The historic Highland Park and Oak Park Neighborhoods were once established as independent cities within Polk County. The "streetcar cities" were annexed by the City of Des Moines in the early 1900's, but once were home to an independent newspaper, a college, a fire station and other city services. This gallery focuses on the business cluster and original downtown of the two neighborhoods known as the "Parks Area", which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A new streetscape project has added new sidewalks, paving, brick crosswalks, historic street lighting, street furniture, landscaping, a historic district marker and a gateway arch. The new $1.5 million dollar streetscape is intended to clean up the district and spark business investment in an urban pocket of the city that holds much future potential.

Click a thumbnail to see larger images and captions.