What's In Iowa Anyway?

Unfortunately, racism happens everywhere. I'm a minority myself and have never experienced anything remotely racist in Iowa, whereas I see racism practically every day in California.

I grew up in North Central Iowa as well, what town did that burning take place?

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I have lived in a town of about 8000 here in southcentral Iowa my whole life and I am NOT buying this story about someone burning a house down because the family moving in was black. I live in a rural area in Iowa and although it was somewhat prejucidiced when I was a child, it was mimimal. There were black families living here and I went to school with black children. There was one boy I even had a crush on but knew I was out of HIS league because HIS family was wealthy and educated and I was poor and my parents were divorced and THAT IS THE REAL IOWA! We are more likely to be seperated by class based on money and education than race!

My people have been here in Iowa for 150 years so I know what I am talking about unlike some transplants. We aren't racist but we don't like to be pushed around by big government as we are very independent and very strong individualists. You have to be to be a farmer and even those of us who work in offices now are at least decended from farmers and it is a strong trait that is passed on. What we do have here is a strong cast type society, though. There are lines drawn, but those are about money and education.

What have SEASONS which a lot of you don't have and we have gardens in our back yards. Always have, always will. Reusing stuff comes naturally to us. You recyclers are laughable to us because we usually have uses for just about everything. Composting isn't anything new to us either. We all preserve a lot of our own food too. We all have a favorite salsa recipe that we will gladly share and we put it up by the quart and use it to make the most delicious chili and meatloaf you have ever eaten during our long, long cold winters.

We know and trust our neighbors and stand around on our front lawns visiting in the evenings. Yes even in 2009. We take care of our elderly neighbors without a second thought. We watch each others houses without being asked and share our tools, tomatoes and cookies with each other.

For entertainment we usually rent DVDS or go out to eat at a restaraunt on date night where the owners know us and come out and chat with us about our work week or our family. The local theater owner is the same dude who ran it 60 years ago and he knows my whole family.

For something big we go to one of our cities like Des Moines or a really great place is the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area where you can stay and visit places like the Amana Colonies where you can have a the most delicious family style meal, visit all the little shops, see the historic old houses and building or even go to a play put on at the Creamery Theater! In Cedar Rapids they have the Brucemore which is a beautiful old mansion and grounds you can tour.
They also have a Theater in Iowa City and some fabulous high end restaraunts like "The Blend" or the "Lynn Street Cafe" that has the most fabulous smoked trout pate and Lobster bisque I am ever eaten.

My favorite place by far though is the VanBuren Villages in southern Iowa east of center, where you can stay in the haunted Mason Inn in Bentonsport or walk across the river on an old bridge, but my absolute favorite, the Haunted Manning Inn in Keosaqua right on the river where it flows in the wrong direction. The Manning has been kept almost completely original. There are no televisions in the rooms, but they do have electricity. None of the towns are very big and there are Menonite people in their horse drawn buggies everywhere. The Menonites even have a WONDERFUL store in Cantrill called the Dutchmans store.

There is so much more too like the Ledges state park in Boone with it beautiful colored stone cliffs and trails. Boone also has The Scenic Valley Railroad with an old train you can ride across an old bridge but only if you aren't too afraid of heights.

In Iowa I guess we try to keep the best of our past which is often so much better than all the flash and glitter in the world.

I love where I live now but I also love and miss Iowa. The people there are friendlier, there's a lot better customer service, and who could forget the green rolling Loess Hills (Bluffs).

The one thing I absolutely do not miss is the humidity! Yuck!

I've lived on the west side of Des Moines for 25 years now, biked across the state several times, and been in most of the cities here. Davenport is definately the black sheep of the major cities. Dubuque is great but is always forgotten. Counsil Bluffs is just the Iowa half of Omaha. Mason City & Clear Lake are okay, but the lake is actually a bright, chemical-green color. Cedar Falls would be nicer if weren't so close to Waterloo, which has one of Iowa's highest crimes rates (though it is beaten out by Davenport). Iowa City is extremely nice, and has a very good (and mostly free) public transportation system. The only people who like Ames are the people that go to school there. Cedar Rapids is growing up quite nicely. And Des Moines is Des Moines. It has some version of anything you can find in LA or New York, plus we have one of the nation's highest disposable incomes, coupled with low sales tax, low retail prices, extremely low produce and meat prices (try getting a 1 1/2 lbs corn-fed top sirloin steak in LA for $8), plus one of the most competitive insurance industries in the world.

That's the cities.

The towns...well...kinda hickish. Not redneck hick, but just a relaxed, farmer-type of hick. And yes, there is some white trash occasionally. Some small towns are more prejudiced than others, and many, many of them probably have a meth lab or two nearby (just look for the smoke). But a lot of them are quaint little towns were the people are kind and very humble. And don't have accents. That's the biggest misconception about rural Iowa. There is no accent, no drawl. Just straight-up, dialect-free English. Most of Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois (other than Chicago), lower Minnesota, and upper Missourri are the same way.

Yes, there's corn. Yes, there are pig farms. Yes, there's soybeans as far as the eye can see. But there's very little pollution, cheap prices, a great education system, and lots of beautiful, undeveloped land.

<< Without University of Iowa, Ashton Kutcher wouldn't be an actor and he would be an only child. >>

Not exactly. He's got a sister who teaches at an elementary school in Iowa.

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One thing that tends to go unnoticed about Iowa (and perhaps the greater Midwest) is the high-quality Chinese takeout. Just how in hell did *that* happen?!?


"Ted Kennedy has killed more people than second-hand smoke ever will."

Yeah, it's pretty nice.

"I take away his weapon-- both of them." - Bruce Willis, Sin City

LOVE it here. I live in Okoboji. Love the Lakes. Love living in Iowa. I went to the University of Iowa and I loved Iowa City. I enjoy Des Moines more every time I go there. I grew up in Sioux City-a VERY major city compared to Okoboji (from Sept. to May anyway)-and loved it. While we're a major agricultural state we're making great strides in industry and energy and have high standards of living. There are great schools in Iowa and great suburbs to raise kids in around Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. There's AAA baseball and quite a bit of hockey, arena football in Sioux City, and Des Moines has a basketball team. Iowa is not cosmopolitan or traditionally exciting, but it's a perfect place to live your whole life.

Well, I live in Clinton, which is super boring!! But I still love it!

Nothing Lasts Forever!
I<3You!!--Megan