offers baseball diamonds, basketball, horseshoe, and tennis courts. And there's also a waiting pool for small children.
So there's lots to do. There's lots to do in the parks in Beaverdale. Downtown Beaverdale is bustling with business. There's an ACE hardware for all your home maintenance, and if you need a snack, they have free popcorn, not bad. Fairway Meat Market is new in 2022. It's a smaller version of the regular Fairway Grocery store, and it has a good size meat counter with some items that are unique to Beaverdale.
It's pretty cool in there. It's like, No, it's pretty cool in there. They also carry Boar's Head lunch meat in the deli, which is my favorite lunch meet, and their sandwich menu and deli sides look pretty good too. Other businesses you'll find in downtown Beaverdale include UPS Store, Beaverdale Confections for Your Sweet Tooth, Beaverdale books, Happy DSM for Local Gifts, Back Country and Beaverdale Bicycles, just to name a few.
One of our favorite places for takeout whenever we forgot to set out something for dinner is Carbon Cuisine. I think this started out as a food truck, and then they opened up their actual restaurant in downtown Beaverdale and they post a special every day on their Facebook page.
So when we're like, Oh my gosh, what's for dinner? We'll just go to Facebook, look up the specials for Carbon Cuisine, and you know, if all else fails, their cow zones are really delicious. Christopher's is your go to restaurant for Italian food, and the Parlor is a new pizza restaurant that just opened to give Michael's pizza a run for its money.
There's no shortage of bars in Beaverdale, and most of them serve food as well, so you, there's no shortage of bars in Beaverdale, and a lot of them serve food as well. You've got Beaver Tap, Good Sons, the Dam Pub, Cooney's Tavern, just to name a few.
And I'm sure that there's a lot more, There's no shortage of bars when it comes to Beaverdale, and a lot of them serve food as well. So if you need some food in spirits, you can go to Beaver Tap, Good Sons, the Dam Pub, or even Cooney's Tavern every fall in the middle of September, the locals enjoy the Beaverdale Fall Festival.
This is a two day festival, kind of like a county fair, kind of like a really small version of a county fair. The main streets are shut down, the food tents are set up, there's bands, a carnival area, a parade. I, it's, it's really fun. I'll leave a link to the Fall Fest website so you can get more info on that.
I'll include a link. Oh my God, I'll include a link below this email so that you can get more information on the Fall Fest. In a nutshell, Beaverdale is a great neighborhood. If you have any questions or you're ready to start household. Oh my God, in a nutshell, Beaverdale is a great neighborhood, but Des Moines is also a pretty great city, so you can't go wrong in any neighborhood that you choose to live in.
If you're ready to start house hunting, whether it's for Beaverdale, Beaverdale, adjacent, or some other area of town, we've got you covered, visit des moines house hunters.com and we'll get started today. The end.
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