Move to Des Moines or Austin Texas after the Army?

[Saylor91]

Originally Posted by atler8

Good luck there with your studies & decision-making & eventual career Saylor. Where will you study?

Thank you, sorry it took me so long to reply I just been getting busy getting paper work and all this stuff done to get ready to transition out of the army. I'm going to go and study at DMACC, I heard a lot of great things about them. I'm going to get into the IT field and and after that I'm going to try and transfer to Iowa University for my Bachelors degree.

I think this is a smart idea instead of just moving down south somewhere random and not have a job or any colleges lined up and not knowing the area at all. Plus Des Moines is only 2 hours away from home as well so it will be nice to go back and visit my family I haven't seen in over 3 years as well.

[lurtsman]

If I were choosing from the two, I would pick Austin. Out of everyone I know that does not currently reside within Iowa, all of them would choose to Austin. (Note: I only really know one person that lives in Texas, so this isn't a Texas bias)

For me, Austin, TX, isn't my cup of tea. Neither is Des Moines, IA. However, the differences extend beyond the political vibes that are usually referenced, or the weather that should be clear. Read weather reports for both cities so you know what it will look like and ask yourself what you would enjoy being outside in. Given that you are military, I'm assuming you are in shape. Given that you are in shape, you are much more likely to enjoy outdoors activities.

[Lizle79]

I've lived in Texas (Houston area), and far prefer Des Moines (if I can just get through winter here...!). Our 19-y.o. son who lives in Austin and is into indy music and city nightlife, visited us over the Christmas holiday and was surprised to find that he really liked it here (I suspect he'll like it even better when he visits this summer!). We've lived in a lot of different places, and have come to the conclusion that no place is perfect -- there will always be things you miss, and things you love about an area. Whether or not you'll be happy somewhere depends a lot on the attitude you bring into the situation; I could ***** & moan about the cold (it sucks!), or I can be thankful for the skywalk system, the ease of getting to anything in this area (and there are lots of fun things to get to!), and the greater appreciation I'll have for spring once it (finally!) gets here. There are things I miss about Texas (palm trees! good Tex-Mex! a backyard pool and weather warm enough to enjoy it!), but I sure don't miss the traffic, the lack of seasons, or the hurricanes!

[atler8]

Lizle79
Hang in there on winter this year! This is a rough one for the eastern half or more of the country & even your former location of Houston has had some bitterly cold (for them) temps on and off this winter. New Orleans had their first hard freeze in a couple of decades recently & the Florida pages here at CD have featured people complaining about the cold even on down that far south.
To put it in perspective, this is an abnormal winter for at least the eastern half of the U.S. I grew up in Iowa but have lived in Georgia for 35 winters & we have been badly affected down here by the same air masses you have had with far below normal temperatures. Just about 10 days ago we had our coldest low temperature in 20 years. I'm still waiting to see how many of the local palm trees will be lost this year.
Glad to know that you as a transplant have liked Des Moines overall so far & came here to tell us just that.
I hope that in my retirement I will be living back in Iowa, preferably in Des Moines or with a great river view from a bluff top in Dubuque!