Best City/Town with character? (Des Moines, Iowa City: homes, to live, legal)

[Chicago60614]

Burlington, Davenport, Dubuque....

They're all on the Mississippi, and I believe Dubuque is the safest from floods, but honestly if you're not in the business district right along the river, I wouldn't worry too much about Davenport or Burlington.

Tornadoes, it's all equal. Tornadoes seem to terrify people who aren't from tornado alley, and while they are something to be aware of, the chances of you getting killed or your house being destroyed are just slightly above 0%.

The size of these cities is quite different. Metro population:

Burlington: 40,000
Dubuque: 100,000
Davenport: 375,000

Davenport also has Rock Island, Moline and Bettendorf which are going to give you a great deal more historical architecture than just paying attention to Davenport alone. The area stopped growing for the most part around 1980, so it's a fairly historic area as far as building stock.

I think Dubuque and Davenport would give you a better chance for a job, etc. than Burlington. Not that there's anything WRONG with Burlington, but it is fairly small and stagnant.

Galena is across the border from Dubuque in Illinois, and would probably make you drool based on what you're looking for.

A lot of this:

[BVitamin]

oh man, those pictures. :\ now i have reassess my tour of iowa (from another thread), that shot of downtown, i'm guessing, is amazing.

[Chicago60614]

Well Galena is only 15 miles from Dubuque, in Illinois. You could see Dubuque, cross over and see Galena (highly recommended), then head south from there to Sabula/Savanna to cross back into Iowa. Go through Clinton and LeClaire into Davenport. Then through Muscatine to Burlington if you want to see that, and back up to Iowa City.

How are you leaving the area? Flying back out of Dubuque? You could just drive from Iowa City, up through Cedar Rapids and take highway 151 back to Dubuque.

[BVitamin]

I'm going to buy a one way ticket to Dubuque and a one way ticket out of Iowa City. And that's a very plausible route as well, would save me from backtracking into Dubuque.

Thanks

[julierob29]

Don't forget to visit SOUTHERN Iowa as well! Just as beautiful and packed with history. In Bloomfield/Drakesville area we also have a large Amish population. Towns like Centerville, Exline, Mystic, Albia, Ottumwa and the surrounding areas all boast a lot of "firsts". And unlike big cities people will bother to learn your name and will support your business if you're friendly!

Also, don't worry about weather! In every state there is SOME form of natural disaster. You just take the good with the bad.

[timeofseasons]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Burlington, Davenport, Dubuque....

They're all on the Mississippi, and I believe Dubuque is the safest from floods, but honestly if you're not in the business district right along the river, I wouldn't worry too much about Davenport or Burlington.

Tornadoes, it's all equal. Tornadoes seem to terrify people who aren't from tornado alley, and while they are something to be aware of, the chances of you getting killed or your house being destroyed are just slightly above 0%.

The size of these cities is quite different. Metro population:

Burlington: 40,000
Dubuque: 100,000
Davenport: 375,000

Davenport also has Rock Island, Moline and Bettendorf which are going to give you a great deal more historical architecture than just paying attention to Davenport alone. The area stopped growing for the most part around 1980, so it's a fairly historic area as far as building stock.

I think Dubuque and Davenport would give you a better chance for a job, etc. than Burlington. Not that there's anything WRONG with Burlington, but it is fairly small and stagnant.

Galena is across the border from Dubuque in Illinois, and would probably make you drool based on what you're looking for.

A lot of this:

Is this Iowa or New Hampshire?

I agree, Iowa City is a great place to stop through.

[BVitamin]

I do appreciate the suggestions julie but I'm trying to narrow things down, though I would love to have the time to visit all these places, I just don't at the moment.

I've been looking at past posts on certain cities in Iowa and to be quite honest, Dubuque sounds off-putting because of the emphasis on the city being really 'Catholic'. Des Moines had never interested me before but looking at some homes around the city, they have some great finds and are cheap compared to what I found in Iowa City which wasn't much. Although the enthusiastic comments of Iowa City makes me want to live there. I've heard UofI has a great writing program, Is this still true? I imagine the city full of writers. Des Moines also has more business around and a Costco, lol, if I could land a job at Costco I would be set. The mention of Des Moines growing into a metropolitan city, like Chicago, at the rate it's going seems a deterrent and I'm sure with, if at all, the amtrak to Chicago gets built it would grow that much more. Iowa City also seems to be one of those stops to and fro, and growth is to be expected. I've been to Chicago, from what I gather on here about Iowa, I would hate to see all the roaches from Chicago filtering in which isn't to say that Chi-town is entirely bad, I actually love parts of it but not enough to put up with the other crap. So that's where I'm at.

