Please tell me that Iowa is not ALL bad! (Des Moines: violent crime, buying a home)

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Originally Posted by capitalcityguy

I was going to suggest Pella as well.
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How about Clear Lake?

Not to stereotype, but I know that individuals from your part of the world tended to have a big fascination with Buddy Holly. I was reminded of this listening to an interview of Mick Jagger last night on TV. Buddy Holly played his last concert at the Surf Ballroom (still operating) in Clear Lake before his plane crashed leaving the nearby Mason City airport.

Clear Lake is a nice, clean small Iowa town so this might be worth considering.
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I was going to suggest Clear Lake! My mother-in-law was born and raised in Clear Lake and her entire family lives there. I've visited a few times and found it so cute. I love it there. Classic small town.

[timeofseasons]

Originally Posted by PDXby7

I've been frequenting the forums because we are moving from Portland, Oregon, to Oskaloosa IA in the next month or two.

I have found SO many threads that just rip Iowa apart, from crime in Des Moines to how horrible the schools are to how backward & narrow minded Iowan's are.

Please, tell me there is something good about Iowa. (Lol)

We are moving to be near my fiance's family, not to mention, the cost of living is EXTREMELY lower in Osky than in Portland. Here, a three bed house will run you close to $300. We can barely pay our bills on almost $65k/year.

I think we are making the right decision, but after reading time & again how boring Iowa is, how you aren't accepted unless you grew up here, etc, I'm almost second thinking it!

Here is one of my recent post from today on another thread

I have recently learned more about the state of Iowa when identifying I will be attending school there in the fall. It's great that Iowa does not have discrimination you may typically find in other places around the world. Iowa communities ( at least with a lot of my research on Iowa City) are able to come together of all backgrounds etc... but ofcourse politically the state can be divided, I've read that typically the rural western half votes republican while the eastern half votes democratic. I also read that the state is famous for the motto: "live and let live".

I've read that the state of Iowa have great schools, especially their higher education like The University of Iowa. As for cities, I often find Iowa City, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Souix Falls ranked among other great cities for quality of life, income growth, low crime, best place for buisnesses etc... Iowa is a really great state.

[timeofseasons]

Originally Posted by PDXby7

I've been frequenting the forums because we are moving from Portland, Oregon, to Oskaloosa IA in the next month or two.

I have found SO many threads that just rip Iowa apart, from crime in Des Moines to how horrible the schools are to how backward & narrow minded Iowan's are.

Please, tell me there is something good about Iowa. (Lol)

We are moving to be near my fiance's family, not to mention, the cost of living is EXTREMELY lower in Osky than in Portland. Here, a three bed house will run you close to $300. We can barely pay our bills on almost $65k/year.

I think we are making the right decision, but after reading time & again how boring Iowa is, how you aren't accepted unless you grew up here, etc, I'm almost second thinking it!

I've read that the state of Iowa have great schools, especially their higher education like The University of Iowa. As for cities, I often find Iowa City, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Souix Falls ranked among other great cities for quality of life, income growth, low crime, best place for buisnesses etc... Iowa is a really great state.

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I often find Iowa City, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Souix Falls

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forum/iowa/...#ixzz0rce8K8jf

Correction: I meant Sioux City.

[LJAdams1949]

I to was born and raised in Iowa. I was raised to have family and faith values and the old cliches "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see." I mind my own business and respect others who do the same. I also like less Government involvement and less taxes. I support farmers, our troops, hard days work, and a persons word is as good as a hand-shake. But, I am afraid those days may be gone. I am a very family friendly person. This is just a little about this ole Iowa gal. So I like to believe that Iowa is a very good State.

[deeprivergal]

I'm a transplanted Iowan now living in the Portland area. Left IA looking for something different - I found it out here in a part of Oregon that has no respect for farmers and ranchers at all, people who don't know how to do a day's worth of work for a day's worth of pay, losers, drunks, drug addicts, and welfare cheats. Sorry I ever left.

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by deeprivergal

I'm a transplanted Iowan now living in the Portland area. Left IA looking for something different - I found it out here in a part of Oregon that has no respect for farmers and ranchers at all, people who don't know how to do a day's worth of work for a day's worth of pay, losers, drunks, drug addicts, and welfare cheats. Sorry I ever left.

My oldest daughter found the same things in Seattle. It shocked her enough to come back to the midwest and now lives in Iowa City. Iowa City can be a bit shocking also for someone that leans conservative, but at least there she can laugh at the libs as well as with them since there, people don't get too bent out of shape about someone else having different views than their own.

[ashcody]

I have not read all posts because there are so many, but I actually grew up and graduated from Oskaloosa Senior High a few years ago. Oskaloosa is very safe city---not too big (around 11,000) I would say by now. There is William Penn University which brings in quite a few people from out of state. DSM is only an hour away so that would be your best bet for shopping--the mall in Oskaloosa has nothing. Ottumwa is a half hr. away, some consider it "dirty" but the mall is decent and you will find many more places to go to dinner compared to Osky. People in Oskaloosa are friendly, as with any small town--I moved to Cedar Rapids two years ago and can really tell the difference in friendliness (here you are just another number, no one cares). I recently went back to Osky for a family get together, and I noticed that they have been restoring the downtown, historical buildings and they look great so far! The best place to eat in Oskaloosa would be Taso's Steakhouse--typical steakhouse but the food is delicious IMO. Hopefully this helps somewhat!

[ashcody]

I'm not sure if you will be renting or buying a home but either way the standard of living is VERY cheap as you stated earlier---we rented two seperate homes in Oskaloosa...3 bed/2bath for $450/mo and the other was 3 bed/1bath for $500. That's half the price of rent in Cedar Rapids. Some people have mentioned the "slow pace" of IA, this is true---I'm sure it will be quite a change from Portland but hopefully it will be a bit more relaxing for you!

[pffthtt]

Don't kid yourself, Des Moines has dangerous areas just like any city. And, like many cities its size and larger, there is a gang problem in certain geographical areas. But, overall, Des Moines is a great city. Easy to find your way around, great eating places, a good number of things to do and see. It's one of my favorite of all the cities I've been to, both inside and outside Iowa.
OK, Oskaloosa. Fairly clean, safe town, easy living, and an OK town if you're pretty much able to entertain yourself or find entertainment outside Oskaloosa. Otherwise, it can get pretty boring. It's a good area to live if you're into hunting, camping, fishing, golfing, dirt car or drag racing. The Knoxville Nationals for sprint cars is only about 25 miles down the road and the Eddyville Raceway Park, a $3,000,000. eighth mile drag racing facility is only 8 miles south of Oskaloosa. It truly is a world class eighth mile drag strip. Beautiful facility. And they race every weekend throughout the spring and summer. Oskaloosa has dirt track stock car (and sometimes sprint car) races every Wednesday night at the in town fairgrounds. And Newton, about an hour drive from Oskaloosa, has a bona fide NASCAR track designed by Rusty Wallace himself. So, if you're into racing...lots of it around there.
And, as someone already mentioned, Des Moines is less than an hour from Oskaloosa in case you want much more shopping, eating, and entertainment opportunities. So, you could live in Oskaloosa, use it as a quiet retreat, and drive (reasonable distances) to find entertainment. As long as you see Oskaloosa in that light I think you'll like it just fine.