How Do You Like Living In Iowa? (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: daycare, taxes)

[ehenningsen]

Originally Posted by Prairie Dweller

Eh, it's an online blog you'll find all types. It's like a trip to Wal-Mart.

perfectly stated

[Alt Dach]

Originally Posted by Justaguy

There are probably places in Iowa to have an acreage with a garden away from the crops, just not where I live. From my experience the people spraying could care less about you or your garden. The water, well that's another story, I just know I don't see private wells around here any more. Like I said, I can't really compare Iowa to living anywhere else because I have always lived here. There are a lot of cattle feed lots and hog confinements that do smell pretty bad if you are very close to them, as for what they put in the enviroment, I wouldn't even wanna guess. It's the crop spray that I really don't like.
There are still a lot of pheasants here. Wild turkeys everywhere. The deer are thick as ever. The hunting is great if you have a place to hunt.
I like the morel mushrooms that come in the spring.
There are probably a lot of good things about Iowa, I think I have just been here too long.

If it gets to the point where you can't use a well, you have 4 SURE been there to long.New York City has some of the purest drinking water in the world from its Catskill Mt. resevoirs-NO joke!

[Alt Dach]

Originally Posted by keensta

I'm just curious as to where in Iowa you lived. I'll agree with you in the smaller towns that people aren't "friendly", they are are "courteous" and yeah in some parts of the state they never quite warm up to "outsiders". I am sorry you had such a miserable time in Iowa, but we aren't all horrible people as your post implies.

Wise post.Visitors from cities often mistate courtesy for friendliness.
In any small town anywhere in the USA with a STABLE population folks
simply have no need of new friends,indeed probaly have all they can
do to keep up with all the ones they have had since 2nd grade not to
mention the relatives.

I was schocked when I lived in moved to a small German village when
everyone went out of their way to include me as that was one of their core values,unlike here.

[pioneer98]

Originally Posted by katychicago

I've never lived in a place where news stories were "Killed" because the local newspaper didn't want to upset the cops, city council or local philanthropists who keep the county coffers filled.

I see your name is katychicago? Does it have much of a history of corruption or anything?

Anyplace you live is pretty much at least 80% of what you make of it, if not 100%. Personally, it's a stretch for me to imagine living anyplace else. It's not perfect, but no place is. I really like the work ethic of the people here. I feel like I can make a difference here, and things seem to be on the up-and-up. There's more entertainment options here than we can actually take advantage of. And it's a great place to raise our 3 year old.

[IrisMGOK]

Originally Posted by Bloviator

I wouldn't take Cactus Sam's words as gospel. You can find backwards, unfriendly towns in ANY state (yes, even California), particularly if you are in a rural-ish part of the state. Sam is certainly welcome to his own opinion, but unless he tried every town in Iowa, I don't think his views are 100 percent valid

Be wary of any posters who generalize and sweep with a broad brush. And who knows what Sam was like - maybe we only know HIS side of the story and he gave people cause to be unfriendly. (shrug).

The city I live in friendly, progressive, and you would never - in a million years - sell your house at a loss. My own home has doubled in value in the past 10 years. I live in Iowa City. True, it is quite unlike much of the state, and that's partly why I cringe at generalizations like Sam's.

Iris, the Kiplinger's report thing (and similar ratings) certainly do need to be taken with a grain of salt. And remember that the factors they use as measuring sticks include things like cost of living, education, job market, etc. Factors like that may rank a city highly but if you are a young kid-free person looking for a place to live (for example), you might see something like Des Moines and - off the cuff - think, "What?! Give me a break!" But sometimes those rankings make sense, based on the specific criteria. Remember, they aren't looking at things like excitement, night life and bar specials. LOL!

Sorry it took me a year to see that you answered me! What you say has the ring of truth to it, for sure. Thanks.

[IrisMGOK]

Originally Posted by DreamworksSKG

Heh try driving in Boston where I drive every day

-(grins)

-Jeff
Winchester, MA

GO SOX!/PATS----
RED SOX 2007 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!

Ah, Winchester, where there are no street signs whatsoever. I have a friend on Buckman drive...but I won't get into that on the Iowa board!

[primalclaws1974]

Don't listen to people that lived in big cities and moved to Iowa. If you want big cities you should probably stay where you were. The biggest metro area in Iowa is the greater Des Moines area in Polk county with about 600,000 people.
I'm from a town of 10,000, so des moines does some congested to me at times. smaller towns, maybe not so bad.
Biggest towns in Iowa:
1) Des Moines: 200,000 people
2) Cedar Rapids: 120,000 people
3) Davenport: 98,000 people
and it gets smaller from there.
The attitude in big cities are the same everywhere, but over all I think most Iowans are pretty decent. Of course, you find A-holes everywhere!

[Jay100]

I'm from am an original Californian and had one 3 day visit to Iowa (Des Moines, Ames, and Waterloo in April). I must say that I really liked the people. They were generally friendly and happy. The air was clean. The noise was minimal. Streets were clean. I guess it reminded me of the great state that California USED TO BE before it was overtaken by transplants and immigrants. Granted, I haven't actually lived in Iowa but it did seem like a good place to raise a family...and I'm an excellent judge of character.

