How Do You Like Living In Iowa? (Des Moines, Iowa City: lease, unemployment rate)

[Adam1972]

Originally Posted by bjrush

The county I lived in hasn't hired a single engineer in over four years. There are no hospitals, only one clinic I wouldn't take my dog to.

Sounds like limited opportunities to me. Sure if you live in Des Moines or Iowa City there are jobs. But not if you want to be an engineer or doctor away from the metros. There is no money to pay the salaries those people demand.

I'm living somewhere with lower cost of living than Iowa, so that argument is meaningless.

I define successful in terms of "anyone not getting a Mrs degree or dropping out after one semester at junior college". Which is 5/99 for my graduating class, including me and a kid who moved to Colorado. It's a pretty low bar

ETA: I am far from a negative person. I love where I am now, but freezing for five months out of the year for no job opportunities, little culture, and standoffish people was not for me. But to each his own

I am a believer that we are all in the positions we are in life due to decisions we have made. I guess maybe if you knew what Iowa did or didn't offer in the way of job prospects then maybe you should have changed your major?? It is much easier to blame Iowa for your discontent. If I went to school for marine biology and couldn't find a job in Iowa is that the states fault?? No. Its mine for studying for a career that I know there will not be an opening when I graduate. As for success, I have a high school diploma and one year of community college(wasn't for me) and I made $70K last year. Would I call that successful? Not really, I would call that "do what you must to pay your bills and raise a family".

Would you care to share where you live now? You have peaked my interest in this thriving metropolis of jobs, culture, entertainment, warm weather and low cost of living. I did not know such a place existed. Maybe Mexico??

[bjrush]

I did not study something exotic, just civil engineering. Pretty basic if you ask me

I don't blame Iowa for being what it is, I was simply describing my experience for the OP. Yes there are nice parts and yes there are jobs to be had in parts, but I lived somewhere that I would have to have been underemployed for years until a job opened for me. I don't blame those who live there and love it, but in my experience, people will spend hours on end whining about Iowa but have lived there their entire life

[smpliving]

I tend to frequent the Arkansas forum, and have noticed that bjrush lives near Fayetteville or the NW area of the state, which has a large population for Arkansas with industry. I am rather confused by his post. It sounds like he grew up in a rural part of Iowa and could not find a job in his profession there, but most rural areas of the country do not have much in way of professional jobs other than agriculture related or a few professionals needed in small towns. Although a couple of my daughter's friends are software engineers in central Iowa and make close to $100,000 (both 25 years old). Yes, the larger cities in Iowa do offer jobs in medicine and engineering, as my husband made a Fortune 500 corporate job move several years ago from Los Angeles to Cedar Rapids for job advancement. It sounds like bjrush is happier where he is living now which is great. But for many of us, Iowa has been a great place to live and raise our families. I"ve been very happy here, though I enjoy experiencing other parts of the country to live in and plan on moving when the time is right to the SE.

[pepe1]

Originally Posted by bjrush

I did not study something exotic, just civil engineering. Pretty basic if you ask me

I don't blame Iowa for being what it is, I was simply describing my experience for the OP. Yes there are nice parts and yes there are jobs to be had in parts, but I lived somewhere that I would have to have been underemployed for years until a job opened for me. I don't blame those who live there and love it, but in my experience, people will spend hours on end whining about Iowa but have lived there their entire life

I have a degree in Civil Engineering and I have never had an problem finding a job in Iowa. In fact, last time I changed jobs I literally had 3 offers from different employers.

You have an actual Civil Engineering degree, right? Not Civil Engineering Technology? Or do you have a degree from a questionable school like a Mankato State??

[bjrush]

Forgot to answer your second part, I live in Fayetteville, AR

[bjrush]

Originally Posted by pepe1

You have an actual Civil Engineering degree, right? Not Civil Engineering Technology? Or do you have a degree from a questionable school like a Mankato State??

Yep, as real as it gets

[themaskedman55]

I'm glad you asked this question because I just got back from Iowa and it's always been on my mind as a place to move. What I've seen of the state (QC, IC, Ames), it has good appeal and it's affordable. I've met loads of very nice Iowans. It's a paradise in the Midwest, since it preserves Midwestern values but it's also progressive (as a gay man I can marry my partner there and most other states with gay marriage have high costs of living). My only drawback is there are no major lakes and coasts, and I grew up on the Great Lakes so I hold them dearly.

[capitalcityguy]

If you define "major lakes" as "The Great Lakes", than yes, you're correct. I think most consider bodies of water like Clear Lake, Okoboji, Sailorville, Red Rock, etc. to be major lakes.

[lurtsman]

I don't think it's right to blame bjrush for not liking Iowa. That's like a store saying "the customer is wrong". I lived in Iowa for 5 years. I couldn't find meaningful employment (most of the time). I had a double major and graduated at the top of my class (from a respectable school). While I was there I built my own business from the ground up (not that Iowa is an easy place to do that, but necessity breeds invention), scored higher than the average entrant into Harvard's MBA program, and left the state for good with a scholarship to a great MBA program in Colorado.

When some temporary jobs opened up in Iowa with recruitment based on actual testing instead of nepotism, I was making 14 bucks an hour working as a manager with 18 employees. The rest of the time, I could hardly find a job paying 9 bucks an hour to do anything.

Des Moines may have some respectable options, but Iowa City did not. The cost of living in Iowa City is astoundingly high for being a "midwest" state. Ironically after I moved there, I saw advertisements for Iowa City encouraging new graduates to move there and enter the hell I was enduring. The sheer level of nepotism combined with an absurdly educated population (percentage of population with bachelor's degree) means anyone without connections is likely to work vastly below their skill level. It's no wonder that many people leave Iowa City when they find an opportunity. No disrespect to the state, I never lived in Des Moines. I only knew Iowa City, and it was not great. The taxes on sales, income, and property were all high. The property values were high, but the wages were not. For the people that have moved around and love it in Iowa, congratulations to you. For those who have not experienced other states, it may be worth making a few trips around the country and learning what you like. I am incredibly happy now, and have been ever since I moved. Higher wages, dramatically lower taxes, lower property costs, better weather (warmer winter, colder summer), less traffic (Iowa City is the only place in Iowa that I found anything resembling big city traffic, but that is where we were), less parking fees, better views, less humidity, less bugs, none of this "all leases end at the end of July" collusion, better prices on food and services, more big name events, professional sports, no children's lemonade stands being harassed by cops for not having a license (yeah, that happened in Iowa City), the best jobs aren't shielded from new people by a powerful union, and no driving your car to the bus stop instead of to work.

Those are the reasons I left Iowa City. I made sure to include several objective measures to avoid claims about distorted views. In the interest of people actually sharing their feelings about living in Iowa, I've decided to do just that. Some people like it, some don't, but it isn't the customers fault for not liking what they found.

As a side note: Some people may insult my decision to move to Iowa City if I dislike everything about it. My wife was admitted to program there that ranks at the absolute top in the country. I wanted her to have that opportunity, and it was excellent. In Iowa City this is so common that it is known as "captive spouse syndrome". Neither of us were happy with the city, but she did get a great education that paved the way to a great career.

[bjrush]

Just spoke to a recruiter from MoDot. He said they are being inundated with civil engineering graduates because the Iowa DOT has put a hiring freeze on all new entry level civil engineers.

He said at the career fair at Iowa State he had a line of 7-8 seniors at all times who were trying to move to Missouri to find work in civil engineering. The recruiter was an ISU grad himself who moved to Jefferson City to find work