Iowa

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Iowa is a state primarily devoted to agriculture. Though this has downsides, like the political dominance of agribusiness, it also means that there is plenty of local food supply potential and a hard-working, pragmatic ethos. Education is traditionally valued in Iowa. It has ranked among the best states for K-12 public education, though the GOP government is undercutting public education at the moment, and there are 42 cities or towns of over 4000 people that have at least one college. This makes it a good place to raise kids, though if you want your child to experience cultural diversity growing up, your choices of residence will be more limited. The state has many virtues and can be recommended, for those whose personalities suit the local culture, with little or no reservation. Stephen Marche believes that it would join a Red nation after a breakup of the U.S., but I am optimistic that he will be proven wrong.

Most parts of Iowa are pleasant, though if you are a member of a minority group, you’d probably want to live in one of the “big cities.” There are 13 cities of over 40,000 people in Iowa. A few have red flags, but most are in good shape economically and socially and would make excellent homes.

 

 

o  Des Moines, the central capital, is the largest, with over 200,000 people, and three others are Des Moines suburbs; the whole metro area is about 700,000 people. Major industries include insurance, finance, agribusiness, publishing, and tire manufacture. Has almost a full range of big-city amenities: convention center, science center, botanical garden, zoo, many arts and sports, numerous festivals, and a four-mile downtown skywalk network.

o  Davenport and the much smaller Bettendorf, along the Mississippi River in the east, have about 140,000 people between them. They are part of the Quad Cities discussed above under Illinois. Industries include food processing, manufacturing, trade, education, and health care. The metro area has all the arts, cultural and sporting amenities expected of a medium-sized metropolis. Davenport hosts jazz and blues festivals and has access to Amtrak via a connecting bus.

o  Dubuque (about 60,000 people) is also along the Mississippi, a little farther north at the south end of the Driftless Area (see below). The scenic countryside makes tourism a major business; there is also higher education, health care, and manufacturing (including a John Deere plant), and the economy has been very good in recent years. Dubuque is known for its historic architecture and recently redeveloped port, and is the home of the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps. Most residents are Catholic, but there are many Protestant churches, a synagogue, a mosque, several religious colleges, and three seminaries. (It is, however, generally liberal politically.) Dubuque has received many awards for livability.

o  Cedar Rapids (137,000 people), in the central east on the Cedar River, is known as a center of art and culture. Grain processing, other agribusiness, and aerospace are the biggest industries. Cedar Rapids calls itself the “City of Five Seasons,” the fifth season being the extra time one gets to enjoy the other four because of the short local commuting times. It hosts Iowa’s African-American Museum, the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, and a museum having the world’s largest collection of Grant Wood paintings. It is home to Islamic Services of America, which does halal certification, and the country’s oldest mosque and Muslim cemetery.

o  Iowa City (75,000 people) is south of Cedar Rapids, located on the Iowa River. It is home to the University of Iowa; the university and health care institutions are major employers, and there is some manufacturing. The city hosts several writing programs, workshops, and festivals. Despite the snowy winter weather, many residents commute to work by walking, cycling, or bus, so that the city has an unusually low rate of commuting by private car.

o  Waterloo (67,000 people) and Cedar Falls (41,000 people) are sister cities in the northeastern quadrant of the state, located on the Cedar River. Cedar Falls is home to the University of Northern Iowa; manufacturing and agribusiness provide local jobs. It is known for its underground music scene and superb internet service, with broadband provided as a public utility by the municipally owned power company. Waterloo is known for its gross racial inequities and higher level of segregation than any other Iowa city with a significant Black population. You can guess which one is recommended and which isn’t.

o  Ames (66,000 people), north of Des Moines, hosts Iowa State University, the state’s land-grant university, a U.S. Department of Energy materials research and development facility, and the state Department of Transportation headquarters. Manufacturing and high-tech jobs are available; unemployment is extremely low, though rent is becoming less affordable. The public library is very good indeed for a city of modest size.

 

Pretty much all of the above cities are subject to flooding in “extreme” weather, often spectacularly so. Iowa is very flat. Avoid low-lying or floodplain housing and be sure to store some drinking water wherever you live. Other than that, Iowa cities’ sustainability is generally excellent. None have metastasized beyond what can reasonably be supported by the produce of the surrounding rural areas, and they will be in position to provide urban services to those areas.

