I am getting laid off after 14yrs on the same job, but they are willing to let us transfer to another plant. I believe I should be headed to Iowa in the next month or so. I was wondering about the city and where is a good small town to live. I am used to living in towns with the population of 1500 or so. is there anything close like that? where do I need to stay away from incase of another major flood?

I have a close friend that lives in Buffalo Iowa, then there is the Quad Cities of Davenport, Bettendorf, Muscatine, and Moline. They are all really nice cities, lots of dirt racetracks too!!

I have family in Nevada, Iowa about 35 miles north of Des Monies on the Lincoln Highway 30. Very nice farming community with nice homes. Ames is to the west and a collage town. We were there in 06 and I notice lots of old cars everywhere. Good Luck with your relocate.

I visited Des Moines for work last year. Very nice niehborhood. The central Office I visited had to match the other houses in the area and looked like some old mansion. was really cool.

My company is closing down one of our offices this spring and is moving the jobs to Des Moines.

thanks for all the info. i am not 100% sure i want to transfer yet but ive been there since i was 18 and now im 31 so i dont really want to start over. but moving sucks. but then again there are no jobs around here. does anyone know how much land runs up there?

I have a close friend that lives in Buffalo Iowa, then there is the Quad Cities of Davenport, Bettendorf, Muscatine, and Moline. They are all really nice cities, lots of dirt racetracks too!!

Only problem is the Quad Cities area is 180 miles east of Des Moines....:)

LockDoc

I have family there . Good town. I like the knoxville area east of the city lights- Sprint car hall of fame is there. and Adell area to the east of Des moines.

There are 4 or 5 board members from the Des Moines area that may chime in, IvelDesigns, 72-c20, 70C10Toejam, & krazy_texan .

A few smaller towns that I'm familiar with are Norwalk, Indianola, Elkhart, Waukee, Altoona, Bondurant, Carlisle, & Runnells. There are a lot more small towns around the area. PM Levi (IvelDesigns) I think he knows the area pretty well....

http://www.homeconnectusa.com/

LockDoc

thanks for all the info. i am not 100% sure i want to transfer yet but ive been there since i was 18 and now im 31 so i dont really want to start over. but moving sucks. but then again there are no jobs around here. does anyone know how much land runs up there?

I thought Nashville was faring pretty good in this economy. My wife's parents live in Spring Hill outside of Franklin, things seem to be doing pretty good around there.

I'm afraid I did not help much, but I do hope things work out for you.

I don't think Des Moines is doing much better than anyone else with this economy-you should be able to find a house pretty reasonable there. Iowa is full of little towns, and a few years back you find house in them selling for $10,000.

i think the company is just closing all of the union plants im just trying to get 9 more yrs to lock in my ins and retirement benefits. hopefully ill make it

I lived in a small town north of Ames for several years, and liked it very well. Housing probably won't be terribly expensive in some of the small towns outside of Des Moines, but if you want to own land, it could get expensive. That area is some of the most productive farmland in the world.

I don't know how far you want to drive everyday, or your age and family status, but some of the schools around Ames are some of the best in the country, from what I remember.

Only problem is the Quad Cities area is 180 miles east of Des Moines....:)

LockDoc


Yeah, I know that, I was just sayin..

my wife has her eye on indianola any have any info/experience on that town? where should i stay away from due to flooding? i dont want to get washed away.

If your not familiar with that area, don't judge the people 'til you learn they have a dry sense of humor. They may tell you something and never crack a smile. Then you learn they are pulling a prank. They have hearts as big as all outdoors and give you the shirts off their back if you need it.
Cayoterun

my wife has her eye on indianola any have any info/experience on that town? where should i stay away from due to flooding? i dont want to get washed away.

Indianola seems to be a nice little town. That is where krazy_texan lives. There is also a great guy that lives 4 or 5 miles west of there that sells new and used parts for our trucks. (don't tell your wife that though) "Arts Classic Truck Parts". I went there today to pick up some parts for the '71 Chevy 4x4. Nice guy and decent prices, plus no shipping....:)

I can't really tell you anything about the flooding but I don't think they have much problem around there....

I forgot to say that the wife and I drove around the town square today and it looks like they have a lot of nice stores and resturaunts....

