Why Move to Iowa???

[cychhosis]

There are also some cons to consider:

1) In many school districts, your kids won't be exposed to a lot of diversity (my high school, which was of average size in the state, was 99% WASP). This should be less of an issue in Des Moines, though.
2) You're 3-4 hours from a major city if you count KC; even further if Chicago is your idea of a "real" city. I.e., depending on what you and your family like to do for entertainment, it might get pretty boring.
3) Weather...especially if your wife is used to LA.

The diversity issue is not that big of a deal to me, my school was the same way. Your kids will react the way you teach them to.

The big city thing is what gets to my wife the most. I would be perfectly happy with living in a town of 500.

Weather is a smaller issue, we lived in Joplin, MO for a year so she was introduced to Tornado/Thunderstorms and we live in Denver now so the snow wouldn't bother her either.

The demographics of rural Iowa has changed quite a bit... you may want to checkout your local school district to see who is going there now. I bet it's not what you remember!
School District Demographics System - Map Viewer

 

[JUKEBOX]

Corn and combines.

 

[cdekovic]

Ames native here. Lived in Denver for 12 years. Kids born in Denver, we moved back to Ames primarily to raise the kids. Good Schools, Low crime, closer to grandparents, overall quality of life. Quality of life is a difficult thing for non-Iowans to understand. Now that the kids are grown, we would move back to Colorado in a heartbeat. Great move though for our kids growing up years.

And Oh Yeah, The Clones.

 

[Entropy]

I'm originally from NW WI, but went to grad school at Iowa State. After grad school I moved back to WI, but ended back in IA due to better job outlook and career options.

I started in Mason City (which isn't a great place to live) but now I'm in Cedar Rapids, and I like the bigger town feel. Miss the Ames/DSM metro, but in all honesty I'd really love to live in Duluth, MN.

 

[capitalcityguy]

I'm originally from NW WI, but went to grad school at Iowa State. After grad school I moved back to WI, but ended back in IA due to better job outlook and career options.

I started in Mason City (which isn't a great place to live) but now I'm in Cedar Rapids, and I like the bigger town feel. Miss the Ames/DSM metro, but in all honesty I'd really love to live in Duluth, MN.

...aaaaannnnnd this info helps the OP...how? :unsure: