Preferable State: Nebraska or Iowa (live, best, better, compared)

[BlueRedTide]

Preferable States Hits Rural America. MOOooooo, Which of these largely Agricultural States also Interlaced with a Maize of Cities is your fortay and to your liking, Give your Opinion and Let's get to the Results


Preferable State: Nebraska or Iowa

- Preferred Location
- Brighter Future
- Best Major Cities
- Best Secondary Cities
- Topography & Landscapes
- Economy
- Higher Education
- Weather
- The State I Prefer is?

[Enean]

Tough one.

Preferred Location - Probably Iowa, as it's closer to more major cities
Brighter Future - Toss-up, maybe. Omaha has more going for it, than Des Moines, so maybe Nebraska
Best Major Cities - Nebraska
Best Secondary Cities - Iowa
Topography and Landscapes- Iowa
Economy - I'd have to look it up. Probably NE, due to Omaha being the home of several Fortune 500 companies
Higher Education - Iowa colleges and universities are ranked higher than those in Nebraska
Weather - Toss-up
Preference - NE, due to Omaha. If not for Omaha....it would be Iowa

[Hemlock140]

I once did a cross country all-summer road trip and hit all of the lower 48 except Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas. Nothing against them, but we started to run out of time and they were the least interesting states and therefore the most appropriate to skip. I wouldn't have any preference of those two, with my limited knowledge of them they seem very similar.

[fezzador]

Preferred Location - Iowa is less isolated than Nebraska is. Much easier drives to Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Madison & Milwaukee. However, Nebraska has slightly easier access to Kansas City (except for the far western part of Iowa) and Denver. However, Omaha does offer a bit more flight variety than Des Moines, but probably not enough to push it over the edge. Iowa
Brighter Future - Tough one. Omaha is slightly larger than Des Moines (about 1M vs 750K), but Des Moines is growing faster. That said, Iowa has arguably the most incompetent elected leadership of any state so unless there are some new faces in Des Moines and DC after the 2022 elections (and I have no real expectations that it's going to happen, few jobs offer job security like being a Republican incumbent in Iowa), Nebraska will probably take this.
Best Major Cities - Omaha is somewhat larger than DSM, and therefore has a few more amenities. The difference isn't so great that DSM cannot be favorably compared to Omaha, but even though DSM is Iowa's answer to Omaha, it's not a complete equivalent - at least not yet. However, the way things have been trending the past couple of decades, the Omaha vs Des Moines debabe is going to get a LOT more interesting in about 20-30 years. Nebraska - for now.
Best Secondary Cities - Iowa, but really only by default. There are only about 700K Nebraskans that live outside the Omaha-Lincoln corridor, so it doesn't really leave much as far as populated places go. Iowa has way, way more communities in the 20-50K range (that aren't already suburbs)
Topography and Landscapes- Both have underrated scenery, unfortunately they are generally well off the beaten path. Nebraska has the Sandhills, Chimney Rock, and is even home to a portion of the Badlands (like Toadstool Geologic Park) while Iowa has the Driftless Are (the topography is almost montane in some parts), the Loess Hills (less dramatic than the Driftless area, but at least they can be viewed from I-80) and some really really sweet state parks such as Backbone, the Ledges, and Maquoketa Caves.
Economy - Neither state boasts a ton of great-paying jobs, but unemployment for both states are usually some of the lowest in the nation. That said, I think Nebraska probably pays a little better (as evidenced by higher state minimum wage), plus Nebraska probably isn't much more (if any) expensive to live than Iowa. Both are some of the least expensive states to live.
Higher Education - Iowa's colleges are a bit ahead of Nebraska's, but with all these budget cuts the Iowa education system has definitely taken a hit. I don't necessarily think Nebraska is catching up, but more like Iowa's colleges (and public education system in general) is going through some serious regression. Iowa still has the advantage for now.
Weather - Pick your poison. Both have cold and windy winters with some snow, and both have summers that are very warm and humid (80s are the usual highs, but most summers have at least a few 90+ degree days). There are states that have worse winter weather and there are other states that have worse summer weather, but both states tend to have pleasant springs and falls which thankfully linger for a couple of months instead of just a few short weeks. I guess if you held a gun to my head, I would say Nebraska because there is no place in Iowa where you can escape the humidity, but in the Nebraska high plains in the far west, it's a bit more arid - not unlike Colorado or New Mexico.
Preference - Iowa is my home state, but I'd have to seriously think twice if given the opportunity to move back. The state has potential, but it's seriously shackled by terrible elected leadership. Bob Ray has to be shaking his head in disappointment at what Iowa has become. I'd probably pick Nebraska now (Omaha area specifically) as Nebraska is simply the better-run state these days.

