How Do You Like Living In Iowa? (Des Moines, Denver: property taxes, housing)

[movinonup]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

for the state tax, plwhorse. It's just as high as OR. 8.98% max in IA 9% max in OR. Add in sales tax (none in OR) and you have high tax rates.

http://www.retirementliving.com/RLtaxes.html

To be fair I have to mention other taxes/costs.

Gas tax: IA 21.7 cents/gal - OR 24 cents. I think $/gal is less in IA
Cigs: IA 36 cents pack of 20 - OR $1.18 Wish IA was this high

Cost of living difference: Earning 100K in Ottumwa you need 117.6K in Portland.

http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html

Ottumwa, like a lot of other cities in IA is a good place to live.

What have you heard about Marshalltown?

[Stevie]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Cactus Sam does make some valid points. While the people in Iowa aren't as mean as he may think, it is not the most accepting place to newcomers. The people do seem rather standoffish, but that is a trait of the upper midwest in general.

It lacks diversity, culture, and excitement. The trade-off is good schools, low crime, and no traffic.

Well, if you need to know something negative about Iowa...then Cactus Sam is your encyclopedia!

Let's be realistic here. Cactus Sam practically bashed Iowa to the core and if that's not enough to get you bad acceptance then I don't know what is.

As for Iowa not being the most accepting place for newcomers, I have to disagree there. Okay, maybe it's not the "most" accepting place but the way you are implying seems quite negative to me.

Non-acceptance is all over the country, not centered in Iowa, not in the upper Midwest, not in small towns, all over. I know I stated in another one of my posts that it was “small towns” but they can’t all be perfect. And plus, I’m tired of having posts deleted for little mistakes like that.

For example I got lost in Cleveland once and wound up in a black neighborhood. Apparently I was the only white person in that area because I was given LOTS of dirty looks...and I was just driving through! How accepted do you think I felt?

You will find acceptance and non-acceptance no matter where you go in this world. It's just a part of life. But at least in Iowa they only avoid you. In bigger cities they seem more willing to commit murder to show non-acceptance.

It's obvious that Iowans didn't accept Cactus Sam because he was rude and insulting, not because he was an outsider. Just read his post again. He criticizes Iowa a lot more than he explains this "rudeness" he is stating. In fact, all he explains about the rudeness is that "family ties" thing. Though he certainly didn't go through the trouble of explaining it better. I’m sure that whoever started this thread would have appreciated more info about that rather than this:

“Oh - LOL - just watch the "non-judgmental Christian" Iowans rally up and attack this post! You will laugh. They cannot take any criticism, because they know it is true.”

[RonnieJonez]

The "family ties" run a little too deep sometimes in these Iowa towns. Beware.

[goldenbrownsugar]

me and my family moved to iowa last year and we hate it here because it is a ***** ass state.one it's to cold in the winter,only white people can have fun and they are boreing,good thing thair is not much crime thank God for that.churches is okay,houseing is bad,dont get d.h.s. in your life they are dirty.sex offerders are not welcomed.what's up with everyone is going crazy over sex offerders what about people who commite other crimes.with all the sex on t.v ,porn,cartoons,half dressed women when you go shopping.it dont make sence.:confused.

[nblah]

I grew up in Northwest Iowa and loved it. Sure, small town life isn't for everyone. But you know what? Talk to teenagers who live in the suburbs of places like DC or Atlanta and they'll tell you how boring it is and how there is nothing to do there! Who does their shopping at stores anyway? Ever heard of the internet? I guarantee you will save a lot of money just shopping online instead of spending hours driving through city traffic to some trendy fashion park where you have to wait 45 minutes just to eat at the Cheesecake Factory.

