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Old 06-12-2011, 12:16 PM
 
7 posts, read 15,970 times
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Hello all, I have the impossible question that has probably been asked several times before. My wife and two kids (5 and 7) are looking to move to iowa next year. So far we like just about everything about Iowa but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a nice small town somewhere on the eastern side of the state to the middle of the state. Heres kind of what we're looking for. Affordable Houses to buy
Low Crime
Smaller town (<20,000)
good schools Within reasonable driving distance to a larger town for something to do
We like older towns and old houses the best

Right now we are looking at Burlington. We like the old victorian houses and it seems like a decent town from everything we've read and seen. Just wondering if anyone had any other ideas or suggestions. Thank you all in advance.
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Old 06-13-2011, 08:12 AM
 
Location: Texas
38,859 posts, read 25,544,683 times
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I used to have relatives in Burlington and visited there quite a bit over the years. It's a real nice town and each year in June they have a big festival called "Steamboat Days" that you might want to attend if you can get there. I always liked the natural setting of the town, with neighborhoods on tall bluffs overlooking the Mississippi. Very scenic. Burlington also has just about the nicest public parks you'll ever find in a town of that size anywhere in the country.
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Old 06-13-2011, 11:18 AM
 
7 posts, read 15,970 times
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Thank you...we haven't been there to see it in person yet but we are hoping to this summer. I don't think we're going to be disappointed.
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Old 06-13-2011, 02:12 PM
 
Location: Keosauqua, Iowa
9,614 posts, read 21,273,013 times
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I grew up about 30 miles south of Burlington on the Illinois side, and worked in West Burlington for a couple of years. I've always liked the town, very scenic and historic, good parks, adequate shopping for everyday needs, nice newer hospital, minor league baseball team, good schools as far as I know. It's big enough that there are a couple of rough areas, but those can easily be avoided. I wouldn't hesitate to move there.
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Old 06-13-2011, 09:34 PM
 
4,857 posts, read 7,611,888 times
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LeClaire. Small town. Major revitilazation going on downtown. It has arsty fartsy lil shops. A couple of expensive restaurants, a couple cafes. It's home to the guys on the tv show 'American Pickers'. Several festivals every year. Good schools. Close to the Quad Cities. If I had a family I'd probably live there.
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Old 06-14-2011, 06:20 AM
 
Location: Davenport, Iowa
415 posts, read 1,739,481 times
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Burlington isn't a bad choice, but I do question how it fits with your "reasonable driving distance to a larger town" requirement. Galesburg, which is not exactly a "large town" is an hour away, and the closest decent size metro area, the Quad Cities, is a 90 minute drive. Maybe that's considered reasonable to you, but I wouldn't want an hour+ drive every time I wanted to stop at a Best Buy.
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Old 06-14-2011, 06:11 PM
 
7 posts, read 15,970 times
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If we want to go to a "real" town right now where we live we have to drive an hour and a half or two hours anyway.
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Old 03-26-2012, 02:46 PM
 
Location: Fort Madison, Iowa on the Mississippi
4 posts, read 15,249 times
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Fort Madison (FM) is 15 minutes south of Burlington for Walmart, KMart, Target, Menards, Lowes. FM is a friendly town welcoming to newcomers, good schools, little crime. Unfortunately a high unemployment rate. Siemens makes windturbine blades, crew change point for Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad with Amtrak direct route to Chicago and Kansas City. Within 90 minutes via mostly new 4 lane roads to Iowa City/Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities IA/IL, Hannibal MO/Quincy, IL. Farther but good 4 lane highway "Avenue if the Saints" to St Louis MO/St Paul MN.
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