The one thing I have noticed after living most of my life in southern Iowa along the Iowa/Missouri border is how much nicer and cleaner the towns are in the North compared to the South. The northern part of the state just has more money in their economy. I would say the major part of that is from the value of the farm ground and the increased amounts of crops it will grow. It costs roughly the same to put it in and take it out, you just get more grown. That money has flowed into the towns and people therefore have more money to keep the upkeep on their home.
The 2nd part is religion, most of the Northern towns have larger Catholic populations that tend to push the town pride angle much more than in the southern parts of the state. Most of the smaller towns around Ames, are just much cleaner nicer little towns, and well kept more than southern area towns towards the border. All the houses are kept up, yards are mowed, you don't see rusted cars sitting on the lots, and no one has a couch on their porch as the main sitting area to watch traffic as it flows by.
