How Do You Like Living In Iowa? (Iowa City, Bettendorf: cost of, safe)

[bikegirl76]

Originally Posted by Northern Traveler

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

Marriage! Unless my parents would take me back, it seems I'm stranded out here on the <sarcasm>culturally gifted</sarcasm> East Coast.

[Northern Traveler]

Originally Posted by bikegirl76

Marriage! Unless my parents would take me back, it seems I'm stranded out here on the <sarcasm>culturally gifted</sarcasm> East Coast.

Gotcha. That's unfortunate to hear ... the hubby is missing out on a great place to live!!! East Coast is for the birds!

[jtv2011]

Originally Posted by Cactus Sam

We moved to Iowa in the late 1990's, after carefully researching as much as we could. (Much like you are doing right now.)

At first we liked the quaintness. It was like going back in time at least 40 years. But, after awhile we grew to despise the place.

Our family's experience with Iowa (along with several other people we met from out of state that moved there and left, also) is:

It is backwards, dirty, moldy and decrepit. The people HATE outsiders and if you do not have any "ties" with relatives in the state, or if you were not born in Iowa - you will never be accepted. Never.

Don't worry about the mosquitos - worry about the stink of hog lots and ethanol plants, the lack of laws, the ignorance and inbreeding of the people.
The rudeness, the moldy restaurants, the dirty stores. Oh, and did I say ignorance? Oh, and how about the run down houses in the dead and dying small towns? Oh, and the meth labs everywhere....everywhere...

We have NOTHING good to say about Iowa except that we sold our house - at a loss, of course. And got the heck out of there. We would have walked away if it hadn't sold, but fortunately it did.

We moved to the desert in California, and are dumbfounded at the nice, friendly people. We hadn't been around friendly people in years. Iowans are not nice people at all. No, not at all - not to outsiders.

I hope my post helps you because I wish people had told us when we were researching Iowa about how backwards it is there. They kept talking about the weather. The weather is nothing. It's being around the people there that is so horrific.

We wasted several years in Iowa. I wouldn't wish that place on my worst enemy. Go West - you will never regret it.

Remember, the people are a big part of where you move - and Iowa is most definitely not a friendly state. It was a nightmare that is over!!

Think about California, Arizona, etc. People are nice there.

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

Adios, Iowa - we couldn't move far enough away from you.

We now live in a house in an area with nice people, our house is increasing in value daily, there are many things to do, and the people are NICE again.

I dont know what part of iowa you moved to, but it doesnt sound like iowa to me. i have live in iowa all my life and the only bad things i can say about it is probably taxes, and state dicks. there are SOME small towns but wherever, whenever every town in iowa has a heart and always welcomes new comers. {excluding orange city iowa, which is pretty much built on stuck up dutch people} when you moved to iowa, your obviusly didnt do much studying and probably moved to the worst place in iowa.

[Cactus Sam]

Well, JTV - I have to agree with you. We weren't able to do much research. Wished the Internet had been available to us in the early 1990's when we decided to move.
That sure would have helped in making a correct decision.

We relied mostly on library books, and a few trips to Iowa to make our decision. Plus, word of mouth stories in magazines on small town living. We also wrote to Chamber of Commerces and had brochures sent to us.

There really wasn't any other way to research things. We did as best as we could back then to do our research. We always enjoyed our trips to Iowa.
But, we didn't know anybody there at the time, either.

For example, if we had moved to Ankeny, Ames, or West Des Moines, Iowa City, Clive, etc .... we would definitely have had a much better atttitude towards the place. As, those are all nice places to live. They are all clean, healthy, vibrant places.

Heck, we probably would have settled in and stayed there. We always enjoyed shopping and visiting those areas when we lived there.


They weren't anything like the small towns we chose to try to make a life in.
We just picked some bad places. These are the places that even the Iowans that were born there are glad to leave to go to bigger and nicer cities.

But, alas - we were dumb. And, just picked a place based on folk tales, really. Outsiders like us just didn't fit in the types of places we chose to move to. And, I'm the first person to admit I was dumb and naive about all of this. We must have watched too many old movies.

And our complaints were always about rural, small towns and the way we were treated. Year after year, we never could adjust. We tried. It just wasn't meant to be. We gave up. We left. We are happy now. We are home again.

Too bad City-Data board wasn't around. What a big help that would have been. Too bad Internet Access wasn't readily available where we lived in the early '90's when we moved, etc. Because that would have been a major help.

Maybe some people had Internet Access then, but our city didn't have any local numbers and we didn't even have a computer. Heck, we moved before Windows 95 even existed.

I'm glad that people can go online now and research things.
That is so amazing to me still.

But, believe me - I agree with you. We should have been smarter.

[summer grace]

Originally Posted by Northern Traveler

Gotcha. That's unfortunate to hear ... the hubby is missing out on a great place to live!!! East Coast is for the birds!

I'd rather be on the East coast.. but NE Iowa comes highly recomended from me!

[decomama]

Oh Cactussam you are so right. The People of Iowa are ssssssoooooo discriminating and they love to play games. They have had nothing better to do. Yea daycarelady you are an el local that are nice to our faces and then watch soap operas and gossip. No outsiders, we'll never be accepted I have heard over and over. well if you are so holy then STAY IN iOWA AND DON'T MOVE TO OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. You see people, Iowans think they can move anywhere but they always come back home at retirement age and go back to discriminating. The small towns are all welfare states meaning these countys get moneys from the government and give it to the same old people, you know cronyism. it keeps them employed, that's all it does now. Never mind making noticable improvements. And if you as an outsider comes up with a great idea, they will shoot it down because an outsider brought it up. Absolutely NO DEMOCRACY IN THIS STATE. I am on the Mississippi River and theres too much imbreadfing here.

Originally Posted by daycarelady

OH PLEASE!! I have lived in Iowa for 41 years. It is NOTHING like this bitter cactussam is stating. People are friendly. We have great roads. Winters are cold, summers can be hot. It's a farm state so you have to expect stinking pigs if you are in the rural area. Our schools are among the top in the nation. According to AARP we are in the top 10 for the elderly to retire. There are government assistance programs for old and young. My husband and I are contemplating a move to Greenville, SC to be by our daughter and son in law, but we're both having a hard time pulling ourselves away from Iowa. I'm proud to say I'm from Iowa and find it hard that most people would not find it a great place to live as well, whether you are into rural areas or city.

[jenionthemove]

Originally Posted by blakeb99

I will be moving to the midwest soon and am possibly looking at Iowa. I am wondering from the people who live there how it is? Do they have as much cold weather and mosquitos as their neighbor minnesota? how are the roads and stuff? is traffic a problem there?

Iowa is a friendly state. It's cold in the winter, Minnesota is obviously colder. Mosquitos, yes- of course more by water. Traffic, what traffic?

[pcjohnson]

What is student housing like in Clinton?

[antz2205]

may i know what is Iowan perception towards Muslim woman wearing head scarf over there?

[iowegian]

Originally Posted by antz2205

may i know what is Iowan perception towards Muslim woman wearing head scarf over there?

Honestly, in a smaller town, you might be stared at. You would probably be the only Muslim in most Iowa small towns.

However, I see Muslim women wearing head scarves all the time here in Iowa City and it is not a big deal. People here know that it's a religious thing and don't have any problem with it. I would think the same would be true for Des Moines, Ames, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, and the other "major" Iowa cities.