You live in Iowa?

[WoolyBugger]

I've lived in Iowa my whole life, graduated from Iowa State. Grew up in a rural town north of Des Moines, it was nice. I really don't think you can beat growing up in a small town in the midwest. Now that area is experiencing an unreal population boom that makes me glad I left. It was undeveloped around my folks place that has been in the family forever now people are cashing in and selling off generational land to developers. Kinda depressing and its more crowded every time I go back.

I moved to NE iowa after college and it was a great decision. The driftless area is amazing. Deer and bird hunting are great. Between Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota its some of the most underrated trout fishing in the country. Lots of recreation opportunity that most of the rest of the state doesn't even know about. Cost of living is cheap compared to the DSM burbs and within driving distance of some great places. Lots of Kwik Stars up here to save us from Casey's slop.

There are cons to Iowa; seems like you're likely to end up with cancer, water quality, lost nearly all the hunting permission I had to leasing.

I always wanted to live in Montana or Wyoming for the trout fishing and hunting, but now that I have a family I think Iowa is a great place to be and it would be hard to move away from family help. It's not a terribly long drive to get out there a couple times a year. I just hope we can figure out how to fix the cancer and water issues but its an ag driven state and that industry also employs me. Any questions feel free to message me.

 

[Dverbeek8]

Moved from Iowa to South Dakota. Still farm in Iowa. Hunting wise northwest Iowa doesn’t hav great deer hunting compared to the rest of the state. I don’t miss Iowa mostly because I can hunt whitetail, mule deer, and antelope now. And some day an elk.

 

[Dverbeek8]

Moved from Iowa to South Dakota. Still farm in Iowa. Hunting wise northwest Iowa doesn’t hav great deer hunting compared to the rest of the state. I don’t miss Iowa mostly because I can hunt whitetail, mule deer, and antelope now. And some day an elk.

The small town living is what I miss the most though. Being near Sioux Falls (big city) isn’t my cup of tea.

 

[aMurderOfCrows]

The water quality stuff does not sound appealing.

 

[Old Hickory 45]

I was raised here in SE Iowa next to the Mississippi River and live close to the edge of the bluff. I watch the sun come up over the river.
I have lived in AK, CA, TX, OK, NY, and ILL. and always moved back here and bought this house 42 years ago. Hunting and fishing are good here, lots of good public hunting areas and I have several private and reserved hunting areas to hunt at no cost because the landowners are personal friends.

 

[theguyfrommontana]

My grandparents lived in Waterloo/Gilbertville/Raymond area and the few times I've visited, its a nice area. Lots of fishing, quite neighborhoods, and if you can get in good with people that have land there, good hunting opportunities. Unsure of the schools around that area however.

 

[Bearded Bowhunter]

The water quality stuff does not sound appealing.

Yes Iowa is ranked in top 3, but to put in perspective that is a .499% incidence rate vs. say Colorado at 48th with a .397% incidence rate. a .1% difference. I don't think that would be in the top criteria for my decision making.

 

[LookinforDirt]

I almost froze to death in Iowa outside of Des Moines in the early 90’s. Road trip with my brother in his “oh I fixed the heater” 1974 Datsun 240z. Driving from Louisiana to Minnesota. Coldest winter in 100 years they said. Zero heat in the car. All of our food and drinks froze rock solid. No worthwhile winter clothes. Used an ice scraper on the inside of the window to make little 4” clear spots to see out the front windshield that froze over again in about 2 minutes. He felt 90mph at 3am on dark deserted roads was the best solution. The misery kicked in starting in Arkansas at -4f. -30f at 8am on the highway outside Des Moines and the valve cover blows out ejecting the engine oil all over the place. 36 hours straight of fun. So my advice on going to school in Iowa is don’t trust your brother when he says the heater is fixed.

PS: The upside is a farmer doing side work as a mechanic towed the car and gave us 2 hours time to fix it in his giant heated shed full of broken down cars needing repair due to the weather and charged us a total of $0. His wife even brought us coffee and cookies. He 100% saved our idiot asses. Good people in Iowa.

 

[SandyCreek]

I mean as far as the water quality stuff.. it’s fixable with minimal input at the home level. I’m on a well, we filter, treat and eve RO some of the water. I test it twice a year including a nitrate test. Anyone anywhere in the country who is just drinking right out of the local municipal water supply without doing their own testing at the minimum is nuts.

 

[WoolyBugger]

PS: The upside is a farmer doing side work as a mechanic towed the car and gave us 2 hours time to fix it in his giant heated shed full of broken down cars needing repair due to the weather and charged us a total of $0. His wife even brought us coffee and cookies. He 100% saved our idiot asses. Good people in Iowa.

Pretty accurate description of 99% of the people that live here.