[Fly Dragon]

Location: Iowa
Future: Nebraska
1st city: Des Moines, IA
2nd city: Lincoln. NE
Topography: Both are flat, but Nebraska
Economy: Nebraska higher income (census.gov)
Higher education: Iowa
Weather: too close to call
Preference: too close to call, but both states are good places to live.

[GraniteStater]

Iowa, but only because it gets more reliable precipitation and more vegetation/trees. Neither are states I would prefer to live in overall. Both have cheap real estate and somewhat high taxes overall.

[fezzador]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Iowa, but only because it gets more reliable precipitation and more vegetation/trees. Neither are states I would prefer to live in overall. Both have cheap real estate and somewhat high taxes overall.

I think that is generally correct. Iowa is definitely greener on the eastern side of the state than it is on the west, and that trend continues throughout Nebraska as well. For comparison, Cedar Rapids (the eastern side of Iowa) gets roughly 36 inches of rain a given year while Scottsbluff (in the far west part of Nebraska) barely gets a third of that.



The contrast is even more stark in Nebraska, as around the 100th parallel there is a definite transition from a humid to a semi-arid climate.

[IowanFarmer]

Throw Kansas in the mix and these are among the most similar states in the country.

Both have some very underrated natural beauty in their opposite corners. NW Nebraska has an actual national forest along the Pine Ridge, and NE Iowa's Driftless Area is almost mountainous. That said, 2/3rds of Iowa and about half of Nebraska would be topographically and florarly indistinguishable for most people.

Future? I'll give Iowa the nod just because it has multiple areas that are growing. All of Nebraska's growth is in one area, while Iowa has several thriving urban areas. The Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor is wholly independent of Des Moines. Iowa's rural decline is slower than Nebraska's as well. Iowa's idiot political leaders garner more attention than Nebraska's, but Republican lead governments across the country are working off the same extremist culture war playbook. Realistically there's not a huge difference here.

Economy? Probably Nebraska due to Buffett's sphere.

Education? Iowa. Iowa has 3 D1 sized public universities that excel in various areas. Republican leadership is trying to destroy public education here, but I assume the same thing is happening (or has already happened) in Nebraska.

Climate? Nebraska. It's basically the same, but as someone else pointed out you can escape humidity in far western Nebraska in the semi arid areas. Can't say that for Iowa.

I'm an Iowan who loves my home state, and Nebraska is our biggest "rival" state, but if you're being objective these are extremely similar states. I could easily live in Nebraska, if not for the freaking Huskers and their cultish fanbase.

[Phil P]

I think Nebraska has a really neat success story in turning what early Americans saw as the 'Great American Desert' into like the 3rd or 4th most productive state in the nation for agriculture! The Eastern US does not give Nebraska the credit it deserves because if those corn fields weren't in Nebraska, a lot of now forested land in New England and the Piedmont would have to be allocated to corn squares. The state, along with it's plains peers, enables the conservation across the rest of the nation. Iowa on the other hand was always going to be farmland.

Both aren't as ugly as people make them out to be. Interstates generally showcase the worst, most bland scenery of the state, and if that's all a persons seen, they haven't seen the good parts of either of these states. They put them in the most flat boring spots, because that's the logical place to build a big road.

Weather wise a lot of Nebraska is pretty close to Denver, a little wetter (a good thing) and warmer (also good) but more wind.

If I was going to WFH and live in one of the two, I'd either pick the MO / IA border or NW Nebraska.

The states are NOT flat, Nebraska topography is actually more interesting than a lot of states further east without mountains. That's a misrepresentation people have of the plains, they are a big gradient downward from the 5000' Colorado shelf to the couple hundred feet of elevation by the Mississippi. Only 2 states in the nation are flat enough for it to be a problem, Florida and Illinois.

[BlueRedTide]

Didn't know Des Moines had a waterfall in it's downtown with a pedestrian bridge crossing over it,

Also didn't know about a Disneyland of Iowa?
https://youtu.be/g3W9Lh7mY5k
Adventureland Park (The Iowa "Disneyland")

Seems like Des Moines is quite the underrated City