So is it really as bad as some posters say? (Des Moines: jobs, hospital)

[Auntie Freda]

Originally Posted by Steve_W

One error though, he didn't really knit anything.
He used his hands.

YOU started it mate.

Next subject ...................

[Amy99]

Originally Posted by Auntie Freda

Auntie Freda use to knit willy-warmers for use of the menfolk in winter.
Is that similar ?

ROFLMAO!!!!

[voxmama]

Hi there,

As someone who lived in Iowa for 11 years, moved away (CA, TX) and came back again last year, I think I can help you. I travel a lot for work, and have lived all over the place, and I find Iowa to be a lovely place to live. I'm in Fairfield, which is diverse, entreprenurial, arts-focused and down-home, which I love. Not having spent a lot of time in the Quad Cities, still I was working there recently and found it to be charming in parts, a bit industrial-looking in parts, but OK overall. I drove down from Dubuque to QC and it was so lovely along the Mississippi. There is a large music and art-related complex downtown that is great - cant think of the name. But there is an industrial feel and parts of town look pretty bleak. Maybe you should consider Fairfield instead! It's growing and the public schools are excellent. I have two boys 10 and 15, and we are all happy here.

Good luck with your decision and your move!

SB

[voxmama]

Oh by the way, I just realised I was talking about Dubuque, not all of the quad cities...

SB

[kev6690]

Well, Iowa can be as bad as some posters say it is, just depends on your view. I'll try to provide an unbiased view at things.

Personally, I lived in Las Vegas for 11 years, and have spend the past 6 years in a small town here in Iowa (around 1,000 pop.). It is definitely very tight knit, with most everyone knowing everyone. I went in the local bakery a year or two ago with my uncle and the cashier knew me and though I had been kidnapped because my uncle was from IL. So, depending on how you view that, it could be good or bad.

The schools are generally very good, however if you have kids and not use to the slower more family style population, I would advise against it, or at least stay towards the bigger cities (as mentioned previously in a post, Ankeny is a very nice area to raise a family. Decent jobs and housing, kind of a the younger and up and growing area). I moved here in Middle School, and I personally had a hard time adapting. The kids here generally don't see many new people through their whole K-12 period, so I was kind of always viewed as an "outsider". But, I'm sure in a city greater than 30k or so it would be different.

The people in general are kind, a few curious, and many still live on the same farms their grandparents had many years ago. Yes, there are a few racists/rednecks/whatever, but the good chunk are very nice people. Be warned though, some of these small towns <1,000 pop. only have roots from a few families. There are many people that are cousins, etc., so sometimes you really have to watch what you say. I hate to sound negative but I do wonder sometimes if some inbreeding doesn't go on.

Yes, the weather stinks. It's ungodly cold and snowy in the winter, and very warm and humid in the summer. The plowing is generally a very poor job in some cities, so don't expect to get anywhere too fast. The state however, seems to do a decent job maintaining and plowing Interstates/U.S. Highways/State Highways.

I personally would like to either move to the DSM area eventually, or out of the state back to warmer weather. The rural life style of everyone in everyone else' business is not my cup of tea, and neither is the driving a couple hours to get to a decent sized mall or shopping area. But, not everywhere is for everyone.

If I were to move here again, I would stay with someone for a week or two if possible, or at least stay in a hotel a couple times for a few nights to get a feel for the area. Dubuque/Keokuk are nice (all relative, but generally nicer midwest towns) but still fairly bland. Cedar Rapids/Waterloo/Fort Dodge/Mason City are the same, you won't find much for higher paying jobs outside of Cedar Rapids/QC/DSM. Other than that, there is basically nothing population wise. The western part of the state is very sparsly populated, very few towns of any size at all.

All in all, if you're coming from Barstow (yes, I've been there a few times, it's a much different culture and a decent sized town to Iowa standards) be warned if you pick a town too small it may be a huge culture shock for the kids. Chariton isn't that large, and neither is some of these other cities. A lot of these towns are almost a different world, and if it wasn't for TV or newspapers, they would be very isolated.

