Oh, I know all I owe I owe Ioway.
I owe Ioway all I owe and I know why.
I am Ioway born and bred,
And on Ioway corn I’m fed.
(“All I Owe Ioway,” State Fair, 1945)
My first college roommate was from Des Moines, Iowa. Through her I met two of my best friends, who are also from Des Moines.
My manager at my first full-time job, as well as one of my closest friends and co-workers from that same job, grew up in Iowa.
And two years ago, my brother (who went to college just south of Des Moines) married a girl from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They have lived and worked in Des Moines ever since.
Suffice it to say, I’ve known a few people from The Hawkeye State. And while they are diverse as any group of people I know, they all have one thing in common: They love the state of Iowa.
It turns out they aren’t alone. This week Forbes released a list of America’s best places to raise a family, and I was not surprised to see Des Moines, Iowa, top the list.
Forbes used statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, Sperling’s Best Places and Moody’s Economy.com to rank America’s 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas. The categories they looked at were cost of living, prevalence of home ownership, median household income, housing costs, commute time, crime and the percentage of young adults that graduate high school.
A Des Moines resident interviewed by Forbes describes her town this way: “You feel safe all the time, and people are extremely friendly. The commute is not long; even if you live at the far end of the city, you’re only talking about 12 to 15 minutes to downtown.”
Since United Country offices all across the nation make a habit of recruiting people to their communities, I asked Mike Nelson, broker of United Country – RPI near Des Moines, why his buyers settle on Iowa.
“We’ve assisted a number of clients who were moving back to Iowa after moving away for extended periods of time,” said Nelson. “For these folks the big difference in Iowa was the work ethic, education system, safety and friendly attitude of the people. Like many states, we’ve had our share of floods, tornadoes and fires. The difference I see is people don’t sit around and complain. They get to work, clean up the mess and go on with life. No questions asked.”
Nelson – and Forbes – also mentioned great schools, little traffic and an affordable cost of living. But more important seem to be the people of Iowa themselves. “In these challenging times, folks feel safe in Des Moines and Iowa. The people are friendly and most will go out of their way to help you out,” said Nelson. “For me personally, the real beauty of Iowa is not in the land, but in the friendly attitude and caring nature of its people. If a guy needs help in Des Moines or the rural parts of Iowa, asking for help will usually get you help right away.”
My college friends returned to Iowa after graduation and are now working and raising families in Des Moines. They tease me about moving to Des Moines and leave house flyers and the newspaper’s real estate section around the house when we come to visit.
Maybe next time I’ll take a closer look.
What makes your community a great place to raise a family?
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