Des Moines in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Des Moines in context

2345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Des MoinesIowa (Region)United States (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Des Moines plotted against Iowa and United States. The SNDi of new construction in Des Moines rose steadily, compared to Iowa which rose steadily and United States which peaked in 1991-2005. Most recently, Des Moines's incremental SNDi rose from 3.09 to 3.28 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Des Moines ranked 3rd out of 4 cities in Iowa and 36th out of 333 in United States as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.28
Rank in United States
65th of 333
Rank in Iowa
2nd of 4

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.0
Rank in United States
36th of 333
Rank in Iowa
3rd of 4

Rankings go from most connected to most disconnected — rank 1 is the most connected.

What about similarly populated cities?

2.12.83.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.12.83.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Des MoinesGdyniaHebi

In new street additions, Des Moines and Gdynia both built increasingly disconnected streets over time, while Hebi fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Des Moines and Gdynia both became progressively more disconnected, while Hebi fluctuated in connectivity. Des Moines and Hebi have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.