Moving for a simpler life! (Des Moines, Dubuque: insurance, low crime, job market)

[bellaqt]

I am 29 years old and have 4 girls,my husband and I are in need of a big change!We are looking to get out of Florida for a simpler life.We would be moving some where by our selfes starting over.Iowa is an idea,we never have been befor, but Des Moines sounds nice any suggestions!My husband and I are not going to be moving with lots of money?He is a hard worker and we will be depending on him getting a job when we get there?

[DSMGuy]

Des Moines was picked 4th in the nation for its amenities for working families. The weather can be tough at times, but the number of things to do for families outweighs the weather. A lot of jobs are available, especially in the areas of financial services, insurance, computer programming.

There was just an article on this topic in today's DM Register:

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pb...01/NEWS&lead=1

Best of luck!

[DBQer]

Dubuque is an excellent place to raise a family (low crime, good schools, nice parks, affordable cost of living). We are also leading the state in economic growth and job growth, and we were the 22nd-fastest growing economy nationally last year. Also, Dubuque boasts the shortest commute time in the nation at 11.8 minutes, was ranked 15th in the "Best Small Places for Business and Careers", and was named as one of the "100 Best Communities for Young People."

Here's the proof:
Economy: [http://www.greaterdubuque.org/news/dubuque_top_job_growth.html] (broken link)
Commute: [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/top25s/shortcommute.html] (broken link)
Business/Careers: [http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/5/0...ers_Rank.html]
Young People: [http://www.americaspromise.org/100Best.aspx?id=968] (broken link)

[tarasill]

forget dubuque! you can't find a job unless you know someone or have a degree bad place to live

[Luke9686]

I would suggest Des Moines. There are more jobs there. What industry is he in? There is a lot of construction in the Des Moines area, so that is at least something.

[DBQer]

Originally Posted by tarasill

forget dubuque! you can't find a job unless you know someone or have a degree bad place to live

What a ridiculous statement. The city has hundreds of jobs available to anyone, anytime, with a variety of educational backgrounds. Making such blanket judgements only makes the person saying it sound stupid. Here's a great place to start job searching in Dubuque, bellaqt: [http://www.accessdubuquejobs.com/] (broken link)

[Luke9686]

While the statement may not be 100% accurate, I don't think it is fair to say the poster sounds stupid stating it. I would agree that there are limited oppurtunities in Dubuque, especially for higher paying jobs. I would say if one wanted to move to Iowa, and live in the city with the best oppurtunities for higher paying jobs, Des Moines would be the place. But the reasons for that are obvious, more people, higher cost of living (still very low though).

[DBQer]

Originally Posted by Luke9686

While the statement may not be 100% accurate, I don't think it is fair to say the poster sounds stupid stating it.

Oh, really? And how would you characterize a blanket generalization that dismisses Iowa's fastest-growing economy as someplace where "you can't find a job"?

Originally Posted by Luke9686

I would agree that there are limited oppurtunities in Dubuque, especially for higher paying jobs.

Again, there has to be some FACTS to back up these arguments, otherwise its just heresay. I could make the same claim about Des Moines, but that doesn't mean its true. The truth is that Dubuque does have Iowa's fastest growing economy. That is indisputable. Also, if you even bother to look at some of the job growth in the city, it has come from well-paying employers, including: Namasco, McGraw-Hill, Kendall-Hunt, Sedgwick, the Dubuque Community School District, Quebecor, Cottingham & Butler, and on and on...

If you aren't living here, you can't really know what's going on, so isn't it smarter to find out what's happening locally from someone who lives locally?

[tallrick]

If you move to Iowa from Florida and find it suitable, let us know, I am looking for the right place to move to if Florida doesn't get it's act together.

[DSMGuy]

DBQer, with all due respect. I appreciate things are going well in DBQ and that is great. It has been very quiet there for many years and it is great to see your enthusiasm for the city. But let's put this in perspective....

First of all, I don't doubt DBQ is 1st in Iowa in job growth rate. That is great and you've done a lot of things there to make DBQ attractive like the aquarium, etc.

However, you have to look at this from a raw numbers point of view also. DBQ has what 80,000 people in the metro (not using to show growth rate, but to show size difference)? So, if DBQ gains 2,500 jobs in 5 years, that is quite a percentage (I don't know the true number, I'm just guessing). I don't know the total employed in DBQ, but 2500 new jobs, would be a healthy number.

Des Moines, in contrast has a metro of 535,000. I don't know the number employed, but I am aware that from 2000-2004 or 5, the number of jobs grew by about 12,000. Proportionally, it was lower than DBQ, but DM created many many more jobs than DBQ when you look at the raw numbers, DM would appear to have far more opportunity to the job seeker.

A lot of other people found DM to be a hot job market because the metro grew by about 54,000 (about the size of the city of DBQ) from 2000-2006.

My point is that while you rip into Luke about his points, the truth is, that despite DM not having proportionally the job growth rate of DBQ, in actuality far more jobs are being created in DSM than DBQ, so odds would be better of getting a job in DM.

I mean if there was a small town in Iowa with 500 people who touted a job growth rate of 400% when 15 jobs were created in that town, you wouldn't say that was a better job market that DBQ, would you?

DBQ is on a roll and that's great to see, though and hats off for turning things around!