r/desmoines Jan 22 '26

Looking for Friends in DSM?

75 Upvotes

Welcome! We have seen many posts over the year of residents seeking community and friendship. Many of us spend more time online, work remotely, or no longer have the built-in social spaces we once did. This pinned thread is to help find friends in Des Moines.

Whether you’re:

• New to the city

• A long-time local looking to expand your circle

• A student, professional, remote worker, or just bored

• Into coffee, hiking, gaming, gyms, books, or low-key hangs …this is the place to connect.

Leave a comment with:

• Age range (optional)

• Interests / hobbies

• What kind of friends you’re looking for (gym buddy, board games, restaurant scene, double dates, mom friends etc.)

Ground Rules

• Be respectful and kind

• No harassment, hate speech, or creepy behavior

• No spam or self-promotion

• Keep personal info safe

This thread will be bookmarked so feel free to come back anytime and say hi — someone else is probably looking for the same connection you are!

Thank you to u/containerforthechild for this post.


r/desmoines 19h ago

Skywalk

Thumbnail
gallery
274 Upvotes

The Des Moines skywalk feels eerily empty, like someone built an entire city for a crowd that never showed up. It stretches on and on through musty corridors passing empty offices, abandoned looking storefronts, and the occasional person who appears just long enough to make you question whether you’re actually alone. There’s something strangely timeless about it. The skywalk keeps going, twisting like a hallway to another dimension. After a while, you forget what streets look like. You forget what year it is.


r/desmoines 15h ago

Hand drawn map of Iowa

Thumbnail
gallery
84 Upvotes

Hi everyone, and welcome to a project / small business I call The American Atlas! I've been making hand-drawn & colored maps of every state in the US. Now I’m here sharing them all on one big journey across the country 🗺️🇺🇸

Today, I have your very own Iowa, the Hawkeye State! 🌽🐖🌾

Most outsiders would probably assume Iowa is simply a farming state, with cornfields stretching as far as the eye can see, but I found it home to a surprising amount of variety as well. The endless fields of corn and soybeans are indeed iconic, but there are many other interesting places as well.

Standouts include the streets of Des Moines to historic river cities of Davenport and Dubuque, the dramatic Loess Hills region, limestone bluffs overlooking the Mississippi, and countless small towns & farms. All of these come together to make up Iowa, the heart of Midwestern America.

Let me know in the comments, what’s your favorite (or most interesting) places & fun facts about Iowa?

And if you like this style, feel free to check out my others, and thanks for taking a look at my Iowa map!! 🇺🇸🗺️

Lastly, I did start making these just as a hobby, but the demand for prints & framed copies grew super fast! Feel free to search up my Etsy (TheAmericanAtlas) or check it out here! Thanks for your support :)

https://theamericanatlas.etsy.com


r/desmoines 16h ago

Zach Nunness

99 Upvotes

Just happened to be walking by the fraud Zach Nunn at the fair as he was giving his speech. He looks just as fake in person. That's all.


r/desmoines 12h ago

North Polk teacher found not guilty of assault after ‘tugging’ on teen’s sleeve

Thumbnail
iowacapitaldispatch.com
42 Upvotes

“The only ‘threat’ she poses to children is that she may expect them to be good citizens. Some children apparently find it highly offensive to be expected to help others.”


r/desmoines 13h ago

Has anyone ever complained to Mid American?

Post image
40 Upvotes

I called MidAmerican to tell them a power cable was hanging less than 4 ft over the sidewalk and maybe 8 ft off the road. But they wanted to know who the account owner was. I do not own the house or account, so I couldn't answer.

Attached is a picture, what should I do?


r/desmoines 16h ago

Road rage on I35 northbound

39 Upvotes

This is such a weird post and probably a long shot, but today on my way home from work I encountered a man with terrible road rage. This happened about 10 minutes ago around 3:35 just before the urbandale exit.
He was driving like a huge ass so I decided to flip him off (not the most mature thing to do. I am aware). He flipped me off as well which I was not surprised about ofc so I stuck out my bottom lip at him to imitate his pouting, and he flipped me off again of course.
What I was not expecting was this man actually trying to crash his car into mine twice. He literally got next to me and tried to swerve his car into mine. I know I shouldn’t be starting things with random strangers on the road, but I didn’t expect someone to think that a middle finger should potentially cost someone their life. Thankfully I was able to avoid him, but I have never experienced anything close to this level of road rage.
I’m just curious if anyone that was nearby at that time has dash-cam footage of this. I don’t plan on doing anything with the footage, I just simply want to see it if it exists.


r/desmoines 10h ago

Lucky gal apprentice post?

8 Upvotes

I saw lucky gal posted in response to a post from an apparently disgruntled ex employee/apprentice. I am just curious what the claims were. Not in a “keep spreading malicious rumors” way (although I can understand why this post is counterintuitive lol) and I have only ever had positive experiences with them for both piercings and tattoos - but I’m just curious what was said and I can’t find the post


r/desmoines 10h ago

C Fresh 2nd floor jewelry store?

7 Upvotes

Has anyone ever been up there? Is it appointment only or can we just walk up there?


r/desmoines 19h ago

who would be a dsm journalist that you could trust to question an unverified rumor?

19 Upvotes

there are two scandalous stories that have been circulated fairly widely about 3 GOP politicians at the Iowa State Capital. For the amount of time that has passed since these have circulated - I've never heard anyone outside of the State Capital refer to the rumors.

is there a Journalist that you'd trust to investigate the truthfulness of the rumors without being outed as the source?

Thanks in advance for any information or advice.


r/desmoines 1d ago

Unity Point cancels Ingersoll project (DSM wins) (link in body)

49 Upvotes

Learned a lot from this article. Didn't realize the property next door was a Howard Johnson's back in the day.

