Iowa feedback needed., what is there to do?

B

bshillam

Member
Well as life would have it, my family is considering another move. There are several areas we are looking at and Iowa is one of them. With that being said I am hoping there are some Brats out there that can tell me what there is to do in that area for recreating. I have never lived in that cold-snow type of a state before so your feedback would be great. Also do you boat in the winter?
We've lived in Portland so rain isn't a problem. Always greatfull for your feedback!
(More specifically, Iowa city)
 
Northeast Iowa is quite pretty. Lots of small rivers, hills and cliffs. The upper Iowa is good for canoeing. You can boat on the Mississippi. You better like to see corn fields and soy beans, too.

My bride's family is from Decorah (home of Luther College, yah sure you betcha), and all good Norwegians. If you're German or Norwegian, you can fit right in.

It's not a place I would personally choose to live (hot humid summers, cold winters) as I truly love the open spaces of the west, but I enjoy it every time we go back to visit.
 
Joan and I were both born and raised in exotic Eye-Oh-Way, over on the west coast, along the Missouri River. We escaped early, but found our way back to Iowa frequently, thanks to family. I went to college in Iowa. There are some great lakes in the state... in fact, an area in NW Iowa they call, "The Iowa Great Lakes," with Lake Okoboji as the crown jewel. There are other good lakes around the state, the Mississippi River on the east side, and the Missouri River on the west side of the state. Due to the current, snags, hidden sand bars, etc along the Missouri, it is not my favorite body of water.

The comment about cold winters and hot humid summers is pretty valid.

When we were kids, we said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in school; followed by singing America the Beautiful and the Iowa State Song: "Iowa, Iowa, that's where the tall corn grows... :note :note :note . There is more than corn in Iowa - there are cows and pigs, too. And sorghum (inside joke for my friends Joe and Ruth). And LOTS of good-hearted, hard-working people.

If you can live without BIG water and mountains, there are worse places to live. I would mention my opinion of some of those places, but it would violate our one rule here. :wink:

Good luck with the moving decisions.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
My daughter Becky taught at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. about 7 or eight years ago. I asked her for her 'off the top of her head" thoughts about Iowa City. She just loved it there. Here, as well as I could write it down, is what she said--
"There's poetry IN the sidewalks, Shakespeare in the park in summer, a great public library, the Prairie Lights Book Store, a writers' workshop, great public schools, lovely affordable housing, and of course, the campus with the river running through it. Many comfortable restauants, a walking culture, friendly, helpful people, no traffic to speak of except on football weekends. The evening light is beautiful. There is a food coop and farmers' market downtown. The corn is so sweet you can eat it without cooking it. They have a saying there "It's a nice place to live, but you wouldn.t want to visit.' You would be very lucky to end up there." She also said if you want the name of a reputable realtor, send me a PM.
 
I am 64. Born and raised in central Iowa. Worked there our whole lives. Raised our family. Entered retirement there. Until a few weeks ago, Iowa was the home base we returned to every three or four months as we C-Doryed around the country. I love Iowa. It is most often incredibly beautiful and populated with wonderful people ... as are most of the places we have visited. But as our boating base evolved into San Francisco Bay, we were asking ourselves more and more why we were returning to Iowa so often. Too much of the answer was because our house was there, and we had no choice. So we moved to Oakland, CA, and are thrilled with our decision ... although even knowing how much work it would be leaving a house we had been collecting stuff in for 37 years, we truly did not KNOW how much work it would be.

In my opinion, the success of our move was built on our knowing what we were getting into. We had been coming to Oakland and the Bay Area for fourteen years. We know a few people who have made moves ... typically for ill-thought out family reasons ... that have resulted in misery and regrets because they had no idea what they were getting into.

Even though I love Iowa and do not dread the cold as Jim does, I certainly will not miss the heat or the humidity or the cold or the spring slop. On the other hand, having done the reverse of your CA to IA move I can confirm that the financials greatly favor CA to IA.

Regarding Marty's daughter's insights, I agree. Iowa City is a fantastic place. Unfortunately, it is not Iowa. Iowa City is to Iowa what Madison is to Wisconsin and what Austin is to Texas. Meaning many self-identified true Iowans love the Hawkeyes but have a dislike for and a distrust of Iowa City. The truth is Iowa has the same diversity of city types you find in other states ... with differences in scale and the balance between rural and metro. A bright spot is the evolution of Des Moines into a fun, vibrant city.

Iowans do like to boat. I can remember skiing as a child on every river, slough, strip pit, and glorified pond we could find that provided enough room to get up and turn. Some even required stopping to make the turn at each end, but our desire to be on the water and to boat was not to be denied. Now the lakes of the northwest that Jim mentioned and the Mississippi are supported by three large Corps of Engineers reservoirs in central and south central Iowa.

I would not discourage a move to Iowa. I would warn you to know what you are getting into ... but that would apply to any move. And by the way, Marty is on target regarding the sweet corn. If there is one good reason to move to Iowa, it is the Peaches 'n Cream sweet corn. I'm sure we will brave the humidity of the Iowa summer each year to get our fix ... and of course, to see our kids.

