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Which state would you prefer for a living? I've been researching each US state for quite a while and narrowed my search to these two states. Let's say getting papers and job wouldn't be an issue.
I'm young European with a family and interested in several things:
-how does feel of a place compares? I'm really interested about feel and vibe of KS/IA. Meaning climate, landscapes etc. Which state has more natural sights? We're nature lovers. I prefer strong 4 season climate. What about tornadoes and other natural disasters?
-major towns, which offer more in terms of culture and nightlife? What about small/college towns? Which state has better Universities and public schools in general? Cities/towns with a historical core would be our preferences even though I know middle US isn't like the east coast when it comes to that.
-how does culture of two states compares? This is major question for me. Which state is more close knit and traditional? We are pretty conservative and prefer to live surrounded by people similar to us. Vibrant places with lot of young conservatives would be a good fit. We also wish for a family oriented place.
-how does cost of living compares, taxes etc?
-which state has better sports culture? But that I don't mean having pro sport teams, but having more locals who are into sports. I like sport crazed towns a lot and would pick a place where my kid can chose between several sports from early age.
-which state has more educated population and intellectuals?
-finally, are these any differences between demographics of tow states? We have a preference to live in a white majority area. I'm also curious about weather are there any east euro and catholic groups present in these two states.
-which state is safer in terms of less violent crime, less registered sex offenders etc?
Regarding scenery, the Driftless Area of northeast Iowa is probably more scenic than anywhere in Kansas, at least in terms of what most people value in a scenic area. The Kansas Flint Hills are beautiful in their own way as well. The Driftless is just closer to a mountainous setting.
Western Kansas gets into the semi-arid high plains where it becomes almost truly treeless and the transition from tallgrass to shortgrass prairie sat. Iowa doesn't have anything like that. Traditionally both states were mostly tallgrass prairie with some forested areas.
Both states skew politically conservative recently, although I feel that Kansas skews a little more culturally conservative. There are a lot of people in Iowa who vote Republican simply because of their stance on guns and abortion that aren't all that conservative in other regards. The vibrant places in Iowa tend to lean more liberal and the rural areas more conservative. There are lots of clean and well kept rural communities in both towns that would be conservative, but I don't know that I'd call them vibrant. Northwest Iowa, especially around the Iowa Great Lakes might be a good bet for you.
As far as college towns, both states have 2 major D1 universities. Both sets are the classic "University of ____" that focuses on liberal arts, law, and medicine vs the "____ State" that focuses on agriculture and engineering. Lawrence and Iowa City (home of the liberal arts public school) are remarkably similar as are Manhattan and Ames (home of the ag/engineering). 3 of the 4 are members of the Big 12 conference and were members of the Big 8 before it, so they share a lengthy collaborative history.
Weather wise, both have strong 4 season climates. Kansas gets a few more tornadoes, but Iowa still gets a lot of them. Iowa gets more blizzards in the winter, but Kansas still gets really nasty blizzards. Iowa is a little milder in the summer, Kansas a little milder in the winter. Both can be very uncomfortable at either end.
City-wise, I think Des Moines has more going for it than Wichita, but the Kansas City metro bleeds heavily into Kansas and is considerably more cosmopolitan than Des Moines.
Both states are really white, and have major Catholic populations. In terms of eastern European settlement, the national Czech and Slovak museum is in Cedar Rapids, and there are Czech enclaves in northeast Iowa. Not sure on Kansas, other than it seems to have a lot of towns named "St _____" which indicates lots of Catholics. I'm pretty sure Wichita has a heavy Catholic tradition too.
At the end of the day, you're probably going to be fine either place. The differences between them are pretty nuanced.
Iowa all day. Way better scenery, much better location (closer to Chicago, Minneapolis, and other cities), better college towns, and more politically moderate.
Oh wow, thanks a lot for the replies. Very useful.
We actually wouldn't have anything against living in rural community as long as it's reasonably close to bigger metro which offers things you don't get in the countryside. We're open to anything, rural, small town to bigger city.
I'm leaning Iowa tbh. But far from decided. What does it means that "Iowa has way better scenery"? I taught they're fairly similar. Reading some replies there, high plains part of Kansas wouldn't be my pick. I definitely don't like treeless landscapes and prefer relatively green and forested region. At least a bit.
Somebody mentioned Nebraska, I've considered it, but it seems kind of...more isolated compared to these two? Correct me if I'm wrong.
Oh wow, thanks a lot for the replies. Very useful.
We actually wouldn't have anything against living in rural community as long as it's reasonably close to bigger metro which offers things you don't get in the countryside. We're open to anything, rural, small town to bigger city.
I'm leaning Iowa tbh. But far from decided. What does it means that "Iowa has way better scenery"? I taught they're fairly similar. Reading some replies there, high plains part of Kansas wouldn't be my pick. I definitely don't like treeless landscapes and prefer relatively green and forested region. At least a bit.
Somebody mentioned Nebraska, I've considered it, but it seems kind of...more isolated compared to these two? Correct me if I'm wrong.
The Driftless Area of northeast Iowa is much closer to a mountainous kind of scenery than any part of Kansas.
Nice, looks like Europe a bit. Definitely pleasant landscapes. That being said, I actually like flatlands as well as long as it isn't desolate and treeless.
For what the OP is looking for, these two are very similar in more ways than not.
I'd prefer Kansas since part of the Kansas City, Missouri metro is in it. One of maybe 3 larger cities I'd consider living in anymore.
Politically, Kansas is more reliably conservative.
Both have surprisingly nice scenery if you know where to look, and far more interesting than people give them credit for.
Kansas would be closer to the mountains out west, while Iowa has quicker access to the Northwoods and Great Lakes.
Personally, while I like Iowa, there's just something about it that makes me think there's no way I'd live there. Maybe it's too eastern and the population is more evenly spread out. I like wide-open spaces if I had to choose between the two.
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