Cities of the Midwest: Omaha vs. St. Louis vs. Des Moines vs. Kansas City (live, best)

[stlouisan]

Just want to hear all the pros and cons of each Midwestern city, which one is the best one for me to move to, and which would give me the most enjoyable experience as a resident! Please post.

[steel03]

Well what are you looking for? They're all good, but it depends what you want.

Omaha and Des Moines are very similar. Omaha is more isolated and feels more like a Great Plains city, but it's also a few hundred thousand people bigger than Des Moines, whereas Des Moines is a little smaller, but less isolated and feels more Upper Midwestern/liberal. Both cities are growing extremely fast (and punch way above their weight), and I would class them both as very underrated.

Kansas City and St. Louis are a lot bigger and more well-known than the first two, but I do think Kansas City is similarly underrated. And I'm assuming you already know quite a bit about them both, especially STL, given your name and location.

[chessgeek]

I think for places to visit, it would be a close call between Kansas City and St. Louis hands down over both Omaha and Des Moines. They would simply offer more. There are zero pro sports teams in Omaha and Des Moines. Kansas City has the Country Club Plaza and St. Louis has the Gateway Arch and Laclede Landing. I know there is a popular river boat ride to Hannibal and back from St. Louis, too. I would imagine KC and St. Louis offer a better variety of shopping and dining.

Omaha does host the College Baseball playoffs, though. I have seen that on TV and it seems to be enjoyable. I have heard Omaha has a real nice zoo, too. It depends on what interests you.

As far as places to live, I simply would not know. I have heard St. Louis has a high rate of violent crime. Is that still true?