I've lived in Iowa over 13 years and it is a great place to raise a family. We live in Indianola, which is a town of 13,000 (4 elem., 1 middle school, 1 HS) and I think we get the best of both worlds --small town life and bigger city options because we are only 20-30 minutes away from Des Moines. When we moved here we had several neighbors come over and welcome us to the neighborhood (cookies and all). I can see where some people might feel that especially smaller townspeople are less open to new friendships, but our family has not experienced that. We found our church to be very friendly, and I think it helped that I worked locally (in the schools) for a while. If you get involved in kid's activities, church, or community events, you will likely meet and make friends. Some school districts
are better than others, but the great thing about Iowa is, you can apply to any district you would like through their open enrollment option (and although the receiving district has the option to decline, most accept additional students). Of course, you likely will have to provide your own transportation if going out of your neighborhood district, and I think open enrollment needs to be declared by a deadline near the beginning of the calendar year. But it gives you choices. There should be web information available to tell you about each district's educational "report card" and also you should be able to tell if a school is on the SINI list --"school in need of improvement". This doesn't give the entire picture, but can add to information you've already found. I like Iowa. I feel like my family is safer here than many other areas we've lived. There's no
real traffic to complain about in the cities unless you are driving in a snowstorm or if there's been an accident. The only thing I haven't liked is the weather - too humid-- which makes summer hotter & winter colder. This will be a major change from living in any western state... And it doesn't have all the exciting tourist-y things that some states have, if that's a priority for you. I hope you find it a great place to call home!
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