Relocating....Impossible Question?

[sbronemann]

Originally Posted by dmcguy

Ok, this is going to prove to be as hard a question to answer as it will be to even try to ask it. My wife and 2 kids are relocating to Iowa next year so we have been looking at houses everywhere and really like the ones we saw in Burlington. Problem is, my job will need me to be within about 90min from major cities with a lot of people in them. Problem 2 is that I don't like large cities (population >15,000 to me), I like small, quiet, low crime, old houses, affordable ($100,000 or less) housing,good schools for the kids. Soooooo, with that in mind is there a small town anywhere between des moines-iowa city-cedar rapids-waterloo area that would sort of fit what I'm looking for that anyone would recommend? I understand this is a tough question but I'm hoping some answers may lead me into the right direction, I hope. Thank you all in advance.

I grew up in Monticello which is about 3800 population. It's 40 mins. from Cedar Rapids, 30 mins from Dubuque, 55 mins from Davenport, and 55 mins from Iowa City. Waterloo/Cedar Falls is about an hour an 15 mins away. The cost of living is dirt cheap. My brother bought a brand new house-3br/3ba 1900 sq. ft. for 179k. Older houses that could be fixer upers go for about 50-75k. In my opinion, Monticello was a great place to grow up, right in the middle of all the bigger cities in eastern Iowa, and it's cheap. Taxes are cheap, people are very friendly, and the school system is very good for rural Iowa. Just my 2 cents...

[sbronemann]

One thing I forgot to tell you-don't move to Burlington, it's a dump, no jobs, and the crime rate is very high and poverty rate is very high. It's an old river town, and all the garbage that comes with it.