[bikegirl76]

Ok, reading this thread has been pretty irritating, but first things first:

I get the distinct impression that those here who are discussing phenomena they have PERSONALLY witnessed ("friendly people," particular attitudes, etc.) vs. a rumor (Iowa is like the SOUTH!!! ZOMG!!!) from some guy's (from New Jersey) blog are talking about SMALL-TOWN LIFE IN IOWA, OR, MORE PARTICULARLY, SMALL-TOWN LIFE IN A PARTICULAR PART OF THE STATE. Iowa is a fairly large state, remember, with everything from smidgeons of traces of (yes, I'll contradict myself here this once) Southern-ness (in pronunciations of certain words, etc.) in a narrow zone bordering the very-culturally-Southern state of Missouri, to very "Scandinavian" "Northern" sections in the northern (particularly the northeastern) parts of the state. The bigger (and medium-sized, in many cases) cities would have funky coffee shop zones, bland suburban areas, ethnic areas of various types, bla bla bla (just LIKE California, ironically). What I want to stress above everything else, though, is this: the VAST majority of Iowa is NOTHING like the Southern united states, in spite of what you might see depicted in b-grade comedies set in Iowa (and filmed in Western Texas or a similarly far-from-Iowa locale!). Southern accents? No. Lynchings? No. Banjoes? No. Hillbillies? (Yes - hillbillies in Iowa.. imagine that!)

I'm not attempting to smear the Southern U.S., mind you.. the brushstrokes that have been used by Hollywood, etc., to characterize THAT region have also been unfairly broad (and unashamedly just-plain-ignorant-of-reality).. but that's a subject for an entirely different thread.

I am an American of German descent whose ancestors ended up in east-central Iowa by way of eastern PA and then northern IL. We are terribly well-traveled, well-educated, mostly boringly suburban (that is, until we ended up in a small town in west-central Missouri, where we stayed for twenty years.. yikes.. now THAT was an interesting experience). I've been all over the United States as an adult and have yet to see much to compare to the mid-sized and larger towns in the Northern Midwest for overall cool but laid-back general intelligence, and an almost painful at times straining to fight a never-earned stereotype of being "backwards" (and, yes, for convenience's sake, I suppose, often depicted toothless and with a Southern accent) with an uber-awareness and participation in progressive trends.

There. I'm done. Now I'll go ride my Specialized bike down my greasy New Jersey street and daydream that I was back in IA, at my favorite natural foods co-op.

[Northern Traveler]

Originally Posted by bikegirl76

Ok, reading this thread has been pretty irritating, but first things first:

I get the distinct impression that those here who are discussing phenomena they have PERSONALLY witnessed ("friendly people," particular attitudes, etc.) vs. a rumor (Iowa is like the SOUTH!!! ZOMG!!!) from some guy's (from New Jersey) blog are talking about SMALL-TOWN LIFE IN IOWA, OR, MORE PARTICULARLY, SMALL-TOWN LIFE IN A PARTICULAR PART OF THE STATE. Iowa is a fairly large state, remember, with everything from smidgeons of traces of (yes, I'll contradict myself here this once) Southern-ness (in pronunciations of certain words, etc.) in a narrow zone bordering the very-culturally-Southern state of Missouri, to very "Scandinavian" "Northern" sections in the northern (particularly the northeastern) parts of the state. The bigger (and medium-sized, in many cases) cities would have funky coffee shop zones, bland suburban areas, ethnic areas of various types, bla bla bla (just LIKE California, ironically). What I want to stress above everything else, though, is this: the VAST majority of Iowa is NOTHING like the Southern united states, in spite of what you might see depicted in b-grade comedies set in Iowa (and filmed in Western Texas or a similarly far-from-Iowa locale!). Southern accents? No. Lynchings? No. Banjoes? No. Hillbillies? (Yes - hillbillies in Iowa.. imagine that!)

I'm not attempting to smear the Southern U.S., mind you.. the brushstrokes that have been used by Hollywood, etc., to characterize THAT region have also been unfairly broad (and unashamedly just-plain-ignorant-of-reality).. but that's a subject for an entirely different thread.

I am an American of German descent whose ancestors ended up in east-central Iowa by way of eastern PA and then northern IL. We are terribly well-traveled, well-educated, mostly boringly suburban (that is, until we ended up in a small town in west-central Missouri, where we stayed for twenty years.. yikes.. now THAT was an interesting experience). I've been all over the United States as an adult and have yet to see much to compare to the mid-sized and larger towns in the Northern Midwest for overall cool but laid-back general intelligence, and an almost painful at times straining to fight a never-earned stereotype of being "backwards" (and, yes, for convenience's sake, I suppose, often depicted toothless and with a Southern accent) with an uber-awareness and participation in progressive trends.

There. I'm done. Now I'll go ride my Specialized bike down my greasy New Jersey street and daydream that I was back in IA, at my favorite natural foods co-op.

well what in the hell is stoppin ya from coming back?