Possible Move to Grinnell (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: crime, house, theatre)

[cloud1701]

Hi all,

Looking for some advice... May have a job offer in Grinnell in the near future. Debating whether or not to move a 1,000 miles away from my family in search of a larger paycheck -

Currently living in a college town in PA, with a population about 5,000 higher than Grinnell. Slightly spoiled though - close to NYC, Philly, DC, the shore etc... Love the theatre, aquariums, museums, but I also love deer in the back yard, quiet, and hearing the wind over traffic noises. Add in I'm a 39 old single female who knows absolutely no one in Iowa. Quite shy and don't make friends easily.

I want away from the chaos and crime of large cities that is coming closer and closer all the time... I've driven through the state of Iowa but know next to nothing about it... The job interview is coming out of blue and its a third more a year than I make now... I may not get the job of course but if its offered I'll need to make a decision quickly.

Help please, whats it like??? Would love to hear the good and bad.

Cloud

[Luke9686]

That's a hard decision. Especially since you will be alone. Small town Iowa is a hard place to break into the friend scene. People in smaller towns are more stand offish. Their social circles are already well defined, being hard to break the circle. Iowans are some of the nicest people around though.

That being said, Grinnell is a decent location. It is about 45 minutes from the eastern suburbs of Des Moines. You will find it much easier in the Des Moines metro to find friends. There is a lot more going on there. Homes are cheap, crime is extremely low, and people are nice.

You could live in a town like Newton, that is halfway between Grinnell and Des Moines. You could go into the city to dine, go to shows, clubs, whatever.

If you don't mind a 45 minute commute, you could try Altoona, which is a Des Moines suburb.

Des Moines is a slow paced, laid back kind of place with a decent amount to do. The area is growing by leaps and bounds, with focus being on downtown revitilization.

The hard thing will be going not knowing anyone. Only you can make that decision.

Good Luck

[Pearlbob]

Definitely hard to make friends in a small town, especially when alone. There is a very, very good college in Grinnell (albeit very small) so you could try to make friends and do things related to the school (colleges tend to have faculty that move there alone or at a younger age, plus the students themselves).

Des Moines is very, very nice and I'd recommend living closer to there, if possible. Newton is a good idea but there is nothing in Newton.

On google maps it's 53 miles from DSM to Grinnell. That would be a bit of a drive, especially in winter, but doable. Newton seems to be closer to Grinnell. Altoona is 45 miles, as mentioned above.

Another option would be to go in the other direction...Grinnell is 67 miles from Iowa City, which is where the U of Iowa is. A very liberal, liberal town with tons of culture. Lots to do, tons of restaurants, museums, etc. You could maybe find somewhere in between those towns.

Cost of living should be phenomenally cheaper in Iowa than where you are now. 1/3 of a pay raise should equate to a ton more than just 1/3.

[SharpHawkeye]

From my limited experience with Grinnell, I found it to be a very nice, friendly little college town. Grinnell College, for what it's worth is considered by many to be the best academic college and most liberal campus community in the state. (As well as the most expensive by a long shot... )

As to where to live, I would visit Grinnell first if at all possible. You may find it has enough "college atmosphere" to make up for it's somewhat remote location. Also, that location would allow you to visit cultural events in both Iowa City and Des Moines without too much of a drive.

As for other cities, first I would stay away from Newton if possible. Newton seems to be struggling since the recent close of the Maytag plant; also, I don't think culturally it offers anything more than Grinnell. Iowa City is an awesomly awesome college town, completely living up to Pearlbob's description. (Full disclosure: I live there ) Also, Des Moines is becoming quite the bustling city, with lots of events and opportunities.

Some good places to consider in-between would be Williamsburg on the Iowa City side (45 mi to Grinnell, 30 to Iowa City) and maybe Bondurant on the Des Moines side (45 mi to Grinnell, 13 to downtown Des Moines). Both offer somewhat rural, small-town atmosphere while still being close to bigger places.

[Chicago60614]

^ I was going to say Williamsburg as well.

It's only 30-40 minutes to either Iowa City or Grinnell. It's a healthy little town (as in, it's not shrinking like a lot of the rural midwest), and it's close to the interstate and your job/Iowa City.

[Skylar25]

I've got a question about a town near Grinnell....Malcom (actually it would be an exageration to call it a town)...since there is an opportunity there for me to establish a B&B I am wondering if anyone can tell me what is going on there as far as the 'community improvement' verses 'livestock farmers' debate goes. I was definitely 'sold' on the area as it is near the interstate and not that far from Des Moines, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids....but now I'm wondering if I will run into a problem with holding events outdoors in summer and whether people in the surrounding cities think of the town as farming and nothing else? I live in one of the biggest cities in the south eastern US...so I know how to market a 'retreat' sort of business, I just don't know if there are too many pre-conceived ideas with which to contend.

Any advice?

[cloud1701]

Thanks for the replies! Given me a lot to think about - the job if its offered - is at Grinnell College. They must be very seriously considering me for the position since they've made arrangements to fly me in for an interview...

[Pearlbob]

If you go to an interview, definitely ask the other faculty members where they live and if they know of people who live elsewhere and commute to work. Don't know if you'll be teaching or not...but theoretically you could teach 2 or 3 days a week and only have to make the commute those days.

Good luck with the job!

[AZ.twinmom]

I'm not too familiar with Grinnell but Newton is nice. My best friend just built a house there on a nice piece of property and it's very clean looking from what I've seen. She really likes living there. I think they're building a race track there too? I'm not positive but I heard that rumor the last time I was back home and it's suppost to bring in a lot of new jobs.

Williamsburg is nice also and grown since I've lived around there. The downtown has the older looking historical buildings and the town square type of thing everyone cruises around! LOL!

[sunny1951]

Grinnell is not a bad town-lived there back in the 70's but then the bottom fell out of the industry there and my husband and I moved to a state he could get a factory job. But 4 of our children were born there and felt the hospital was great! I loved the people then-from what I can still see cause I live in cedar rapids, Ia. now Grinnell is a nice rural area and very quiet.