Leaving Iowa
- Thread starter timappelgate
- Start date
This is pretty much the same as I feel. Grew up in small town Nebraska, got my BS and MS at Iowa State, lived in Chicago and Omaha for awhile. Moved to Fort Collins just over two years ago. This is the first time in my life I've lived somewhere, and wasn't looking for the next place to live. There is a lot keeping me here, especially now that my wife and I have made a lot of friends.
That said, I'm finishing up my PhD soon and looking to stay here, but if a faculty job ever came up at ISU, I'd have to think pretty hard about it. I don't think there's any other place that would tempt me as much.
My wife and I live in Ames; we have family in the Austin, TX area; in Lawrence, KS; in Englewood, CO, a suburb of Denver; and in Portland, Oregon. All four places have both good and bad aspects, just like Ames. I think it is good to try new pastures if you have spent all or most of your life in one place because travel and change are always educational even within your own country. I used to tell people who did not like Iowa, usually Ames specifically, that you either make your peace with a place or move on.
Pretty easy actually. I was born and raised in SW Iowa and after college, joined the military and haven't been back for over a decade now. You know what, I don't miss it at all b/c there are some great places to live across the country and home is where you make it.
You can go to Des Moines International (chuckle) airport and take a flight, its fast and easy.... I did, and never looked back. Have my ISU stuff, a job, and this board. All I need... rest...is just unwanted knowledge
Are you sure you want to leave the "Brain Belt"?
New Hot Spot for Jobs: Workers Flocking to the 'Brain Belt' - Careers Articles
New Hot Spot for Jobs: Workers Flocking to the 'Brain Belt' - Careers Articles
Make sure to chow down on some OP pizza before skipping town. That's good stuff. I grew up around Osage, so Mason City was the closest "big" town for us if you wanted to go to a mall, movie, or chain restaurant.
My best friend is visiting from Hawaii, where he moved to about 3 years ago. For obvious reasons, he doesn't miss too much about the state, but he did mention a few things:
Sweet corn, Muscatine melons, and ISU athletics.
Sweet corn, Muscatine melons, and ISU athletics.
I miss Iowa everyday. There's no other state like it. It's home to me. I'll be moving back. I stayed in the midwest so it's not too bad, but I still miss Iowa.
I grew up in eastern Iowa but left for 15 years when I was in my early 20's. During that time I lived in Ill, Fla, Idaho twice, SC, and New Jersey. I moved back after 15 years but continued to work out of state, living in Mich and PA for extended periods for another 3 years. I love Iowa and I am really, really glad I am home, but I wouldn't trade my time away for anything. It was great to see all those other places, to learn about them, to soak up the local history and sights and sounds and customs, and to call them home. I have been back now for nearly a decade, and have loved being near family and lifelong friends and my Cyclones, but I wouldn't hesitate one second to catch another train out of town and see more of the country or world. It's a big, big, exciting, wonderful world we live in and you only go around once.
You can always come home, but you can never go back in time and do the things you'll later wish you had done.
You can always come home, but you can never go back in time and do the things you'll later wish you had done.
Iowa is cool, but I would move a lot of other places if the rest of my friends would pick up and move with me. I just have an outstanding group of friends who I love and that's worth more to me than any amount of money or adventure.
If you're going to do it, do it while you're young with no attachments (spouse, kids, house, etc.). Once you have a family, own a home, developed a network of friends, it becomes a lot harder to pick up and move.
I've never lived outside the State, but I've travelled to enough of the country to know that I don't want to.
Colorado is one of my favorite places to visit, and I get out there at least 1 week a year. I get pumped as soon as I hit the border, and always have a blast. Yet, every single time I see the "Welcome to Iowa" sign on the way home, I get just as excited. I love it here. The people are great, and there aren't a lot of places that carry the quiet, honest sense of pride that Iowans have in their home. There isn't a place on the planet that I would rather live than Des Moines.
It's funny, because when I was in high school, and even a freshman in college, I assumed I would leave the State after graduation (probably for Colorado), but after a year at ISU I realized how much I this place.
Colorado is one of my favorite places to visit, and I get out there at least 1 week a year. I get pumped as soon as I hit the border, and always have a blast. Yet, every single time I see the "Welcome to Iowa" sign on the way home, I get just as excited. I love it here. The people are great, and there aren't a lot of places that carry the quiet, honest sense of pride that Iowans have in their home. There isn't a place on the planet that I would rather live than Des Moines.
It's funny, because when I was in high school, and even a freshman in college, I assumed I would leave the State after graduation (probably for Colorado), but after a year at ISU I realized how much I this place.
Iowa is great in terms of raising kids, simple/quiet life. If you're young and don't have to stay for some reason, get out now, you can always go back. I've lived in Des Moines, Lansing, Chicago, Tampa and now Cleveland. I wouldn't go back to Iowa over any of them but Lansing.
When you move out of state you'll notice a significant drop off in work ethic, and over a few years it will likely translate into you making a lot more money. Then you get promoted a few times into management and you can spend your mornings typing on Cyclone Fanatic.
When you move out of state you'll notice a significant drop off in work ethic, and over a few years it will likely translate into you making a lot more money. Then you get promoted a few times into management and you can spend your mornings typing on Cyclone Fanatic.
This is very true. When I lived in Denver I wanted to shoot half the people I worked with because of how lazy they were. You ask questions about projects and timelines and all you would get back for a response was "no worries man". When I told my employer I was moving back to Iowa for an ideal beginning job in ag they offered me a job to try to get me to stay that was higher than my current boss because of how much I would get done compared to the rest of my co workers and my boss. Denver as a city has a cool laid back vibe to it until you have to work with those laid back people and realize how frustrating it is.
Ames (and Iowa) is a great place to live, but it depends on what you want to do to decide whether you want to go or not. My job used to involve a lot of travel so I prefer staying a place where I can fly directly instead of having to go to DSM and catch connecting flight somewhere.
I miss the small-town and laid-back atmosphere in Ames but therea are always trade-offs.
You can try going to different places (cities, states or even countries) and decide where you want to live. It's always nice to have options
I miss the small-town and laid-back atmosphere in Ames but therea are always trade-offs.
You can try going to different places (cities, states or even countries) and decide where you want to live. It's always nice to have options
Anyone else come to Iowa for school from out of state and decide they liked it enough to stick around?