[metro223]

Originally Posted by kev6690

I hate to sound negative but I do wonder sometimes if some inbreeding doesn't go on.

You know.... I realize this is a very rural state outside of our 4 or 5 main metros, but this is just ignorant. It's not like we're another Colorado City, Arizona. I don't think we have lived in the same Iowa. Really.

[jeffs]

Most of the people bad mouthing iowa, have only been to little towns with 5,000 or less population. I live in Davenport (Quad Cities). Population is around 400,000. We have everything here bigger cities have, just on a smaller scale. We have the same restaurants, concerts, department stores. Theres plenty of diversity here. I went to a high school that was 45% black. Were not all a bunch of pick up truck driving, nascar watching, country music listening, toothless, wife beating yokels like so many of these posters make it sound like. Half the people that bad mouth Iowa on here, arent even living in Iowa. Dont judge the whole state because you passed through 15 years ago and had one bad experience. The first time I drove through Chicago we went by the South Side housing projects. I saw crack dealers, gang bangers, prostitutes. I dont think Chicago is a bad city, i just passed through a crappy neighborhood. Dont base your opinion of a whole state on one bad experience.

[jerlap]

We moved from Virginia Beach to Iowa in 04, for two years, and lived in the Iowa City area (North Liberty), after the initial homesickness subsided, it was wonderful. Even for a beach girl. I had my fourth child there, and the hospitals actually CARE about the entire family, the area is family friendly, the schools superb...
I cannot say enough nice things.
I too was concerned about race issues, but from the other side of perspective. We are a caucasian family, and my children had been in classes with many cultural diversities, but we found the area we lived in to be diverse and accepting (not as diverse as Chicago, obviously...). My kids LOVED the experience.
We moved back to VB summer 06, and my kids still ask every day to move back to Iowa.
It is slow-paced living, with the opportunity to see so much of the midwest.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by beemer1010

You know.... I realize this is a very rural state outside of our 4 or 5 main metros, but this is just ignorant. It's not like we're another Colorado City, Arizona. I don't think we have lived in the same Iowa. Really.

Yeah, I mean just cause people live in communities where their families have been for generations - does not mean they're going to start breeding with each other!?!?!?

I have friends that grew up in very small rural areas, and we're always poking fun at them cause it seems their closest 100 neighbors are all related to them some way or another through marriages or cousins/etc. The thought of inbreeding has never even entered the realm of conversation. Just cause you live near a lot of relatives does NOT mean that your views on incest are any different than everyone else in the country...

[kev6690]

Originally Posted by beemer1010

You know.... I realize this is a very rural state outside of our 4 or 5 main metros, but this is just ignorant. It's not like we're another Colorado City, Arizona. I don't think we have lived in the same Iowa. Really.

Yeah, I mean just cause people live in communities where their families have been for generations - does not mean they're going to start breeding with each other!?!?!?

I have friends that grew up in very small rural areas, and we're always poking fun at them cause it seems their closest 100 neighbors are all related to them some way or another through marriages or cousins/etc. The thought of inbreeding has never even entered the realm of conversation. Just cause you live near a lot of relatives does NOT mean that your views on incest are any different than everyone else in the country...

Agreed, but I still stand by the fact that most of the people in these towns are related, and there are some 2nd cousins and things that do end up marrying.

What 4 or 5 metros? DSM and the Quad Cities are the only two areas with any real type of suburbs.

Population is around 400,000. We have everything here bigger cities have, just on a smaller scale. We have the same restaurants, concerts, department stores. Theres plenty of diversity here. I went to a high school that was 45% black. Were not all a bunch of pick up truck driving, nascar watching, country music listening, toothless, wife beating yokels like so many of these posters make it sound like. Half the people that bad mouth Iowa on here, arent even living in Iowa

Oh yes, I agree. The bigger cities are fairly normal.