Iowa has another 10 small cities in the 20,000-40,000 range, and many more small towns, potentially suitable for those who are able to get work and fit in. The most interesting small cities and larger towns outside the previously named metro areas might include the following:

 

o  Mason City (27,000 people), in northern Iowa on the Winnebago River, has a diverse manufacturing industry. It is the home of the plant that makes Jell-O brand refrigerated pudding, as well as plants making doors, cabinetry, and cement. Several years ago it rejected a proposal to build a huge pork slaughterhouse. It is known for its music scene and collection of Prairie School architecture. The community college, the oldest in Iowa, is ranked among the top 10% nationwide.

o  Newton (15,000 people), in south-central Iowa, formerly had Maytag as a major employer. After Whirlpool bought Maytag and outsourced the manufacturing to Mexico, Newton made great efforts to rebuild the town’s economy, attracting many new employers. Green manufacturing, including of wind turbines, is encouraged. Maytag Dairy Farms still makes famous hand-made blue cheese, but was recently bought by a private equity fund so may not last much longer. Newton has an active arts and theater community and is home to the Iowa Speedway, the only NASCAR-owned short track west of the Mississippi.

o  Indianola (16,000 people), south of Des Moines, is the home of the Des Moines Metro Opera. It is also home to the National Balloon Classic, National Balloon Museum, and U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame. It is close enough to Des Moines that housing is a bit pricey, but overall cost of living is reasonable.

o  Waverly (10,000 people) is in the central northeast. Insurance and manufacturing (Nestlé) are major employers. The Evangelical Lutheran Church has strong numbers here.

o  Grinnell, in central Iowa, has less than 10,000 people; it is the home of a highly-ranked liberal arts college. Other businesses include insurance and manufacturing. There are two retirement communities.

o  Pella (10,000 people) in southern Iowa is known for its Dutch immigrant heritage, local Dutch dialect, annual tulip festival, and working windmill.

o  Oskaloosa (11,000 people) in southern Iowa hosts a variety of small manufacturers and the C. L. Barnhouse music publishing firm. It is home to the annual Southern Iowa Fair.

o  Fairfield (10,000 people) in the southeast was the home of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation community, now separated as Maharishi Vedic City, and hosts the associated Maharishi International University. Fairfield has numerous small or startup employers in manufacturing, software, and telecommunications, many started by TM practitioners, as well as the now somewhat infamous Cambridge Investment Research. The town is interested in pursuing sustainability.

o  Decorah, in the extreme northeast in the Driftless Area, is the largest town in its largely agricultural county at little over 8000 people. It was settled by Norwegian immigrants and is home to Luther College, a Lutheran-affiliated senior community, an excellent Norwegian-American museum, and an annual Nordic Fest. It also hosts Seed Savers Exchange, the Raptor Resource Center, and a fish hatchery. Major fields of employment are education, manufacturing, and medicine; there is also a building rock supplier. It’s more liberal than the surrounding countryside.

 

Iowa is a conservative state but traditionally known for its active public participation in politics and relatively honest government. There has not been a serious problem with gerrymandering, so people can live in whatever community suits them without being disenfranchised. However, aggressive new vote-suppressing and voter-purging laws, implemented during a pandemic despite the lack of problems in the last election, may presage more corrupt government to come.

People of color should avoid the ruby-red northwestern quarter of the state, whose residents until recently kept re-electing an increasingly open and dimwitted white nationalist Congressman, as well as Waterloo. Best to avoid very rural areas in general, unless you wish to farm, as the political power of agribusiness means you could end up living downwind of an ill-maintained multimillion-gallon manure lagoon. Small towns with high Hispanic populations who have 100% poverty rates are probably dominated by meatpacking corporations and will assume new Latino residents exist to cut up chicken; stay away from these unless you are in fact looking for a meatpacking job.

The problems caused by unsustainable Big Ag aside, there are many very pleasant small towns in Iowa. The northeastern Driftless Area is notable for its beautiful landscapes and welcoming, arts-friendly culture. About 99% of Iowa’s landscape is human-altered (the vast majority farmland, the rest developed). This small tristate region, which was unglaciated in the last Ice Age so has some terrain too steep to plow, is one of the few places where there is much real scenery. (There are, however, many small state parks elsewhere.) The Driftless Area does have a tourism industry, but it is not so tourism-dependent as to make being a permanent resident unpleasant or unaffordable.

A combination of four private companies provides fairly good statewide intercity bus service to larger communities, but there is almost no long-distance service in the northern third of the state (above Sioux City, Ft. Dodge, Waterloo, and Dubuque, which all have service) except for a line up the middle of the state. Iowa has one Amtrak line crossing the southern part of the state. Unfortunately, the towns it serves are either very small or less promising for other reasons, so unless you plan to do a lot of traveling that criterion should get less weight.

What makes Iowa special, despite the current corporate influence, is that it represents probably the greatest flourishing of the community-minded, pragmatic, primarily rural “Midlands” culture. There must be many people, perhaps from smaller communities in climate red zones, who would find that delightful, and worth fighting to preserve as America declines. If you find the idea miserably boring, look somewhere else. People who move here ought to be willing to pitch in and become part of the community.