Job market in Iowa

[Deselminator]

Originally Posted by dmguy30

Not to mention Iowa State is 30 minutes north of Downtown in Ames if you want more and the Hawks are an easy drive too...which is 90 minutes to the east.

Yeah, I'd definitely go to LAmes if I wanted to watch college sports. Oh and why drive 90 minutes east to see the Hawks play when you could live 10-15 min away at most from Kinnick Stadium?

Originally Posted by dmguy30

Sports (what professional sports are in IC?...NONE):

AHL Iowa Stars (Hockey)
USHL Des Moines Buccaneers (Hockey)
PDL Iowa Menace (Soccer)
AF2 Iowa Barnstormers (Arena Football)
AAA Iowa Cubs (Baseball)
NBDL Iowa Energy (Basketball)

College Sports:
DIV I Drake Bulldogs (With the Men's Basketball Team ranked #16 in the country)

Yeah and I'm pretty sure that the Hawkeyes probably have more fans than all of those teams you mentioned put together! And for the record, none of those teams are considered to be major professional sports teams by most people. Iowa doesn't have any major professional sports as I'm sure we all know, such as NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, or even MLS. So it's not just Iowa City that is lacking in the pro sports department, but it is Iowa as a whole, including your precious city of Des Moines.

Let's face it...Iowa City is the best team in the state for sports. And of course if you actually want to watch that minor league stuff that you mentioned, you can drive about 20 minutes from IC to Cedar Rapids and see many of the same types of teams play there such at the Rough Riders or the Kernels.

[DSMGuy]

Originally Posted by Deselminator

you can drive about 20 minutes from IC to Cedar Rapids and see many of the same types of teams play there such at the Rough Riders or the Kernels.

I don't know, I'd rate Iowa a medium to good sports program and ISU a medium to lousy sports program, depending on the year. Neither school sets the world on fire.

Also, for minor leagues, I don't follow CR sports, but I believe the teams you mentioned are lowest level of the minor leagues. Their hockey team is at the level of DMs' Buccaneers which are basically high school age to slightly older. The Stars are one level below the NHL, so quite a bit more talent there.

The Kirnels are A, so it is pretty low end baseball. The ICubs are one level below the Majors so you see a lot of top level guys going back and forth with Chicago.

So you might say a minor league team is a minor league team, but that is not true. That is like saying a college team is a college team like comparing Iowa's football level to say, Drake. Big difference.

[Deselminator]

Thought I'd address some of the people who say that there is hardly crime in Des Moines, say that is is laughable, or say that they're surprised that I haven't been a victim of a crime in Iowa City. Here are some stats from this very website actually. I will compare Des Moines 2006 crime stats to both Iowa City and Boise, ID. I chose Boise mainly because it is similar to Des Moines in size (that way I'm not just comparing apples or oranges), and because I feel that for a metro area of about 600,000, it is a very safe city (unlike Des Moines, which I feel isn't that safe for its size). I chose a few key stats which I think exemplify the crime situation well.

In the following section MR = Murder Rate, RR = Robbery Rate, BR = Burglary Rate, ATR = Auto Theft Rate, CI = Crime Index:
DSM - MR = 3.1, RR = 191.6 , BR = 1121.4, ATR = 504.6, CI = 508.1
IC - MR = 0.0, RR = 61.7, BR = 465.0, ATR = 128.1, CI = 207.4
BOI - MR = 3.0, RR = 56.0, BR = 587.8, ATR = 190.2, CI = 286.1
US average CI = 323.2

Still think that Des Moines' crime rate is laughable? I certainly don't. So in Des Moines you are about 3 times more likely to be a victim of a robbery than in IC or Boise, about 2 times more likely to have your home or business burglarized, about 3 times more likely to have your car stolen, and about equally as likely to be murdered as in Boise. Keep in mind that while IC is much smaller than Des Moines, Boise proper is almost exactly the same size, and the Boise metro has around 600,000 people (not sure about the Des Moines metro area, but it's probably comparable or even slightly less than this number). Also, the Des Moines crime rate is nearly double the U.S. average according to the crime index.

[Deselminator]

Originally Posted by DSMGuy

So you might say a minor league team is a minor league team, but that is not true. That is like saying a college team is a college team like comparing Iowa's football level to say, Drake. Big difference.

Ok, I can definitely see your point on this one. My point, however, is that honestly minor league teams aren't all that popular in general. Yes Des Moines probably has Iowa City and Cedar Rapids beat in this department, but I'd still venture to say that Hawkeye football is more popular than any of those minor league teams in Des Moines. People travel from across the Midwest and sometimes across the country to watch the Hawkeyes play. Every game is sold out at Kinnick. Damn near every hotel room is sold in town, which is a lot of rooms for a city this size. Can the same be said about the Cyclones or about any of the minor league teams mentioned? I highly doubt it! And although I agree with your above statement, to me a minor league team IS just a minor league team. I agree that for many people that's simply not true, but the Hawkeyes are much more exciting to watch than any minor league team IMO.

[DSMGuy]

Originally Posted by Deselminator

Thought I'd address some of the people who say that there is hardly crime in Des Moines, say that is is laughable, or say that they're surprised that I haven't been a victim of a crime in Iowa City. Here are some stats from this very website actually. I will compare Des Moines 2006 crime stats to both Iowa City and Boise, ID. I chose Boise mainly because it is similar to Des Moines in size (that way I'm not just comparing apples or oranges), and because I feel that for a metro area of about 600,000, it is a very safe city (unlike Des Moines, which I feel isn't that safe for its size). I chose a few key stats which I think exemplify the crime situation well.

