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Old 03-26-2014, 01:29 PM
 
Location: Jonesboro
3,874 posts, read 4,696,375 times
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From my experiences there, I'd count Mount Vernon as another small town jewell!
Located in Mount Vernon, you would exchange closeness to Des Moines for closeness to Cedar Rapids & Iowa City with the Quad Cities & I-80's easterly connections all very handy.
Thinking down the road for your kid's higher educations, east central Iowa is chock full of institutions of higher learning too with Cornell College located in Mount Vernon itself.
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Old 03-26-2014, 01:45 PM
 
Location: Keosauqua, Iowa
9,614 posts, read 21,265,040 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ElleTea View Post
What is in Keokuk?
Not much these days.
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Old 03-26-2014, 06:34 PM
 
9,480 posts, read 12,290,797 times
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Originally Posted by duster1979 View Post
Not much these days.
Not much ever, really.
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Old 03-26-2014, 08:26 PM
 
51 posts, read 117,435 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nedibes View Post
TonyMacaroni, an awful lot of what you've said makes me think I should recommend Mount Vernon more strongly for you. Iowa City is smaller than Des Moines, but I would guess (someone please correct me if I'm way off base) that as a college town a higher percentage of the population is probably "nerdy" in the sense you describe--also a much higher percentage of Mount Vernon's residents compared to most Iowa small towns, for similar reasons (though I'm not familiar with the ones around Des Moines). It's also about an hour closer to Chicago (for when you need that NBA fix). Mount Vernon's great for kids, and as a fellow-nerd one of the things that I especially appreciate is that activities focus on the arts and science as well as sports (for example, my kids are involved in archery and soccer, but also children's theater, dance, and the "Creativity Club" that's basically a science-of-Minecraft thing).
Interesting. We figured a nice mix of going to Chicago and Minnesota would work to get our NBA / Comicon fixes. Will do some more research into the Mount Vernon side of things. My wife doesn't really care where it is she just wants to get back to Iowa. But since I'm going I wanna make sure it's the best place for the kids to go, which seems like we really can't go wrong with wherever we go for the most part.
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Old 03-29-2014, 03:29 PM
 
6 posts, read 13,863 times
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Have you looked into Bettendorf or LeClaire? Bettendorf is apart of the Quad Cities, so it is more of a metro area, but it has two of the top school systems Bettendorf and Pleasant Valley. LeClaire is a cool little river town that's well known for its antiques(American Pickers, anyone?) and your kids would attend Pleasant Valley schools which I do believe are the top in the state. Just wanted to throw that out there for you. Safety wise, you can't beat these two cities IMO. Two hour ride to Des Moines and two and a half hour ride to Chicago to catch a Suns game. I lived in Orlando for 5 years but was born and raised outside of Iowa City and I keep coming back to the area. I can relate to your wife wanting to get back here. It is a love/hate relationship with the weather but the grass is green during spring/summer and the fall time is gorgeous, summer will be a breeze for you. Winter was brutal this past year but if you are tired of hot, dry and congested I'm going to say you'll like it here. My family had toyed with relocating to Phoenix but I don't think I could live without the green grass and trees! What line of work are you in? That might be a factor.
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Old 03-29-2014, 03:49 PM
 
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Work wise I am in social media marketing. Work from home on my own hours so I can pretty much relocate anywhere. My wife does web support from home as well for another company.
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Old 03-29-2014, 05:07 PM
 
6 posts, read 13,863 times
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I would look into those two then. Located right off I-80 so an easy drive anywhere. I just wanted to throw those into the pile along with your other choices. I've been to most of the cities mentioned and you really can't go wrong with any of them. In Orlando I once witnessed a lady clip a bicyclist in her Lexus SUV and then just drive off. No one stopped as well, the man was not hurt but I couldn't fathom why she would just drive off! Not all Iowans are friendly but in my experience they are miles above the out of state areas I have lived in. Best of luck in your decision!
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Old 03-29-2014, 07:55 PM
 
51 posts, read 117,435 times
Reputation: 28
Thanks for the tip! We're still trying to lock in a decision. It's tough not being able to go and visit all of these places and then decide, going to just have to pick one blindly and hope for the best! Appreciate everyones help and info.
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Old 05-20-2014, 12:50 PM
 
40 posts, read 91,543 times
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Urbandale. Nice neighborhoods, affordable, good schools. There are comic book stores in several places in Des Moines and Urbandale is integrated enough that I would consider it part of Des Moines.
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Old 05-20-2014, 03:58 PM
 
Location: Keosauqua, Iowa
9,614 posts, read 21,265,040 times
Reputation: 13670
Quote:
Originally Posted by SewSweets View Post
Urbandale. Nice neighborhoods, affordable, good schools. There are comic book stores in several places in Des Moines and Urbandale is integrated enough that I would consider it part of Des Moines.
I'm guessing you missed his first post where he said he was specifically looking for a small town close to a city with certian ammenities but far enough away to have its own identity.
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