I just caught that you specified Iowa City. I'll say again, it is a great town. You'll love it. For boating Iowa City has a small Corps reservoir, and its proximity to the Mississippi provides the opportunity for fantastic river cruising. Regarding winter boating, it is enough to say that everyone who knows Iowa is still chuckling about that question.

Good luck!

Greg
 
A good friend who came from Iowa always liked to remind me that there is some evidence that Iowans are more educated, or are smarter as whole, than other states. Not a joke, it is based on some credible research.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Iowa after having taken my kids to the Field of Dreams ballpark when we took a camping trailer to the right coast 10-15 years ago.

Warren
 
Warren,

I am more than willing to agree that we are smarter. It has something to do with the fertilizers in the water. :) I hope Oakland doesn't suck it out of me. Actually, I have been told quite a few times now that our move is evidence of something other than smarts on my part. I prefer to think of it as a cutting edge move.

One thing is for sure: If it's not heaven, it must be Iowa.

Greg
 
What great feed back. It always surprises me when I read forums about areas we are looking to move to. There are four areas we are looking at right now and I am working on gathering as much info as possible as we are going to be there for five to seven years more than likely.
Anyone is more than welcome to weigh in here are more details. We are looking at moving in June potentially to these cities,
Baltimore (probably an out lying town as Baltimore has too much crime)
Columbus, Oh
Iowa City
Rochester, MN
And as well staying in Sacramento.

We have lived in Portland and do miss cooler weather. As nice as it is to still be eating dinner outside in November the 80++ days do start getting long and I miss the rain of the Pacific NW. Unfortunately, the Northwest professionally just isn't going to pan out right now.
 
I'm an Iowa native and lived there until I was 22. The military brought me to the West Coast in 1969 and I've been here ever since. Most of my family still lives in Iowa but everyone of them has said they'd move to the West Coast if they could find the right situation.

Iowa City is one of the bright spots in Iowa. Iowa people are very friendly (another bright spot).

Now for the dark spots. The humidity takes getting used to, especially if you're from the West Coast. There are lots of mosquitos and the winters can be long and dreary. There is little or no open Federal land to tromp around in and the terrain, in general, is pretty homogeneous (except for the Northeast) with no mountains, large lakes or wide, usable rivers. Last but not least, Iowa is one of the few States that is losing population...this is a subtlety that becomes more impressive as time goes by.

Having lived in Oregon for over 30 years I no longer see it solely in terms of its physical beauty and mild climate but rather as a place where my friends and routine are. If you're a people person you can get along anywhere...you'll always find others to brighten your days.

BTW...I'm a Clone.
 
None of my business, but if I were looking to move somewhere, I'd hop a plane or something to go look first. It's kind of what I am doing right now with Kerri On and my walkabout. I am keeping an eye on how I feel about the places I have seen and how do I fit in and that sort of thing. Mostly for a winter escape from BC. So far, I feel like the Sedona Az area is top of the list. I have pulled the boat from Nanaimo BC and seen parts of Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Sedona makes me go AAAHHHH..........
Ely Nevada....not so much. Lake Havasu City....not so much. Best of luck. Remember these C dorys go down the road just fine if you need a home on the road to go look. George
 
My first teaching job was at the University of Iowa. It was a great place but I was not yet into boating. Still have a soft spot for Iowa, especially the fall weather. I also taught at the University of Maryland not too far from Baltimore. Much more in the way of boating with Chesapeake Bay right there. I didn't like the congestion though.
 
I did sort of the "reverse migration" from the West coast (Nor-Cal) to Minnesota (much like Iowa...only better :) ) The things I like about it is: far fewer people everywhere. Especially coming from California, it's so much easier to get away from the crowds. I also like the midwestern personality (I can comment on that more if you're interested) Yes it's cold and the winters are trying (to put it nicely) one must literally see it as the price one pays for what-ever reason one lives here. If you fish, ice fishing is the way to go in the winter. There are ice castles fish houses with heat, kitchens, beds, drop down axles, flat screens, it's like being in a cabin while pulling fish through the floor :) One sure helps bridge the gap between boating in the c-dory. My experience in Iowa (some work, etc.) it does get too hot and humid in the summer, as opposed to Minnesota (especially northern Minnesota) where hot days are few, but the winters are colder. My thoughts on that are, if it's going to be cold, then do it right. Drive your ice castle 5 miles on the ice, make a proper snow man, etc. etc. :)

I've come to feel like the upper midwest is "home" and can only stand visiting California for a brief time. I love the PNW and would move there in a second, but my 2 year old boy lives in Minnesota so that settles that for now.

I hope this helps some.
 
One great thing about living is Iowa is that I/we can be anywhere in the USA in four hours or less.

Regards,

Ron, Connie, Dolly & Bear Fisher
 
Connie Fisher":3shc65eq said:
One great thing about living is Iowa is that I/we can be anywhere in the USA in four hours or less.

Regards,

Ron, Connie, Dolly & Bear Fisher
Click to expand...

Unless you are towing your boat. :wink:
 
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