What do you love and hate about living in Iowa? (Cedar Rapids: low crime, felony)

[ronncee]

look what one woman typed...you can find this quite common
Iowa Is a Godforsaken Waste Land : I Hate Iowa Story & Experience

[testerc]

The folks on HeyIowa. com voted on this and the most loved aspect to living in Iowa was the weather. It was also the most disliked.

[marska]

Just Try Living In New York

[NDak15]

Capital City Guy, I base the close-mindedness on many people I have seen there, and that includes much of my family. Many Iowans seem to think their state is the only one in the nation. I know many people from there who can't fathom someone never visiting the state even though there are no tourist attractions and it may be out of the way for some people. The state always seems so insulated to me because most people never leave and few move in outside of the major cities. It is also interesting how most people who move out seem to never move back.

[DMRyan]

People seem to say the same thing everywhere. If you're in Boston, you're in the center of the universe, if you're in Chicago, you're in a vaccum separated from the rest of the midwest. Hell, I've even gotten the sentiment from people in Minnesota where they can't fathom the earth not rotating around their orbit. I'm guessing this has much more to do with pride and self-importance than it does with being insulated.

Also, I doubt the 'insulated' population in Iowa's rural areas is really all that different from the rural areas in other states that aren't growing and attracting outsiders.

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by ronncee

. Culture of course ur good at it your a state but you need to turn your heads to the East cost for the FINER education... knaw on that

I really don't understand what you mean by this.


...and the word I think you're trying to use is "gnaw".

[Pierce2011]

Originally Posted by ronncee

look what one woman typed...you can find this quite common
Iowa Is a Godforsaken Waste Land : I Hate Iowa Story & Experience

Now that was an excellent read!!! LOL!

[DirtMagurt]

Originally Posted by ronncee

look what one woman typed...you can find this quite common
Iowa Is a Godforsaken Waste Land : I Hate Iowa Story & Experience

I seriously LOL'd at that. Just hilarious and absolutely on point.

[Dport7674]

Originally Posted by WyoEagle

] I know many people from there who can't fathom someone never visiting the state even though there are no tourist attractions and it may be out of the way for some people.

I find this hard to believe. I've never met an Iowan who felt this way. The opposite is true in my experience.

[timeofseasons]

Originally Posted by supermom0204

We moved here about a month ago from Michigan for more secure employment, which is definately more plentiful here. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. Many people have been very welcoming, others have seemed to be less than thrilled with our arrival, and there doesn't seem to be much in-between. The school system we chose to live in, rated very high on greatschools.com, we aren't overly impressed with- not terrible, but we were used to a ''school family'' back home- and we started in that district as outsiders too. We thought we would find the same atmosphere here in the heartland, but it's just not here. It is very safe where we live, and it does seem like we've travelled back in time 40 yrs, which has its pros and cons. People on here have complained about the weather, which I laugh about coming from MI. No, icy roads are not safe, but neither are earthquakes, mudslides, wildfires, or hurricanes found in other areas of our country and there isn't much we can do about any of them but be aware and take safety precautions. I'm anxious to see what there is to do in the summer here- we're used to beaches galore and those are not easy to find here. I think it boils down to just giving it a chance and realizing that if you move here, it won't feel like home for quite some time because it's just different than what you're used to. It certainly doesn't feel like home to me yet, but I hope it will eventually.

I live in both Michigan and Iowa. Eventhough both are often referred to midwest states I definately notice a difference but also similarities. Being that I am in Iowa City so far my experience is great, and a lot better than the reviews I've read on this thread. I simply did not know that Iowa City was much more different than the rest of the state. My time in Des Moines was amusing, and although it is small, driving on the highway and streets the city felt like a much larger. I have been to Grand Rapids a number of times and I think it's very similar to Des Moines and although Grand Rapids has a larger metro the city feels as if it is smaller.
In a couple years, although I enjoy both Michigan and Iowa I plan to move to a much larger city as I admire being close to nature but also big city life, and bustling downtowns that both of the states lack. Speaking of Iowa specifically, most of the growth that I notice while living in Iowa City are in the suburbs, I have only been told that Iowa City will no longer have a downtown as the city council refuse to allow such with their policies. I do not hear about downtown projects in Iowa City like I do in other similar cities. Though recently the former city manager of Birmnham Michigan was hired, a town that I think has an impressive downtown for its size.