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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My company has a presence in downtown Des Moines and while I've never lived there, I'm in Des Moines annually for at least a week at a time and often several times a year.

Full Disclosure I'm a native Washingtonian, and I really do love it here, and I hope I never have to move to Iowa/Des Moines.

1. Lack of diversity among race, educational attainment, everything. I saw people refer it as white bread on another post - agree completely.

2. Lack of professional sporting options - think they have minor league baseball.

3. the city literally closes at 5pm and on the weekend. Positive: the idea of traffic is a joke for anyone coming out of DC/Atlanta/LA

4. The food options - most are horrid. There are a couple that are good - I would heartily recommend anyone in Des Moines to visit Centro (wonderful!) but I've had &quot;Mexican&quot; in Des Moines where I strongly suspect they poured ketchup on my food in place of red sauce (I also got food poisoning that night). When I'm in town I spend a lot of time at Panera....

5. I never once saw someone on a run or on a bike, and most of the people I interact with are much larger than the average person in DC.

6. The people are very nice but at times shallow in their niceness. They've known everyone in their circle their whole life so it can be hard to break into their existing cliques.

7. There's a reason you can get real estate downtown for &lt;$100K. There's really nothing to do, comparable to being downtown in DC. Theatre/Museums/Cultural events are much smaller/further apart location and timing/smaller scale - see also lack of diversity above.

8. I don't find the weather that much different from DC, except for they have extremes. It's flat and blah - just as hot and humid in the summer, winter last year was miserable. Constant snow, and the worst of the polar vortex it was NEGATIVE 55*. -55*. No, thank you.

9. Finally. All the dumb farming colloquialisms... &quot;Gotta make hay when the sun shines&quot;[/quote]

Iowa native who has lived in DC and NY and now back in Des Moines.  Have to respond to this one.
 
1.       A gross generalization, but it depends on where you live.  WDM, sure not at all diverse and everyone is blond.  Closer to downtown?  Plenty of racial, religious, etc. backgrounds.
2.       Truth.  I-Cubs games are fun and places like KC, Minneapolis and Chicago are just a weekend drive away if you need professional sports. But we don’t care too much about professional sports.  Expensive and rather watch it on tv.
3.       Definetely NOT TRUE.  I’m not sure where you get this impression but Court Avenue and Ingersoll district and East Village are hopping in the evenings and especially on the weekends.  And yes the idea of traffic is a joke but that’s one of the best things about living here (that and having a very gorgeous 4000+ sq foot historic home for less than 500k). 
4.       HORRIBLY wrong.  We have fantastic food options here.  Sure, not DC level or anything but seriously.  Really good food.  Maybe going to the same 8-10 restaurants bores you but menus change up all the time.  My husband and I frequent the same 3 or 4 restaurants a lot.  I did the same thing when I lived in DC.  Centro is blah actually.  We like Eatery A, Bistro Montage, Café Di Scala, Alba, Proof, A Dong, Miyabi 9, La Mie, Lucca.  Panera? Sad, you must work for Nationwide and not make it too far from the building.  J
5.       Nope. There’s a huge exercise movement here.  There’s just not the volume of people that you are seeing constant streams of runners and bikers.  Plus we have Power Life Yoga where a monthly membership is 90 bucks compared to CorePower in DC that I think used to cost me 150 a month.  Huge road races like Drake Relays and Dam to Dam are an institution here.
6.       There’s a bit of truth to this.  I actually have a whole new social circle here in my 30’s after moving back after 15 years and my high school friends that all stayed friends are very insular and closed minded you might say.  Overall, Iowans are extremely welcoming and helpful.  Maybe not at your place of work or your small limited sample size.  Plus, DC was the most shallow who you know place I ever lived.
7.       False.  Des Moines Art Center – one of the best mid-size art museums in the country.  Science Center and State Historical Museums are fabulous.  They aren’t Smithsonians but still very educational and nice. The Iowa State Capitol is fun to visit, as is Living History Farms.  As for outdoors, you have Gray’s Lake and Principal River Walk.  Tons of fun outdoor concerts and events in the summer. It’s also really easy to get involved in any kind of organization you might want to really have your hands on – whether it is politics or a non-profit organization.  You can be a big fish in a little pond and really have an impact.  And Des Moines is rapidly expanding downtown, it’s just taking a bit of time, but night and day compared to a decade ago. 
8.       “It’s flat and blah.”  Iowa is known for its rolling hills.    Yes, the weather is what it is.  Summers are often really nice though with a few hot spells.
[b]9.       Come on.  No one says that. [/b]
 
This blog really has a lot of great information on Des Moines:
http://www.desmoinesisnotboring.com/wordpress/[/quote]
My dad does, but he's from Maryland. I don't think he's ever been to Iowa.[/quote]

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