Cr Or DSM HELP!! (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: jobs, new house, low crime)

[irishkenzo]

I plan on moveing to Iowa in next couple of months cant decide between cedar rapids or dms any info would help will be renting at first then buying .will be useing public trans for a while. so good bus system is a plus thanks..

[Luke9686]

It's difficult to guide you to an area with only the info provided. There are many factors in choosing a new place. What are your goals? What do you want from a new place? Jobs? Museums, stuff to do? Housing prices? These will all weigh in the responses you get.

[doogy]

Originally Posted by irishkenzo

I plan on moveing to Iowa in next couple of months cant decide between cedar rapids or dms any info would help will be renting at first then buying .will be useing public trans for a while. so good bus system is a plus thanks..

Iowa is Iowa corn beans and hogs but I would prefer CR. I've lived in both places. Eastern Iowa (the whole Eastern Iowa) seems to be much more exciting.

[irishkenzo]

Good schools is a must a good job market reasonable home prices ie50.000/100.000. low crime and welcomeing locals would not hurt and good public trans would be a major plus

[Pearlbob]

DSM has good public transportation, and I'm sure it's gotten even better since I've lived there. DSM is bigger and has a lot more to do and more options. Good schools. It's bigger, so you'd assume the job market is bigger as well. Not sure about a $50,000 home...that sounds rather low for anywhere in the country almost. DSM is a big city, so home prices are going to be higher than if you were in a rural area. I'm sure you could get something relatively nice for closer to the $100k mark. Just depends on what you are needing in a home.

[DSMGuy]

DSM has a much more vibrant nightlife and atmosphere than CR. There are many more things to do and the events and attractions are on a much bigger scale and some of them are nationally recognized (Art Festival, State Fair, Farmer's Market).

I don't know what you're looking for or if you are right out of college or a family with kids, but DM will have much more to offer on both counts.

CR's proximity to Iowa City does help if you are looking for a vibrant college atmosphere. DM is near Ames (ISU), but Ames is definitely not Iowa City.

[irishkenzo]

thanks for the feedback.i think the more i look into it the better DSM is looking.

[pearlieBOBbieQ]

I enjoyed the DM area when I lived in Grinnell, nice little, great college town though, good people, intelligent people, hardly any rednecks either ! Grinnell College of course is one of the finest schools in America too !

[Chicago60614]

If you're gonna live in Cedar Rapids, might as well just live in Iowa City a few miles to the south. Very good schools, on the interstate, 3 hours from Chicago.

Des Moines is great though right now. The city is booming in a way that Iowa isn't use to. The 80's and early 90's hit the state hard, but the Des Moines area has grown from a metro of 392,000 in 1990 to around 550,000 now. The city seems to really be picking up even more steam since 2000, with a ton of new development downtown, a very large new mall going up in the west burbs, and thousands of new houses going up in the burbs. I think the area finally just got big enough to creep onto the national radar, and businesses and corporations are seeing the highly educated workforce and low crime levels. The city is also drawing many more young Iowans with its increased growth, as they can choose to go there instead of running out of state as in the past.

[Luke9686]

That mall is done. Very nice. Everytime I go back, my parents neighborhood has changed.