How Do You Like Living In Iowa? (Sioux City, Iowa City: house, rent)

[foxfireofavalon]

Eastern Iowa....from the Quad Cities to Iowa City...North to Maquoketa...Decorah, is pretty nice ...I can't speak much for other parts of Iowa as I haven't spent much time beyond Des Moines. Plus, eastern Iowa gives you closer access to Chicago, St. Louis, The Twin Cities, and the lovely state of Wisconsin. Lots to do if you know where to look. Crime could be worse. Traffic is ok...

It all depends on how you see the glass...half full or half empty!

[Mint Green]

Burlington, Davenport, and Waterloo are anomalies in Iowa. These cities/towns in Iowa have very high African American populations. These cities have very bad gang problems. Burlington's crime rate is very high for a city it's size and so is the other two crime rate. I read a post earlier about Burlington that said Interracial relationships is a sin. That's a total fabrication. In Burlington and any of the other cities I have mentioned you will see just as many I-R relationships as you would same ethnicity relationships and there are tons of bi-racial children. Gypsy, also mentioned that if a black person walked into a church people would turn around in shock and awe, not true, maybe if it was a "white Church" because in most cases blacks and whites worship in separate places. I don't know much about DSM because here in the Southeastern part of the state Saint Louis and Chicago are closer or more worth the travel than DSM.

[summer grace]

Originally Posted by foxfireofavalon

Eastern Iowa....from the Quad Cities to Iowa City...North to Maquoketa...Decorah, is pretty nice ...I can't speak much for other parts of Iowa as I haven't spent much time beyond Des Moines. Plus, eastern Iowa gives you closer access to Chicago, St. Louis, The Twin Cities, and the lovely state of Wisconsin. Lots to do if you know where to look. Crime could be worse. Traffic is ok...

It all depends on how you see the glass...half full or half empty!

I agree about that- Eastern, and Northeast Iowa are really really nice nice. I haven't actually see much of the rest of the state, but when I did last summer, I started cringing. It is really bad- corn fields and more cornfields ( okay, so that is partly true). Northeast Iowa is very scenic, nice place to live except for the all related to each other people. Eastern Iowa the same. I would advise someone to stick to northeast Iowa and eastern Iowa. The rest of the state, is more Iowa. Waterloo is to be avoided, believe me I have seen it. I think the best town in IA is Decorah, it is really lovely, and not so boring, it is a nice place to be. The best city is Dubuque, also very nice, very scenic, not boring. I think people would really like living there, in my opinion, and it can be done really well if you ignore some of the locals, but those places are not that bad.

[Notfromhere99]

I love Iowa. I lived in the Twin Cities for a couple of years, just for a change but I got homesick and I just missed the familiarities here. Now I live in DSM and I love it. Most people say it sucks but I disagree. There's plenty to do, you just have to do your research! Read the paper, read Juice online, etc. Plenty of opportunities.

[IA Boy]

We have lived in several states and believe Iowa to be the best in the Midwest. The people here are friendly and live with a good deal of common sense. Most believe that others should have the freedom to live their lives as they please as long as they are not hurting anybody or attempting to shove their choices down anothers throat. I guess I would describe it as socially progressive(for the midwest) but with a backdrop of old school moral values. The roads are excellent as are the schools.
I dont find the winter weather to be as bad as some comment. Maybe that is because we live in the far southern part of the state. We lived in Indiana for several years and although it can get even colder at times in Iowa, we much prefer winter here with a lot more sunshine and some nice breaks sprinkled throughout the season that we just rarely saw further east.
Be aware...there are pockets of poverty here and not much big-city glitz. And, by golly, you can even buy that there Starbucks coffee when you hitch up the team and head into town. Seriously, if you are looking at the midwest, iowa is a nice place to live.

[DSMGuy]

I could see where Twin Citians might say DSM sucks, we're a lot smaller and we don't have nearly as many things to do, but for a metro of 520,000 people, we do pretty well. A lot of the sports and things we have here are a notch below major league, but then again, we have short commutes, great schools, and other things that balance it out.

Des Moines is not necessarily the trendiest place, but Fast Company magazine said it was among the hippest cities in the country.

There was a suggestion that DM is not real trendy compared to certain Iowa cities, but usually "trendy" in Iowa is if you are wearing a black t-shirt with a huge yellow logo on the front that resembles a parrot head. So, if that is what Iowa trendy is, I'm glad we're different.

[summer grace]

Originally Posted by IA Boy

We have lived in several states and believe Iowa to be the best in the Midwest. The people here are friendly and live with a good deal of common sense. Most believe that others should have the freedom to live their lives as they please as long as they are not hurting anybody or attempting to shove their choices down anothers throat. I guess I would describe it as socially progressive(for the midwest) but with a backdrop of old school moral values. The roads are excellent as are the schools.
I dont find the winter weather to be as bad as some comment. Maybe that is because we live in the far southern part of the state. We lived in Indiana for several years and although it can get even colder at times in Iowa, we much prefer winter here with a lot more sunshine and some nice breaks sprinkled throughout the season that we just rarely saw further east.
Be aware...there are pockets of poverty here and not much big-city glitz. And, by golly, you can even buy that there Starbucks coffee when you hitch up the team and head into town. Seriously, if you are looking at the midwest, iowa is a nice place to live.

I agree about the winter weather. They vary, but December is usually like spring where I live, it is not white at Christmas. The rest of the winter can be cold or warm depending. It was a bit worse this year, but that isn't typical. I don't find the winters awful, no. It isn't Alaska!

[movinonup]

Originally Posted by organic mama

I was born and raised most of my life in Iowa. Most of the Natives in Iowa are simple and like to take things slow. They are Very friendly and like to talk...especialy the older ones.
Iowans are a bit on the conservative side. But...Oh'well.
The only reason I can't stand Iowa is because of the Winter season and Hayfever season.
I moved to Oregon awhile ago now and love it, but greatly miss the laid back attitudes of Iowans.
Everybody is in a hurry on the west coast..and it seems like they just forgot how to smell the roses. I've talked to many "Native" oregonians and they all tell me the same thing... "Oregon wasn't always like this, but when the Californians started moving here...
they brought thier attitudes and mind sets with them. Fast pace, rude and arrogant."
It's sad but true.
I don't think Iowa will ever have that problem, since most people can't stand a slow lifestyle.
The simple things of life bring Joy to most True Iowans.

Yep, and now Oregon is just as dirty (well, maybe not quite as) as California. Some just admit that we've been "californicated". Bummer!

[movinonup]

Originally Posted by STRAIT

My brother moved from south Texas to Iowa a little over a year ago and just loves it. He said the summer months were wonderful compared to what we have to experience here. The people are very friendly, housing is afforable and as far as taxes go, he went from paying almost 5,000 a year in property taxes to just 800.00 a year in Iowa. He did say it took awhile to get use to driving in the ice, but wouldn't move back to Texas for anything. As far as schools go, his children who were both honor students in Texas schools struggled all year to catch up to the children in Iowa schools. I guess it all depends on where you're from and what you want out of life. He enjoys a sense of community in his small Iowa town, something we haven't been able to enjoy in our area of Texas for sometime. Sometimes, getting the most out of life is as simple as knowing where to live.....................

Where in Iowa did your brother move?

[movinonup]

Originally Posted by Southside Shrek

KT7O

if you want to see some 'floating' around in the air, go down to Maharishi University in Fairfield, IA. Bet you don't have that where you live.

Thats good!