In the following section MR = Murder Rate, RR = Robbery Rate, BR = Burglary Rate, ATR = Auto Theft Rate, CI = Crime Index:
DSM - MR = 3.1, RR = 191.6 , BR = 1121.4, ATR = 504.6, CI = 508.1
IC - MR = 0.0, RR = 61.7, BR = 465.0, ATR = 128.1, CI = 207.4
BOI - MR = 3.0, RR = 56.0, BR = 587.8, ATR = 190.2, CI = 286.1
US average CI = 323.2

Still think that Des Moines' crime rate is laughable? I certainly don't. So in Des Moines you are about 3 times more likely to be a victim of a robbery than in IC or Boise, about 2 times more likely to have your home or business burglarized, about 3 times more likely to have your car stolen, and about equally as likely to be murdered as in Boise. Keep in mind that while IC is much smaller than Des Moines, Boise proper is almost exactly the same size, and the Boise metro has around 600,000 people (not sure about the Des Moines metro area, but it's probably comparable or even slightly less than this number). Also, the Des Moines crime rate is nearly double the U.S. average according to the crime index.

Boise, good comparison, capital city, same size metro, etc. Obviously, we've got some things to work on.

Also, do the IC numbers include the football team's transgressions, or is that withheld? I think if you factor in the football team, the crime rate would be much higher. Just a joke.

[Deselminator]

Originally Posted by DSMGuy

Also, do the IC numbers include the football team's transgressions, or is that withheld? I think if you factor in the football team, the crime rate would be much higher. Just a joke.

I realize you were only kidding, but I think you bring up a good point. A few of the football team's members have really made the entire Hawkeye football program look terrible as of lately. It's sad to see people throw away a chance at the NFL so they can steal a credit card or smoke some weed. Not that I have anything against people who smoke weed, but I think if I was given an opportunity to potentially make millions in the NFL while doing something that I loved doing, I think I could bring myself to set the pipe down for a few years!

[DMRyan]

For the sake of fairness, let's try the crime rankings with a few other cities that are in metros of Des Moines' size, Wichita, Little Rock, Fort Wayne, and Madison to get a more accurate depiction of the stats of mid-sized cities. Keep in mind these numbers are only for the central cities, and not the surrounding metro areas or even principal counties of the metro, which I'm guessing would tone down the crime indicies in nearly every example.

DSM - MR = 3.1, RR = 191.6 , BR = 1121.4, ATR = 504.6, CI = 508.1
Wichita - MR = 7.3, RR = 145.5, BR = 1063.3, ATR = 552.9, CI = 526.7
Fort Wayne - MR = 8.0, RR = 179.7, BR = 946.5, ATR = 313.6, CI = 286.1
Madison- MR=1.8, RR=195.2, BR= 728.1 ATR= 213.6, CI= 349.2
Little Rock- MR=31.1, RR= 481.6, BR= 2071.0, ATR= 702.8, CI= 937.3
US average CI = 323.2

Des Moines' murder rate is among the lowest of comparible metro areas, robbery rates are on the low(er) end, with the remainder of crimes being property crimes. The point is that Des Moines' violent crime rate is in the low category, but has what I would consider to be a slightly above average rate of property crimes, which factors in to the higher "crime index". I wonder why that is the case?

I'm just trying to level the playing field so we don't have a metro that shines in one area (say, low crime in Boise) skew things for comparison's sake. Look at Little Rock, ouch!

[Deselminator]

Originally Posted by DMRyan

For the sake of fairness, let's try the crime rankings with a few other cities that are in metros of Des Moines' size, Wichita, Little Rock, Fort Wayne, and Madison to get a more accurate depiction of the stats of mid-sized cities. Keep in mind these numbers are only for the central cities, and not the surrounding metro areas or even principal counties of the metro, which I'm guessing would tone down the crime indicies in nearly every example.

DSM - MR = 3.1, RR = 191.6 , BR = 1121.4, ATR = 504.6, CI = 508.1
Wichita - MR = 7.3, RR = 145.5, BR = 1063.3, ATR = 552.9, CI = 526.7
Fort Wayne - MR = 8.0, RR = 179.7, BR = 946.5, ATR = 313.6, CI = 286.1
Madison- MR=1.8, RR=195.2, BR= 728.1 ATR= 213.6, CI= 349.2
Little Rock- MR=31.1, RR= 481.6, BR= 2071.0, ATR= 702.8, CI= 937.3
US average CI = 323.2

Des Moines' murder rate is among the lowest of comparible metro areas, robbery rates are on the low(er) end, with the remainder of crimes being property crimes. The point is that Des Moines' violent crime rate is in the low category, but has what I would consider to be a slightly above average rate of property crimes, which factors in to the higher "crime index". I wonder why that is the case?

I'm just trying to level the playing field so we don't have a metro that shines in one area (say, low crime in Boise) skew things for comparison's sake. Look at Little Rock, ouch!

Well I agree that Little Rock and Madison are good cities to compare DSM to, I don't think that Wichita or Fort Wayne are very comparative cities. They may be comparable in population, but they are completely different cities IMO. Notice that Madison has much lower crime than DSM, and it is significantly larger (by about 20,000-30,000 people if I'm not mistaken). Little Rock does have a problem with crime it seems, however I will say that unfortunately many if not most cities in the South tend to have the same problem.

[metro223]

Just want to chime in and say Boise was a really good comparison. I've always felt that Boise and Des Moines are very very comparible - maybe moreso than Des Moines and Omaha if you take away the mountains in Idaho.