What are people like in Iowa (Des Moines, Sioux City: real estate, rental, hotel)

[Pearlbob]

I think it definitely depends upon what city you are moving to in Iowa. The bigger cities are of course more cultured, liberal, and educated. The smaller farming communities are going to be more republican and conservative and more simple minded, and probably less willing to accept newcomers. Not necessarily a bad thing, but definitely different. I am quite positive the people of Iowa City are nothing like the people of Lamoni or Pella or Emmetsburg! If you go to the larger cities, or the college towns, you'll find a ton of different races, cultures, and people who are from all over the world.

[DecayingAngel]

I found people from Iowa friendly, helpful and very educated. Back in the '80s (don't know about now) Iowa had the highest level of education attained by its inhabitants percentage wise of any other state.

Neighboring South Dakota was a different story. Again, this is going back quite a bit. Just crossing over the border (we lived in Vermillion, SD while I attended graduate school there) was an eye-opening experience. If you didn't have light hair (blond, red, light-medium brown), it could get hard fast.

My hair was a natural very dark brown. In an area peopled by Norwegians and Germans who were very light, anyone with such dark hair was assumed to have Indian blood. No Italians in sight! The people were very insular and didn't have much contact with descendants of Scandinavians or north Germany. I could relate some of my eye-opening experiences there but this is not a thread about South Dakota.

Suffice it to say that just going over the border into Iowa (which we liked to do every sunday) was like entering another country. I never had a problem there. Hard to believe but true.

Just a little trivia: the movie "Children of the Corn" was filmed in Iowa off of the Interstate in a sleepy little town. You could see it from the highway in a sort of valley. I can still remember the main street, which was almost all there was to it. Even in small places like this, the people were much friendlier and not as suspicious. Considering we lived just outside a University town in SD, that's saying quite a lot!

Don't get me wrong, I did finally make some friends in SD, but it took a while. I never got that suspiciousness in Iowa. One of those weird things in life, I guess. To be fair, a lot of people in South Dakota had ancestors who were massacred (and mutilated) by Indians, esp. near Minnesota, so these stories were passed down to the present generation. It takes a while for these types of wounds to heal

[Pearlbob]

Isn't it really the other way around regarding white folk and native americans? Natives were almost all killed off by whites in this country and treated horribly. I mean...white did invade their land and take it from them, and then passed on all their diseases which killed off millions of people...I would have probably been a little pissed back then too! Hard to imagine that white people anywhere would feel any sort of hatred towards native americans or...people with dark hair??!! I'm not saying that I don't believe you, but it sounds like the people of South Dakota there had their stories wrong and generalized incorrect info to apply to anyone with non-blonde hair. It's so sad to hear about things like that still taking place in this day and age.

Comparing the small farming areas of Iowa to the small country areas of the south, I think overall there is simple/close mindedness everywhere. But from what I have experienced, in Iowa it may be more ignorance (an actual lack of having black/asian/hispanic people around and thus people just don't know the PC ways of socializing) compared to in the south where it's more blatant racism and hatred. Again, that's my experience but that applies to many different areas of the south and Iowa that I've lived in and spent time in.

[mthawki]

There's been an outbreak of the "vocal minority" on these boards lately that is causing a lot of trepidation. Twenty people will say Iowa is the best place to live, but two will hate it and everyone will start believing the two.
You're going to encounter the occasional rude person no matter where you live. That is just a fact of life. But to stereotype and slam an entire state or region because of a bad experience just shows a lack of maturity.
People come on this board spewing venom because somebody looked at them funny five years ago at Hy-Vee and therefore the entire state is filled with rude, backward, uncultured hicks.
Look at the patterns in some people's posts. All they have to offer is negativity about EVERYTHING. They're angry and bitter and you're wasting your time trying to argue or defend your point of view.
If you feel a place "calling" you and you want to move to Iowa, then go for it. If things don't work out, then you chalk it up to experience and move on.

[opelske]

Not all 'white' people who came to America to begin a new life were murderers. Before civilized laws and such the newcomers and the natives got on very well and learned from each other. Sounds like you are the one generalizing. The other poster merely related stories from descendants -- none of which sounds unbelievable. Why respond with such an attack on all 'white' people?

[opelske]

To mthawki poster: You are absolutely right! And, the intelligent person can read right through those phoney angry posts.

[summer grace]

I have to say I agree about people in SD/ in comparison to IA. I like that state ( SD), but would never live there due to the people, and I would not say that about my present home in the cornfields, IA. So, that's a great point. I was visiting a small town in SD a few years ago, and we were from MN, not that far. Well, we got stared at like we were creatures from another planet. You walk into a local restuarant and they stare at you, then they stare at your vehicle to try to find out where you are from, from the license plates. You feel like you are on display and don't want to be there, so you just take your food and leave. That, I don't think would happen as frequently in IA.Nobody was that friendly in SD, they just stare EVERYWHERE. In comparison, IA is good. So, I don't think that would happen to you in IA. Anyway, that's my take.

[still looking 62]

Summer Grace,

That is right on to what my experience has been as well in South Dakota. Everyone has a different experience, but I found that SD is not fond of 'newcomers'. IMO

[tollfree]

This may be surprising, but I've actually found a lot of middle-aged and older people in Iowa to be friendly, outgoing, and talkative. It's the younger people a lot of the times who come off the most standoffish.

[ic-epi]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

This may be surprising, but I've actually found a lot of middle-aged and older people in Iowa to be friendly, outgoing, and talkative. It's the younger people a lot of the times who come off the most standoffish.

As an Iowa native, and speaking more of the small Iowa towns, I would definitely agree with that RonnieJonez.