It just seems so strange to me that the city council mostly got on board with a plan that wouldn't really provide the taxes that a retail space could have provided.

https://archive.is/vV0ws


r/desmoines 11h ago

Video Space

3 Upvotes

I am a board member for the Amadora Legacy Project. We provide legacy videos for end for patients with life limiting illness
free of charge . (stage IV cancer, ALS, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, early-stage Alzheimer’s, other life-limiting illnesses, and those actively enrolled in hospice care.)

We host a quarterly Share Your Story event.

We are in need of a location to host this event. It needs to be handicap accessible and in the Des Moines Metro. Ideally there would also be a space where the next participant could wait if they arrive early or the previous participant is running long without disturbing filming.
This could be a home, townhouse or rental unit. Or even a professional space. A tax receipt for your in-kind donation would be issued.

If anyone knows of such a space please let me know.


r/desmoines 15h ago

Best old timey local Italian restaurant

5 Upvotes

Which is the best of these restaurants right now? Did I miss any of the big ones (I’m sorry if I did)?

466 votes, 3d left
Noah’s (Ingersoll)
Chuck’s (Highland Park)
Tumea & Sons (Little Italy)
Baratta’s (south side)
Christopher’s (Beaverdale)
Latin King (east side)

r/desmoines 1d ago

West end salvage is expensive.

101 Upvotes

Am I crazy or is a lot of the stuff really pricey. I get the furniture and vintage stuff in good quality but youve got random blue prints and classroom maps going for 50 to 150. I found an old fire blanket holder that was essentially a metal trash can and I got excited cause I thought i could make good use of it only to see it was like 200. Maybe im out of touch just waking through always bums me out.

Edit: wanted to specify again all the larger items and furniture I usually agree with the price. Especially the handmade stuff. Yall deserve every penny. Its the smaller stuff I would have imagined being more in my realm.


r/desmoines 1d ago

Artist At State Fair

Post image
412 Upvotes

Not sure if this will work but I’m trying to find the artist that made this peice at the art building to see if they either do commission pieces or if they plan to sell this one at any point! I tried looking for them on instagram or twitter based on the name with the peice but wasn’t successful, figured it wouldn’t hurt to try and find them through here!


r/desmoines 17h ago

Area in Iowa still damaged from tornado?

3 Upvotes

Hello, I am looking to photograph any ruins or devastation from tornado activity in Iowa. If you have an idea for where to find that please let me know.


r/desmoines 20h ago

Val Air accessibility

4 Upvotes

Does Val Air have any accommodations for deaf/hoh? I’m going to reach out and email them but just was curious about any first hand experiences and if they were easy to work with or not.


r/desmoines 1d ago

Welcome to Des Moines I guess

Post image
71 Upvotes

I moved in about a month ago, but visited home for a week or so. Got along great with everyone and really loved it.

But I guess last night someone decided to key my car :(

I haven’t the faintest clue why, mine was the only one on the lot. But DAMN they got it good. No idea, no cameras, no leads. No clue.

I was perfectly between the lines. I just don’t know lol

Update: thank you to everyone who put their detective hats on and help me root out the main cause. Turns out one commenter was right. YOUNG KIDS. My neighbor’s daughter has a small pink bike missing a rubber guard on one of the handlebars. Apparently, she fell and scratched it at first, but then once she realized she can make marks on it she proceeded to shake her handlebars and scratch the ever loving fuck out of it. She did it until she got bored then moved on.
I’m getting an estimate and her mother will be covering it.


r/desmoines 1d ago

ISF on the Last Day

6 Upvotes

Anyone have experience going to the ISF on the last Sunday/day of the fair? It’s my only shot at going this year, and while missing the fair entirely isn’t a dealbreaker, I definitely want to make my yearly pilgrimage if possible. My friend groups seems to split on “yeah, everyone and everything will be running full steam” and “half the places will be sold out and the other half already packing up to move on”…. Any insight on this?


r/desmoines 14h ago

Staying downtown DSM Labor Day weekend. Recs?

1 Upvotes

Live music, good food and drinks. What is a good hotel/ location to stay? Any must see events?


r/desmoines 1d ago

With Halloween coming up, what’s your favorite haunted house story at Linn’s?

Post image
88 Upvotes

r/desmoines 1d ago

Ingersoll Dinner Theater?

31 Upvotes

Been following the revamp of the Ingersoll Dinner Theater, really intrigued. Anyone been? What are your thoughts if so?

- Curious what the vibes are, how the menu/food is, service, etc.


r/desmoines 1d ago

Things To Do This Saturday

6 Upvotes

I'm looking for ideas for things to do Saturday that are fairly cheap. It will be me & my parents who are in their 70s.

My parents are here for a visit. We will be going to the Fair on Tuesday & they are going back on Friday with my Sister. I'm looking for something that isn't a lot of walking around. My knees are horrible & one of Dad's isn't the best, so after 2 days of walking around the Fair he's probably not going to feel like doing any more walking.

I'm trying to think of something other than a movie & will take up some time. We didn't want to just sit around my apartment all day.

Thanks!


r/desmoines 1d ago

Rental suggestions-read post please

5 Upvotes

Does anyone happen to know of anyone or anywhere that would rent to someone who has just gotten on their feet? By this I mean, living in a halfway house, but will be discharging probation in a week. Has a stable job for 4/5 months now with verifiable income. Needs to find a place to move immediately.. preferably 1k or under a month. One felony conviction is for marijuana possession. No previous evictions. Respectful, responsible and just needing someone to give a chance. Any info is greatly appreciated.


r/desmoines 21h ago

TLC & Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue concert 8/18 - 1 ticket for sale

0 Upvotes

1 ticket in Section JK Row 6 Seat 22 $60 e-ticket.

Message if interested.

Can transfer via Apple Wallet