LockDoc

Plus we have really cool winters here! They only last about 6 months...or so. :lol:

Plus we have really cool winters here! They only last about 6 months...or so. :lol:

Yeah, 6 months of winter, 2 months of spring, 2 months of summer, 2 months of fall, it all evens out ??? :waah:

Yeah, 6 months of winter, 2 months of spring, 2 months of summer, 2 months of fall, it all evens out ??? :waah:

Thats about it. Hows things Tom?

Indianola seems to be a nice little town. That is where krazy_texan lives. There is also a great guy that lives 4 or 5 miles west of there that sells new and used parts for our trucks. (don't tell your wife that though) "Arts Classic Truck Parts". I went there today to pick up some parts for the '71 Chevy 4x4. Nice guy and decent prices, plus no shipping....:)

I can't really tell you anything about the flooding but I don't think they have much problem around there....

I forgot to say that the wife and I drove around the town square today and it looks like they have a lot of nice stores and resturaunts....

LockDoc




(my wife likes trucks too) she has a 72 swb with a tpi350/700r4 lowered 4/6 with tilt tach cruise buddy buckets and a 68 front clip. lol......:smoke:

what is the state income tax there? that is one good thing about tennessee we dont have one. :metal:

(my wife likes trucks too) she has a 72 swb with a tpi350/700r4 lowered 4/6 with tilt tach cruise buddy buckets and a 68 front clip. lol......:smoke:

what is the state income tax there? that is one good thing about tennessee we dont have one. :metal:

By all means tell her about Art's then...:)

When you get to this web page download the "Iowa Withholding Tax Guide" (pdf).

http://www.state.ia.us/tax/news/nochangeWH.html

I hope you are a Harvard grad (or equivalent) 'cause I think that's what it would take to figure it out...

LockDoc

I live in Newton about 40 miles east of Des Moines pretty quiet around here and housing prices are down quite a bit and no flooding to worry about . Good luck in your search . Bob

I live in Des Moines, but we are looking to move out to a smaller town...
Indianola seems to have some decent small acreages around it. Adel is the other town we like too. a bit further out, and to the west. Indianola is S/SE.

Carlisle and Runnels are some smaller ones to the east.
Bondurant and Mitchellville are small and to the east also.

I think probably cheaper to the east due to most expansion heading west.

whereabouts is the location you'll be working?

in desmoines at the bridgestone plant

thanks for the info on those towns ill be checking them out.

google earth has some good images of the area, and would be a good tool for "looking" at where the towns are in relation to work, and what the surround area/terrain is like....

Can't believe I just came across this. Guess I just linked to the meet thread from a PM and never checked this forum after that. Glad to have you move to DM, but too bad its for that reason. Don't really know the pop. of the small towns around here. 72-c20 has a good idea there. Just watch for the rivers, that's where the trouble usually starts. Not much help, but let us know when you get here.

I just saw this thread as well. Are you planning on moving still? If so I would suggest not buying a house/property in Polk county. Which Des Moines is located in. The taxes in this county are crazy. but Indianola like you mentioned is in Warren and there taxes are less. Another great town just outside of Des Moines is Norwalk. It too is in Warren county and is a really nice town with, I'm guessing here, around 3500 people or so. If you need more info just post up.

ok, just saw it too. :)

if you're going to be at the bridgestone plant, then anywhere north, east or west would be good. indianola is a pretty good town, but that would be about a 35-40 mile commute. des moins doesn't really have traffic to deal with. especially up on the north side.

I'm out in waukee and love it. fairly small, but 5 miles from everything.

Adel would also be good.

you might want to look in grimes or perry too. or even dallas center.

Housing isn't going to be in the $10k range like someone said. but yeah, prices aren't to bad. I'm on .4 acre, 1600 sqft + 500 unfinished for about $160k. that was 2 years ago.

PM me if you have any other questions or if you want me to go check out a house for ya. i like getting out to the small towns and scoping them out for future projects.

wow! thanks for all the replies. i just found ou that if i stay here i qualify to go to a 2yr college for whatever i want to for free. sounds to good to be true huh? i am up in the air on transfering now. lol..... i just dont know what i would go to school for.