On a side note, I told my brother/boss that I may be moving in the near future and he offered to give me a raise, nothing significant though :/ Central Cali is really an armpit, real estate here is incomparable to the real estate in Iowa which offers more for your dollar. Most of the buildings here date back to the 70's, cookie cut-urban planning 70's, just a whole lot of blah. So, I believe I'm set on moving. Don't hate on me but I've been contemplating on Portland, Or as well. Hopefully within the next eight months I'll get to visit both places. Portland first and then Iowa.

[timeofseasons]

Originally Posted by BVitamin

I do appreciate the suggestions julie but I'm trying to narrow things down, though I would love to have the time to visit all these places, I just don't at the moment.

I've been looking at past posts on certain cities in Iowa and to be quite honest, Dubuque sounds off-putting because of the emphasis on the city being really 'Catholic'. Des Moines had never interested me before but looking at some homes around the city, they have some great finds and are cheap compared to what I found in Iowa City which wasn't much. Although the enthusiastic comments of Iowa City makes me want to live there. I've heard UofI has a great writing program, Is this still true? I imagine the city full of writers. Des Moines also has more business around and a Costco, lol, if I could land a job at Costco I would be set. The mention of Des Moines growing into a metropolitan city, like Chicago, at the rate it's going seems a deterrent and I'm sure with, if at all, the amtrak to Chicago gets built it would grow that much more. Iowa City also seems to be one of those stops to and fro, and growth is to be expected. I've been to Chicago, from what I gather on here about Iowa, I would hate to see all the roaches from Chicago filtering in which isn't to say that Chi-town is entirely bad, I actually love parts of it but not enough to put up with the other crap. So that's where I'm at.

On a side note, I told my brother/boss that I may be moving in the near future and he offered to give me a raise, nothing significant though :/ Central Cali is really an armpit, real estate here is incomparable to the real estate in Iowa which offers more for your dollar. Most of the buildings here date back to the 70's, cookie cut-urban planning 70's, just a whole lot of blah. So, I believe I'm set on moving. Don't hate on me but I've been contemplating on Portland, Or as well. Hopefully within the next eight months I'll get to visit both places. Portland first and then Iowa.

I will be attending The University of Iowa and look forward to taking advantage of the schools writing talent. I also like to write short stories and could read it over a million times. Yes, the school is still world known for its writing program. Iowa City is the only city in the USA known as World City of Literature along with two other cities located in Europe.
Iowa City and its near by towns are growing.

[BVitamin]

I suppose I'll just throw in Des Moines into the trip, I'm sure these cities wouldn't take more than a day to explore.

I also like to write short stories and could read it over a million times.

Is this complacency, or narcissism, or are you just that great?

[skylar0201]

Originally Posted by BVitamin

Don't hate on me but I've been contemplating on Portland, Or as well. Hopefully within the next eight months I'll get to visit both places. Portland first and then Iowa.

Unless you land a good-paying job and a place to live here in Portland, you might want to re-think of moving up here.

Our bad economic status the last 10 yrs has me considering moving to the mid-west myself lately. Just can't seem to find a job paying more than minimum wage so I can establish a "moving" savings to up and get out of here. I know the economy is really bad in most of the country, but I have been forced to make about $500/mo LESS now than I was just a year ago.

I'd miss the mild climate we have year-round ( and I grew up in SW Wyo so I am used to blizzards 3-4 months a year ) but that is about it.

Portland has not only got expensive in the 16 yrs I've been living here, but almost *EVERY* single job around here nowadays is in sales or a staffing service ( or both ) where you do not ever get hired on. Some people have worked at Xerox ( a large employer here ) for 5-10 yrs all as a temp w/o ever getting hired and thus no benefits either.

If I could find an employer willing to hire me in Des Moines, IA I would be gone from here....but yes, southern Cal is definitely not better than we have it up here.