Yep. Headhunter calls again.
Probably come to nothing but the gigs are good and I at least wouldn’t mind hearing first hand accounts of the cities in question.
I have a bit of knowledge about Iowa as I did a year of grad school in Iowa City in 93-94. But I don’t claim to be an expert.
So…
What can you tell me?
ChrisCTP (used to post here…now posts at Fathom, I think) lives there.
I live in Davenport (if you spent a year in Iowa City, ya know where that is). I don’t have first hand experience about Des Moines, but seems to be a pretty nice city. Lots of state govt related things there. Ames (home of Iowa State) is 30 miles north.
Des Moines isn’t too bad compared to similarly-sized Midwestern cities, JC. As far as culture goes, between Des Moines and Ames, you’ll be pretty well covered; if you get homesick for Iowa City, it’s about a 2 hour drive.
Since you went to U of Iowa, you should be familiar with Iowa weather, which can be a bit off-putting to those who grew up in more temperate climes.
Haven’t been in central Iowa for almost 20 years – I spent most of the 80s at Iowa State, and didn’t make it to Des Moines too often.
Des Moines isn’t bad; I lived in Ames for two years and worked in DSM for about half that time. If you’re accustomed to NYC nightlife, you’ll need to ramp down your expectations a bit, but there’s a wide enough variety of options that you should always be able to find something to do.
Ames especially gets a surprisingly good range of bands coming through town. I suppose it’s because Ames is central between Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, Kansas City, and St. Louis, so the bands are passing through and figure they’ll play a gas-money show rather than just sleep in a hotel. On the other hand, major acts will almost never play there, since the population just isn’t big enough to sell out an arena show.
The Iowa Cubs, Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, play at Sec Taylor Stadium in south Des Moines; that’s a lot of fun.
One especially great thing about Iowa was how safe it was; the entire two years I was there, I never once locked my house or my car. That’s hard to imagine after a couple years back in Memphis.
One more thing: I don’t know where you’re from, but if you’re not accustomed to really amazingly cold weather, you will be soon.
Gee, I don’t know if you’d want to live that far from civilization. 
If you move to Indianapolis, can you bring your mountain with you? It’s awfully flat out there.
Sadly, no. The mountain stays put. It’s in the covenants.
As Shibb mentions (sort of) I currently live in the first range of the Appalachians about 60 miles NW of Washington DC.
But I grew up in Chicago so the weather shouldn’t drive me screaming to Florida or nothing.
Monster moving indicates both Des Moines and Indy and far and away cheaper than here. The COL index for DC is 122 (22% more expensive than the national average) whereas for DM it’s 95 and for Indy it’s 55 (!!!).
Thoughts?
I’d think there starts to be some sort of inversed square rule for COL as you get farther away from the epicenter of large cities. I’m sure it’s much cheaper to live in downtown Des Moines or Indy than say, Georgetown, but the difference should be much less dramatic 60 miles removed. When we moved from Cincinnati to Geneva, the COL was supposedly 160, but that was for the USA average vs the Swiss average. Then on the flight over I saw that the US Foreign Service gives a 255 index between Geneva and DC. Since DC is definitely more expensive than Cincy, it stood to figure that we’d really get hosed on that one. But one of the difficult things on those COL charts is comparing apples to apples. Nobody in Genevea (save the rich and famous) live on 1/4 acre with a two car garage and stand alone house. Not even townhouses. Everyone live in flats. So you adapt and you move on.
Hey, Iowa girl here.
Disclaimer; I have never been to Indianapolis.
I love Iowa. About a year ago, my husband went through a phase where he wanted to move away. ( to Florida ) I had to work hard at getting him to stay here. I would miss Iowa terribly, and I don’t want to leave here for at least another 15-16 years, as I have kids. There is something to be said about never, ever having to lock the doors to your house or car. Being able to stop at a convenience store and not have to worry about it being robbed while you are in the bathroom, Having things to do, but feeling safe when you leave said activities. Plenty of great places to dine out, with out costing an arm and a leg.
As an added bonus, if you end up in Des Moines, you could meet me
That’s an understatement and a half.
I went to college in Des Moines (Drake University) having grown up in the Seattle area. It was a BIG change for me, which I’m sure colors my perception of Des Moines. I also worked there for two years after graduating – all in all, I was a Des Moines citizen from 1994 and 2000.
