Please tell me that Iowa is not ALL bad! (Des Moines: low income, appointed)

[zz4guy]

Originally Posted by griz134

I'm from Iowa and have been living in Portland for 11 years now. I would have no problem moving back to Iowa. Portland is too crowded, and too expensive. My money would go a lot further in Iowa, and I could probably retire much sooner. If a job in my company opens up in Iowa, I'm there. I think Iowa is a beautiful state with very friendly people. Oregon is a beautiful state too, but the people here are lazy, and not so friendly. Portland is over rated, and over hyped.

Its observations like this that lead to bad impressions of Iowa. People come here from places like Portland, Denver, Los Angelas, Boston and expect to love it here because they dont have to put up with the crime and traffic and high costs. Well, there's a reason nobody lives here. IOWA is BORING and DESOLATE!!! At least compared to the high population centers. NO mountains, no lakes, no big cities, no oceans, really no diversity, and little job opportunities and career potential. Not to mention the winter weather. So after a year of not making friends, having to put up with winter, and getting tired of farmers markets and fairs as "entertainment" they leave with a bad impression.

[hdinia]

Without reading what anyone else has responded ~ I will say that I really am happy in Iowa except for in the winter. I am not now, nor have I ever been a cold weather person. If I could pick up the entire state and move it farther south as to have warmer winters... then I would do that. Since that is really not an option, I am trying to find somewhere similar in another state. Now with rheumatoid arthritis - the cold, dry air is not helping so warmer would be the way to go.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by zz4guy

Its observations like this that lead to bad impressions of Iowa. People come here from places like Portland, Denver, Los Angelas, Boston and expect to love it here because they dont have to put up with the crime and traffic and high costs. Well, there's a reason nobody lives here. IOWA is BORING and DESOLATE!!! At least compared to the high population centers. NO mountains, no lakes, no big cities, no oceans, really no diversity, and little job opportunities and career potential. Not to mention the winter weather. So after a year of not making friends, having to put up with winter, and getting tired of farmers markets and fairs as "entertainment" they leave with a bad impression.

But you realize that just because you feel this way doesn't mean a majority of people do as well.

You get out of life what you put into it, and what you appreciate and take out of it. If Iowa isn't for you it isn't for you - but don't make it sound like it shouldn't be for ANYONE just because it doesn't float your boat.

[Dport7674]

Originally Posted by zz4guy

Its observations like this that lead to bad impressions of Iowa. People come here from places like Portland, Denver, Los Angelas, Boston and expect to love it here because they dont have to put up with the crime and traffic and high costs. Well, there's a reason nobody lives here. IOWA is BORING and DESOLATE!!! At least compared to the high population centers. NO mountains, no lakes, no big cities, no oceans, really no diversity, and little job opportunities and career potential. Not to mention the winter weather. So after a year of not making friends, having to put up with winter, and getting tired of farmers markets and fairs as "entertainment" they leave with a bad impression.

Boring and Desolate like the middle of Colorado? Boring and Desolate like the middle of Arizona? Boring as in Upstate New York? Desolate as in most of the South?

What kind of person would move to a small bum fuct town in Iowa and complain of no big cities and NO mountains and nothing to do but Farmers Markets and County Fairs???

No huge lakes. But as I type this, I'm sitting 3 blocks from the Mississippi River, I'm about an hour from some killer skiing, 2 1/2 hrs from Chicago and Des Moines, Less than 4 hrs from Milwaukee, Madison, St. Louis and about 4 hrs from Kansas City.

I've been to countless concerts and sports games in all of those cities. Sports fans in Denver would be envious of the college football/basketball games I've been too in just the last couple of years. Don't even get me started on all the Cubs,Sox, Blackhawks,Bulls,Bears,Cards,Blues,Rams,Chiefs,Roy als,Brewers,Bucks games I've been too.

Every summer I drive from Iowa to Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo.

Portland? Denver? Talk about being stuck in the middle of nowhere.

[BillyMays]

remember that being known as a conservative state is a good thing people

I was complimenting Iowa. If I thought it was full of liberal whack jobs I would have never moved here. Funny how people jump to defend it as a liberal state though. Got some strange people on this forum. I lived in Chicago for several years and would never suggest it to anyone as a decent place to live. Nice thing about Iowa is that English is spoken everywhere. You do not have to repeat yourself when ordering food like you do in Chicago. Chicago hires cheap illegal labor for food service as anyone from Chicago could tell you. I have never encountered that in Iowa cities.....yet.
They are finally starting to raid companies for illegal workers and fine them and in some cases shut them down and take away their business licenses. Only about 20 years too late. Hopefully Iowa never goes down that road. There is enough people out of work here already so giving jobs to illegals is a horrible thing for any town.

[Alicia Bradley]

The people who insist that Iowa isn't as conservative as is, perhaps, commonly believed aren't necessarily making a value judgement - they're just talking about reality. I'm something of a libertarian, myself, and I get annoyed when people refer to Iowa as a "red state" - not because I feel one way or the other about red states, but because I prefer facts to stereotypes.

[Persimmony]

Originally Posted by BillyMays

They are finally starting to raid companies for illegal workers and fine them and in some cases shut them down and take away their business licenses. Only about 20 years too late. Hopefully Iowa never goes down that road. There is enough people out of work here already so giving jobs to illegals is a horrible thing for any town.

This has happened in Iowa meatpacking plants.

[Dport7674]

Originally Posted by BillyMays

I was complimenting Iowa. If I thought it was full of liberal whack jobs I would have never moved here. Funny how people jump to defend it as a liberal state though. Got some strange people on this forum..

Who called Iowa a liberal state? All people have said is it's not "Very" Conservative That's not the same as calling it a liberal state. Funny how some people on this forum can't deal with facts.

Originally Posted by BillyMays

They are finally starting to raid companies for illegal workers and fine them and in some cases shut them down and take away their business licenses. Only about 20 years too late. Hopefully Iowa never goes down that road. There is enough people out of work here already so giving jobs to illegals is a horrible thing for any town.

This has been happening quite a bit in Iowa. But that's just another fact, feel free to skip right over it. Strange people indeed.

[PDXby7]

Originally Posted by Dport7674

Portland? Denver? Talk about being stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Ok, I started this post, and I'm totally excited about moving to Iowa. BUT.

Portland is not in the middle of nowhere. Portland is amazing. We are an hour from the beach, and an hour from the mountains. We have a volcano in our back yard. If we head south we have dunes to ride quads in. There is wine country, horse country, and farm country within 45 minutes. The biggest river this side of the Mississippi is 12 miles north of our house, AND we have the world's largest & smallest parks, respectively, in our city.


Portland is NOT stuck in the middle of nowhere. The only reasons why we are moving is because of housing costs, and to be closer to family. To the person who said that people from the city won't be happy with farmer's markets & fairs for entertainment, well... Aside from the Iowa state fair being swamped with people.... We stopped going to markets & fairs here in Portland because they are so crowded you can't get through them. As long as a person is fully aware of the sort of environment they are leaving, and moving too, I see no reason why it should be assumed that everyone from the city will be unhappy in Iowa.

People do leave the city because of traffic, crime, smog, poor schools, crowds, prices, etc etc etc. Generally that means they want to live somewhere that DOESN'T have these 'opportunities'. (Ie, Iowa.)

[bettydover]

Not to beat a dead horse, but seriously reconsider rural Iowa. If you move to Des Moines, you are only one hour from Oskaloosa. Coming from Portland (which I love), you will be initially charmed by the quiet life, and then you will climb the walls from boredom, extreme social reticence and lack of community engagement.