May be relocating to Perry, Iowa - husband's job transferring with Tyson (Des Moines: schools)

[parrispf]

Hi, my husband might be relocating with his job to Perry, Iowa. This means we would either live in Perry or on the outskirts. I would like as much info as anyone would be so kind of give me. We are actually in our early 40's.....with my first child - just being born 14 day ago! I do not work. I just moved from Palm Beach, FL to Jackson, MS area for his job as well - and now we might be moving again.....we would like to know the cost of living, how the education is, people in general (I am from the deep south - parents being from South GA), shopping, dining....best places we should check into living....safest....etc.....whatever you think we might want to know...thank you so much!

[mofford]

You might be able to adjust OK to Perry as it is diverse like the the area you are moving from, but is small town trying to cope with rapid changes over the past decade. Perry is about 50/50 white and hispanic and would think it to be much more safe than Jackson, but there are better choices Perry has a few more stores than many towns that size, not having a Wall Mart must play a factor and helps local business. Perry has a good hospital but had to give up on delivering babies several years ago when they were doing 10 free births for each paying one. Perry schools have a disadvantage because key Tyson executives are not in jail for illegal hiring practices and the company is not paying hefty fines that should go to the City of Perry.

City services are feeling the pinch but don't get the idea the cops are in snooze mode. They know how to detect and micro manage the smallest driving errors and convert them to a new form that makes direct contact link from wallet to the city treasurers office.
You might want to consider other nearby towns like Adel, Woodward, Granger or NW Des Moines suburbs and commute to Perry,