While I was in school, it was great. As misstee notes, it’s much safer than your average city of the same size, and it’s cheaper to live there. But it’s a very family-oriented area-- there’s plenty for kids to do, but if you’re a grown-up, it’s lacking. Especially because the more innovative businesses that try to cater to adults generally fail out of lack of support. By “adult,” I don’t mean sex-related stuff or anything. I mean restaurants with interesting cuisine, plays that aren’t musicals, places to go that offer things other than bowling, pool or darts. You have to be very creative and know where to look to find the few places in Des Moines that offer more than the same bar scene and menus that you couldn’t find anywhere in America. Great lovers of the chain restaurant, there.
Iowa City is smaller but a lot more hip, and Ames does get decent acts. You’d be 3.5 hours from Minneapolis, 7 hours from St. Louis, 6 hours from Chicago or Milwaukee, and 2.5 hours from Omaha, all doable weekend trips.
I guess it comes down to what your preferences are about the place you live. What’s most important to you? Safety? Affordability? Entertainment? Environment? For some of those things, Des Moines rocks. For others, you’ll want to move again pretty soon.
Indy is better located for Chidopes. Pretty boring town, but I’m a boring person so it wouldn’t bother me. Okay, to be fair they are ramping up the convention business there so it’s actually much more interesting that twenty years ago. Pro sports, if that’s your thing, could put it ahead of DesMoines, but the Church of Bobby Knight still has its adherents
I live about an hour from downtown Indy, but I have never been to Iowa. So while I can’t really compare the two, I really like the Indy area. There is a great deal of variety in housing and entertainment, etc. in the area. The winters aren’t too bad, and your money can go pretty far (especially if you live just outside the city). You can get to Chicago in about 3.5-4 hours.
It’s no New York, but it really is a nice area to live and work.
I’m sure this doesn’t help a whole lot, but if you have any specific issues let me know.
Indy resident here.
I really like it. I’m a grad student, and would like to stay afterwards. There’s plenty to do, at least for me. It’s certainly not Chicago or New York in sheer size and variety, but there’s still something to do all the time.
Amateur and pro sports are big. Very big. HQ for the NCAA. RCA Championships. US Swim Team practice pool. The Indians (AAA baseball). The Colts (NFL). The Pacers (NBA). The Fever (WNBA). The Firebirds (AFL). The Ice (IHL).
The Civic Theatre is the longest continuing running community theater in the country. There’s several other theaters in town, usually offering up some decent fare. Bloomington also helps out in that regard.
One complaint I have is that people in Indianapolis seem to think they can talk or make cell phone calls in the movie theater. I’ve never seen this anywhere else, and it annoys me to no end. It’s unfortunate, too, because tickets don’t cost nearly as much here in the midwest. We have at least two arts theaters that I know of that show limited run independent films that the bigger theaters don’t carry (with 87 screens, you’d think they could afford it, but no). Prices are a bit lower, and the food is better (kettle corn, caramel corn, etc.)
Indy has extensive bike trails and running trails. They converted the old Monon Railroad into paved trails, which people love.
If you have kids, the Children’s Museum is one of the best in the country. Extremely large, and constantly improving/upgrading/expanding.
Conventions make for interesting tourists downtown. Next week is GenCon (a gaming convention, I believe). Last week was a large Christian convention. Last year was a huge Star Wars convention. Completely transforms the character of the downtown bars depending on who’s in town.
Hope that helps. Lemme know what else you might be interested in.
I grew up in Iowa and lived in Des Moines for a while during and after college. It’s a nice city. I agree with the others that the nightlife is lower key than in larger cities (such as Chicago) but there are things to do. The Art Center is a top notch museum, there are a fair number of galleries (those are important to me anyway). Basically it’s just a small city. The weather is standard for the midwest, cold winters hot summers, a few perfect days in the spring and fall, the bars close at 2 A.M., there are plenty of movie theatres and there are good restaurants, as well as a lot of chain places.
It’s not for everybody. I moved from Iowa because I felt the opportunities for a photographer would be better in Chicago, and honestly, I’d lived there my whole life and wanted a change. But I don’t dislike it. I could see myself moving back there one day.
As far as Indy, my only experience is going around it on the interstate.
Car insurance rates are dramatically higher in Marion County (Indy) than in surrounding counties. I knew a guy who moved to the northern edge of the county. His insurance agent told him his bill would be half as much if he lived two blocks north.
