Des Moines? (Iowa City, Cedar Falls: house, rent, travel)

[DMRyan]

I hate to inform you, but if you've got a career, you're fast approaching the tail end of living that lifestyle on a routine basis. I'll give that it would be nice to have the option to be in a city that has a vibrant nightlife until 4 in the morning for when you do need it. When I was 25, I never thought my days of partying that late would end so quickly, but they will when you're in your late 20's, mark my words! It's tough to believe, but come back when you're 28 and own a home or have other non-family responsibilities, I'd bet a thousand bucks you won't be caring much about partying until 5 in the morning on Saturdays.

Des Moines may not have the plethora of nightlife that a major city has (naturally), but there are after hours clubs and restaurants you can go to until early into the morning. It's not as if the entire city completely rolls up at 2 AM when the bars close down.

[metro223]

Originally Posted by zz4guy

Yes! When you are young that is the time to experience it all. Not when you are in your 30s and have 3 kids. Especially if he thinks he'll end up back in Ioway someday.

Iowa is a nice place to raise a family, but it is sheltered here; it sure wouldnt be a bad thing to experience living in other areas. I know living in DSM you feel like you already live in the big city, but trust me - in the big scope of things DSM is a rather small to medium sized city stuck in the middle of corn field central - it is lacking much in the way of nightlife and the glitz factor.

I appreciate you talking down to me making me sound like I think I'm in a huge city when I know I'm not, I've been to 18 states including Hawaii so I know there are other things out there and I've experienced them too. People in Iowa may not be as sheltered as you think. So no I'm not going to "trust you."

[DSMGuy]

Uh, zz, wake up. Dude, you're from freaking Marion. Not exactly glitzy. Also, last time I checked the topography map there weren't soaring snow capped mountains & ocean front beaches around Marion. Maybe that was left off the map? My guess is Marion is surrounded by more than its share of corn fields.

[zz4guy]

Originally Posted by DSMGuy

Uh, zz, wake up. Dude, you're from freaking Marion. Not exactly glitzy. Also, last time I checked the topography map there weren't soaring snow capped mountains & ocean front beaches around Marion. Maybe that was left off the map? My guess is Marion is surrounded by more than its share of corn fields.

Did I say move from Des Moines to Marion? No. I meant get the heck out of this lame state while he has the chance.

[metro223]

Originally Posted by zz4guy

Did I say move from Des Moines to Marion? No. I meant get the heck out of this lame state while he has the chance.

What's so lame about Iowa zz4guy?

[JoeisSweet]

Des Moines in my opinion is one of the worst cities in the mid-west. It is so unsophisticated and bland, it has no personality. I live here sadly and as soon as I graduate from high school I am getting out of hear and never looking back. I really don't understand, unless you love the farm life (which some people do), why anyone would honestly ever want to live here. There are so many better places in the mid-west to go to where stuff actually happens, Des Moines is not a cool place to live.

The ignorance of some of the people here is scary, I know three people that have only left Iowa once or twice in their whole life! Isn't that embarrassing, they have never even been to a big cool city like Chicago or even near by Kansas City!

I moved from Kansas City, which isn't the biggest city around, but it's four times bigger than Des Moines and the difference is super noticeable. One thing that really annoys me above all about people in Des Moines, is that some of them think that they live in a huge metropolis, um newsflash IT'S IOWA!!! I just want to yell in people's faces when they say that.

Iowa is the perfect place to go if you like the small town life or farming, which I personally have nothing against, some people really like that which is great. But when Iowa tries to say that they have big farms (which they do) AND big cities, that's when the rest of the world just says, "Sit down, you suck."

And that is my opinion of Iowa.

[Pearlbob]

I think every high school student thinks their hometown is bland and boring Wait til you turn 21. Or 18.

Having lived in much larger cities, I think Des Moines is a great medium. No, it's not a cultural hot spot, but it actually does have a lot more culture and opportunity than you might think. It's good for families, yet it does have lots of entertainment spots for younger folks. You can go to a bar without paying $20 cover and $12 for a drink. I think it's a great all-around city. It's not downtown Chicago, but it's also not...Mason City. Just kidding.

Really, any city is what you make of it. Find a few great restaurants, a few great bars/clubs, and a few great friends and you'll be set just about anywhere. DSM has what, 300k in the metro? That's a rather big city....

[JoeisSweet]

Um, I think that it has about 500,000 in the whole metro area, Kansas City is about 2,000,000 and Chicago is about 9,500,000 metro area.

You may be right, I just really hate it when people think that they live in a super-huge city with millions of people, go east to Chicago.

[pepe1]

Originally Posted by JoeisSweet

Des Moines in my opinion is one of the worst cities in the mid-west. It is so unsophisticated and bland, it has no personality. I live here sadly and as soon as I graduate from high school I am getting out of hear and never looking back. I really don't understand, unless you love the farm life (which some people do), why anyone would honestly ever want to live here. There are so many better places in the mid-west to go to where stuff actually happens, Des Moines is not a cool place to live.

The ignorance of some of the people here is scary, I know three people that have only left Iowa once or twice in their whole life! Isn't that embarrassing, they have never even been to a big cool city like Chicago or even near by Kansas City!

I moved from Kansas City, which isn't the biggest city around, but it's four times bigger than Des Moines and the difference is super noticeable. One thing that really annoys me above all about people in Des Moines, is that some of them think that they live in a huge metropolis, um newsflash IT'S IOWA!!! I just want to yell in people's faces when they say that.

Iowa is the perfect place to go if you like the small town life or farming, which I personally have nothing against, some people really like that which is great. But when Iowa tries to say that they have big farms (which they do) AND big cities, that's when the rest of the world just says, "Sit down, you suck."

And that is my opinion of Iowa.

[SIZE=3]Well on behalf of all of Iowa, I want to personally thank you for blessing us with your presence! Thank you kind sir! Surely, with your worldly knowledge of urban culture from your experiences in Kansas City coupled with your high school diploma, any city would jump at the chance to have you as a resident. Your qualifications would undoubtedly be a major addition to any communities tax rolls as you are certainly prepared for a rewarding career in the fast food or hospitality industries![/SIZE]

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by pepe1

[SIZE=3]Well on behalf of all of Iowa, I want to personally thank you for blessing us with your presence! Thank you kind sir! Surely, with your worldly knowledge of urban culture from your experiences in Kansas City coupled with your high school diploma, any city would jump at the chance to have you as a resident. Your qualifications would undoubtedly be a major addition to any communities tax rolls as you are certainly prepared for a rewarding career in the fast food or hospitality industries![/SIZE]

Agreed 100%. Maybe sometime we can all get together, grab a cup of cappuchino from QuikTrip and some curb and listen to JoeisSweet bedazzle us with tales of his urban exploits. From Kansas City to Johnston, IA and a family vacation in Chicago, he's seen it all. Maybe we can even go over to his place for Dr. Pepper and cookies and see a slideshow and he'll show us the snow globe he got from Chicago.