What do you love and hate about living in Iowa? (Des Moines: hotel, homes)

[oinkerville]

I've lived in Alabama resQman. One of the first things you'll notice is the weather is usually not very good most of the year up here. Parts of Iowa does have some nice scenery. I remember some decent colleges in Alabama you should try Auburn or look at it. In a perfect world I wouldn't go any further south then Birmingham, Alabama, or further north then Hannibal, Missouri. Iowa and Alabama are a lot alike except much better college sports in Alabama than Iowa and Alabama has much better weather; however, not nearly as much trash on the back roads of Iowa that you have in Alabama. The public schools seem to be better in Iowa than Alabama for the most part. With a satellite dish you can pull in Auburn or Alabama most Saturday's in the fall. Taxes are a lot higher in Iowa than Alabama as they have to do things to the roads up here a majority of the winter so you're not slipping and sliding all over the place. I like living in East Central Missouri the best as the winters didn't seem to be nearly as long and hard as winters in East Central Iowa.

[leilay]

QC jobs for the average person seem to come and go, though no one I know has had a bit of trouble picking up something for minimum wage. I would say, like most places, that I would find a school and a job before moving. It just makes life that much easier!

[Backintheville2]

Originally Posted by Squeaky2012

Likes:
1.) Cheap cost-of-living
2.) Low crime rate
3.) Adequate schools
4.) good governance (outside of some right-wing crazies in the state legislature)

Dislikes:
1.) Lack of diversity
2.) Cold and snowy/icy winters
3.) Lack of a major metro area over 1,000,000
4.) Passive-Aggressive attitudes by many

It is what it is, and that's why I'm leaving.

Interesting: your "dislikes" are some of the reasons I'm thinking of retiring there, lol. Different strokes I guess.

[City Data Guy]

Originally Posted by Squeaky2012

Likes:
1.) Cheap cost-of-living
2.) Low crime rate
3.) Adequate schools
4.) good governance (outside of some right-wing crazies in the state legislature)

Dislikes:
1.) Lack of diversity
2.) Cold and snowy/icy winters
3.) Lack of a major metro area over 1,000,000
4.) Passive-Aggressive attitudes by many

It is what it is, and that's why I'm leaving.

LOL, "lack of diversity". Reading this thread, I knew someone would eventually whine about there being "too many white people". Didn't you research the demographics before moving to Iowa? Don't like white people? I think you'll love Compton. I've heard the schools are great and crime rates are non-existent. No gangs whatsoever.

[Serious Conversation]

Things I like coming from east Tennessee living in the Des Moines metro:

1) Relatively high income to COL ratio. My position in IA pays nearly twice the offers I received for equivalent positions in TN. Yes, it costs a bit more to live here than in TN, but the salary difference, at least for me, is substantial.

2) There are a wide variety of reasonably well-paying positions across many industries. at least in Des Moines. Insurance, finance, health care, IT, education, manufacturing on the east side, and agriculture all have a presence. With the exception of possibly Nashville, Iowa has a much more diverse and stronger economy than anywhere in TN.

3) Des Moines has a lot of concerts, events, attractions, etc, for a city of its size. There's quite a bit to do within the metro.

4) Low crime and safety. I feel safer in West Des Moines and most of Iowa than I did in a lot of Appalachia. People in the Midwest tend to keep their property up a lot better than Southerners.

Dislikes:

1) Taxes. I know Iowa isn't a high tax state overall, but the taxes are high to a TN native. There's no state income tax in TN and the IA rate for my bracket is nearly 8% Sales tax is a relatively high 6% on most items, and my car registration, which was less than $30 in TN, was $210 here. The taxes don't completely eat up my salary difference, but I am looking to go to a lower tax state and hoping not to face the income decline that is likely to happen if I go back to my hometown.

2) A lot of Iowa is pretty isolated from major metros. Des Moines is nice, but you are two hours from Omaha, about three to KC, and four to MSP. Flying into and out of Des Moines is much more expensive than Charlotte or Atlanta.

3) Iowa just doesn't have a lot of natural beauty coming from somewhere with many rivers, several lakes within a half hour drive, numerous hiking, fishy, hunting, camping activities, etc.

Bottom line: Iowa isn't the most exciting place around and it's more expensive than I thought, but there a lot of good jobs here, the economy is stable, and the people are friendly. I wouldn't discourage people from moving to IA, but I can see why people would be leaving. There are many, many worse places than IA that people could live in the country.

[bcrichdesmoines]

Can't remember if I posted already here or not. I love Iowa because there is nothing embarrassing about living here. Ok so we don't have any huge cities or sports teams but at least we have beef on all the surrounding states! :P

[rm2012]

my son and family moved to central iowa several years ago .i had heard about midwest hospitality what a joke.very unfriendly,when trying to strike up a conversation on grandparents day at the local catholic elementary school actually had a person look at me then turned their back to me.

[CincyIowan]

Pro's: Iowa is a wonderful state to grow up in

Con's: Not much to do.. Too many NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) people.

[CincyIowan]

Originally Posted by Emigrations

2) A lot of Iowa is pretty isolated from major metros. Des Moines is nice, but you are two hours from Omaha, about three to KC, and four to MSP. Flying into and out of Des Moines is much more expensive than Charlotte or Atlanta.

That's just really the one bad thing about Des Moines is that it's in the center of the state with no other major population center's close by, unlike Eastern Iowa has more close ties to areas like Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids, Peoria, etc.

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by CincyIowan

That's just really the one bad thing about Des Moines is that it's in the center of the state with no other major population center's close by, unlike Eastern Iowa has more close ties to areas like Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids, Peoria, etc.

Can you explain why it is a "bad thing" that living in Des Moines, we're not closer to cities like Quad Cities, CR, Peoria, etc.? I'm not being snarky, I honestly would like to hear your prespective on it. We have Ames only 30 minutes away which gives us BCS level college sporting events. DM already offer more events/festivals/concerts/theater than I have the time or money to attend. What do these particular ciites or cities the size of CR, QC, etc offer, that we'd need them to be closer so as not to somehow be a negative for DM? Honest question.

It get why there would be advantages to being closer to a large city like Chicago, but KC is only 3 hrs, Minneapolis is only 4 which isn't a bad drive given how often you actually need to visit the bigger city for anything.