IndyDoper here, as well. I’ll skip what Munch covered, and try to hit some of the other cultural highlights. (We also have a soccer team.)
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Eiteljorg Art Museum (western and Native American art), Indianapolis Zoo, White River Gardens, Indiana Repertory Theater, a couple of good smaller, “hipper” theaters, Indianapolis Opera, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, a ballet company, Dance Kaleidoscope (modern-ish dance). We have a number of colleges in and around town that have their own cultural events. Butler University boasts Cloews (sp?) Hall, which is where large touring groups play (musicals, theater, dance, etc.), and the Murat Center has some smaller venues for shows as well as bands and musicians.
We usually get the good major tours in town, either at Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville, Conseco Fieldhouse downtown, or the RCA dome (also downtown). The smaller shows are often at the Murat, or even some of the clubs with live music scattered around town.
Eagle Creek Park is wonderful - one of the largest city parks in the country. Hiking, biking, boating, swimming, ice skating in the winter.
We have a decent variety of chain and local restaurants, including Greek, Ethiopian, Russian, French, Italian, Mexican, and the like.
Ok, I think that’s long enough for now!
I’m from Des Moines. I left ASAP. (By the way, I went to college in Iowa City, which is far, far different.)
Des Moines began as a solidly blue collar town, and it has stayed that way. It is seriously lacking in culture. The Art Center is interesting, sure, but they don’t change their exhibits often enough for this to fill the cultural void. Ditto for the Science Center and the Botanical Gardens. It’s nice to have these things, but if you go once, you’ve seen it all.
Downtown Des Moines is a ghost town after 5:30 pm. There are a few restaurants/night life on Court Avenue, but it’s a pale imitation of what you’d find in a real city, and it’s definitely not much of a draw. The residential areas in the city are mostly made up of 1940s and 50s postwar tiny crackerbox houses that aren’t big enough to satisfy today’s family with children. Des Moines proper is disproportionately populated by old people and poor people, for this reason.
Most of the typical middle-class families have moved out to the western suburbs. As a result, traffic is horrendous.
It’s all shopping centers and strip malls. Independent business owners can’t seem to compete with chains. It’s difficult to find a dining experience more interesting than, say, the Olive Garden. And, of course, to find these things, you have to drive all the way out to West Des Moines (or live there already). What few trees there are get cut down as new subdivisions get put in.
Schools in the area are good, but are having trouble coping with the tremendous population growth (in the suburbs, anyway). The schools in Des Moines proper are not very good.
Iowa tends to be somewhat closed off to outsiders. People are friends with folks from their family, their churches, and those they went to school with. It’s not easy to join social groups if you don’t fit into one of these categories. People tend to stay in-state for college and return to their hometowns with great frequency. The state is not growing, population-wise. There is also a big “brain drain”, in that the really smart Iowa kids leave the state for better jobs and never look back. This holds Iowa back from progressing culturally.
Good things about the state: still a nice place to raise kids. You can send them to public schools. And yes, it’s one of the safer places to live. The state is in good financial shape, which is something few other states can claim. But I think that the best places to live in Iowa are the genuinely neat small towns dotted around the countryside. Des Moines is nothing special. Cedar Rapids is actually much more interesting because of its Czech and Slovak heritage, and it’s a smaller city than Des Moines. And even Ames is no Iowa City. My mother’s a prof at Iowa State and says there’s really nothing that compelling about the town. I concur.
Let me say that I love the Midwest. I came right back after living in Boston for law school. But I knew there was no way in hell that I would go back to Des Moines because it’s such a limited town. I came to Minneapolis and I love, love, love it. I had a chance to make $35,000 more than I do here in the Twin Cities if I lived in Des Moines, and I didn’t even consider it.
BTW, if your offer is from Principal (the biggest employer in Des Moines), I can give you the inside scoop on that through email (Dad works there).
Cool! In 1997 I had a temp job right across 28th from Drake.
So we’ve probably passed each other on the street a few times – that’s kind of cool to consider!
You know, while I was there, a friend of mine summed up the attitude of Des Moinesians perfectly (in my experience, anyway): Name any event or new business, and the response will generally be, “Wow, that sounds really cool! I think I’ll stay home tonight.” Heh heh heh.