As for Iowans not being friendly...I have spent the last 7 years of my life living in Virginia and Florida. Don't tell me that somehow Iowans are any less friendly than people in the South. FFV snobs are just as quick to dismiss you if your family hasn't lived in Virginia for 400 years. And Florida is so full of New Yorkers now that you can forget about common courtesy. I think Iowa is downright pleasant by comparison. Sure, some small towns are rough for outsiders (especially in places like Sioux County), but most people that live in DSM or Iowa City moved there from somewhere else in the state. And you'll find that even the smaller towns in Iowa seem 'bigger' than towns of similar size in other states. Sioux City has about 85,000 people compared to Brooksville, Florida with 120,000 people. Yet Sioux City has an auditorium that regularly features top tier music entertainment as well as hockey and arena football. And they have everything from Target to Kohls to Best Buy. Brooksville has none of these things. If you want to see any concerts or do any shopping around here you have to drive to an hour to Tampa or St. Pete, or two hours to Orlando, through some of the most horrendous traffic south of Atlanta.

Anyway, that is my two cents. The one thing I think I'd miss in Iowa is the ability to travel. There are so many wonderful ocean-front spots in the Southeast in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. On the other hand, living in Iowa you have Chicago or Denver within a days drive so it isn't all bad! There are good and bad things about living in Iowa, but as I tell my friends...when you're kids are going to start school, you'll wish they would start in Iowa!

[summer grace]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

The "family ties" run a little too deep sometimes in these Iowa towns. Beware.

I tend to agree somewhat, they are all related that is solid fact, whether you consider that good or bad. Of course Cactus Sam was way out there. You can try to fit in anywhere, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. I am no city person and would never live in any place too big, and would never say cities are more accepting than small towns. That is a myth, but that doesn't mean small towns are more accepting. I

I admit you have to make an effort to fit in in these towns. If you do, maybe it's different.It's not something I could ever do. That's because I am not the type si it would work.Some people could try to fit in and try, and never fit in, it isn't right for them. Some could, and they would be more accepted. It's all about where you belong and it seems to me people in small towns in the midwest know who belongs and who doesn't. That accounts for differences of perspective- both are true, but just to different people.

[airwing]

I'm a Californian that lived in Iowa for 5 years and loved it. I lived in Council Bluffs, Lake Manawa, and Portsmouth Iowa. I had no relatives or friends in Iowa and made a lot of friends after living there. I had to move back to California when my Dad died to take care of my Mom and now she has passed away and I'm going back to Council Bluffs. Cactus Sam must be one of the gazillions of Mexicans that live in California and feels more at home there. I like Iowa because it is without all the Spanish speaking illegal aliens. It's truly the heartland of America. I'm done with CaliMexico. Speak English!

[Thrown]

This is an interesting board that I'm posting for the first time. I was born and raised in Burlington. I moved away in 1977 at the age of 26 to California and I have been here ever since. I was a troubled youth and I feel the lack on mental stimulating and interesting things to do where part of the reason I got into petty crime and drugs. Iowa did offer decent schools schools at the time by I wouldn't say the teachers were particularly inspiring or open minded. Iowa wasn't to bad a place to grow up but fine place to high tail out of where reach young adulthood. I found people to VERY narrow-minded. I read one post here that referred to "colored people" Many of friends growing up in Burlington were "colored" mostly in a darker pigment than I. I have lived a few years in LA, a short time in Monterey/Santa Cruz, and for the last 26 + years in San Diego. San Diego is very expensive and you have to hustle but there are opportunities here I could only have dreamed of in Iowa. I have only been back to Iowa a few times in the last 30 years but I now notice how suspicious people are there. All they do is watch TV no wonder. I quess it's the goatee and "Californicated" aire I'm totin'
about me. Yeah, California has nut case drivers, and traffic
but there are reasons so many folks live here. I love it.

[Thrown]

I understand Burlington has a drug and gang problem. I also read the population is shrinking yearly.

[Stevie]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

The "family ties" run a little too deep sometimes in these Iowa towns. Beware.

How exactly do you justify your statement? Have you ever lived in one of these towns?

I'll admit that many of Iowa's towns have deeply rooted "family ties" but those are usually small towns. And besides, every sate has small towns with "family ties". I don't see how that could be centered in Iowa. I also don't understand why it's something you should "beware" of.

Big cities aren't much better. Even though big cities have varieties of culture and diversity, they tend to have a habit of splitting it up into different communities. Chinatown, Harlem and Morningside Heights are great examples.