How can we make Iowa more appealing

[Movingrightalong...]

Originally Posted by Chicago_Guy312

I left Iowa after high school to go to college in Chicago. I never plan on returning to Iowa. I'll share some of the reasons I left and what, in my opinion, Iowa could do for young people. This is completely casual and anecdotal, so please don't berate me for my responses.

-From what I've seen through traveling, Iowa is one of the most "average" places in America. It's primarily a suburban/rural state. It's in the middle of the country and is mostly flat with four season weather. There isn't a whole lot of ethnic diversity. It's stereotypical "America."
Iowa has to do something make young people want to stay. Instead, high achieving high schoolers (who then go on to become top professional talent in the university) bail the state as soon as they turn 18 and never come back.

Iowa does have a lot of positives. It's cheap and the people are nice. Now the state really needs to build off of those assets to turn Iowa into a destination.

I'm one of those "high achieving high schoolers" that finished a doctoral degree and moved to Iowa. In my opinion it's one of the finest places on earth precisely because it is one of the most average places in America. Chicago? Seriously? I'd sooner live in a beach hut in Cabo.

[il_blguy87]

Originally Posted by Movingrightalong...

I'm one of those "high achieving high schoolers" that finished a doctoral degree and moved to Iowa. In my opinion it's one of the finest places on earth precisely because it is one of the most average places in America. Chicago? Seriously? I'd sooner live in a beach hut in Cabo.

troll

[il_blguy87]

Iowa, offer IBM incentive to move IBM from DBQ to DM, or even CR/IC and you'll make Iowa a lot more appealing to people from big towns

[NDak15]

To make Iowa more appealing pitch Des Moines, Ames, and Iowa City for the nice places they are. Also show pictures of the woods in the river bottoms, especially in the fall.

[marska]

Originally Posted by kkakes

We are hoping for a move back to Iowa after having been around some other states. We want to raise our children there. Sometimes I think it is hard to appreciate what you have until you lose it for a while. Trust me, you don't want to make it like some of the big cities. We are moving back to escape some of the problems that go along with those.

kkakes...ditto and well said!!!

[marska]

Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta

One thing I never got used to about Iowa when I lived there was the Big Brother mentality of the various layers of government there.

ILD, you need to do your HOMEWORK before making a statement like this one !!!
According to the Mercatus Cnter at George Mason University
Iowa | Mercatus

Iowa ranks :
Freedom Rankings

• #13 Overall
• #7 Economic
• #30 Personal

Analysis

Despite frequently electing politicians who do not seem very interested in preserving freedom, Iowa’s policies are fairly freedom friendly. The state particularly stands out on economic regulation. Iowa also has a light touch on land-use planning. Labor regulations are business friendly, with right-to-work laws, no minimum- or prevailing-wage laws, and a decent workers’-compensation regime. Health-insurance coverage mandates are low. The court system is very good. Occupational licensing is much better than average. On personal freedoms, the picture is mixed. Marijuana sentencing definitely needs reform. Private schools are highly regulated, and homeschool standardized testing and notification requirements are burdensome. Asset forfeiture needs reform. However, most forms of gaming are permitted. Individual and grassroots PAC political contributions are unregulated, but corporate PAC contributions are banned altogether. Extensive smoking bans have swept in recently. Cablefranchise reform was enacted not long ago. A judicial decision legalizing same-sex marriage occurred after the period covered by this index.
Policy Recommendations

1. Improve the environment for personal freedom by cutting sin taxes and reforming marijuana sentencing guidelines.
2. End private-school teacher licensing. Reduce standardized testing and notification requirements for homeschoolers.
3. Reform asset forfeiture by placing the burden of proof on the government and redirecting proceeds to the general fund.

If you want to experience "Big Brother", try New York .

And the Lowest Ranked?
50. New York
49. New Jersey
48. Rhode Island
47. California
46. Maryland
Most of these states share rigid gun control, high taxes, strict labor laws, and smoking bans, but are relatively liberal when it comes to same-sex unions and marijuana laws (except Rhode Island, which allows a maximum life sentence for severe marijuana-related offenses) .
Only New York ranks in the bottom five for both personal (#48) and economic (#50) freedom, which gives it the lowest overall score by quite a margin.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

I don't think #30 out of 50 in personal freedom is something to shout about. That is clearly below average.

Of the bottom 5, I lived in NY (NYC), RI (Providence) and CA (OC). I am not going back to any of these places any time soon. And frankly, it's not very useful to be presented with "Iowa is safer and more free than NY or CA (or Chicago or Detroit)!" type of remark at every turn. Iowa is not competing with these places to attract educated population. It's competing with places like WA, OR, TX, TN and VA, especially the economically vibrant and safe suburban and exurban areas with good schools and high family-friendliness, combined with more diverse lifestyle amenities (restaurants, museums, etc.).

I now live in Northern Virginia. VA is #9, #5, #23.

As I mentioned before, I have very fond memories of my time in Iowa. However, there were some very high negatives for me there, including: gun control (at the time, there was no shall-issue CCP system -- I understand there is now), high taxes (esp. property and income), high barrier to home schooling (thanks to vigorous lobbying by teachers union) and horrible, horrible diversity of the food scene/restaurants despite having wonderful locally grown ingredients (beef, pork, vegetables) -- absolutely the blandest food I ever tasted anywhere in the world. Additionally, although most people I encountered there were very nice, hard-working folk, I found a great degree of insularity and distrust of outsiders (non-Iowans or more broadly non-Midwesterners).

There is a reason why Iowa has experienced net negative domestic migration rate in the period covered by the Mercatus Center study (2000-2009). I am not the only one and people have voted with their feet.

In contrast, VA has experienced net positive domestic migration during that time, to which of course my family and I contributed.

By the way, I happen to be socially conservative rather than libertarian and don't necessarily agree with the Mercatus rankings (I happen to know and occasionally work with folks at the Mercatus Center, by the way). For me anyway, there is a difference in personal freedom (such as having the right to carry a gun lawfully so long as I pose no danger to the rest of the society) and public recognition and approval of private behavior previously deemed negatively (such as homosexual marriage). But, of course, that's beyond the scope of this thread.