What do you miss/appreciate about Iowa?

[RezClone]

What do you miss and/or appreciate about Iowa?

This is primarily for those who have moved away, or those from out of state that have moved to Iowa or lived in Iowa for a significant amount of time.

Positivity is appreciated! We have plenty of negativity already.

EDIT: I've seen a lot of references to traffic and wasted free time. To that end, how much time would you out-of-staters say you waste in traffic on average?

 

[jayRunner13]

I’ve lived in Iowa all my life except for a few year stint out of state. When I was away I really missed Anderson Erickson. No other dairy (especially the national brands) can compare, IMO.

 

[isuno1fan]

Tranquility of rural Iowa
Months of May & June....beautiful
Slower pace
Simplicity

 

[JP4CY]

I’ve lived in Iowa all my life except for a few year stint out of state. When I was away I really missed Anderson Erickson. No other dairy (especially the national brands) can compare, IMO.

My post was going to be AE Dairy as well.

So, I'll go a unique "route." I appreciate that Iowa for the most part is road "grid based." I know there are exceptions for Iowa (mainly bodies of water) but a lot of States have some real effed up roads.

 

[Shawker]

I still live here but I miss when we used to actually care about our children's education.

 

[ISUTex]

What do you miss and/or appreciate about Iowa?

This is primarily for those who have moved away, or those from out of state that have moved to Iowa or lived in Iowa for a significant amount of time.

Positivity is appreciated! We have plenty of negativity already.

Lived in Dallas and Chicago. When I lived in Texas I really missed the four seasons, especially autumn during football season. Also missed the slower, rural pace of life. But most of all, being able to go to Hilton to watch the Cyclones.

 

[davegilbertson]

Was just in Durant visiting family and as I get older the more I feel drawn to slower, rural life

 

[Sigmapolis]

Having moved back recently...

Sounds like a cliché, but the people are nice, friendly, and polite. They aren't out East.

Cost of living is lower across the board -- not just housing but food/services/everything almost.

No traffic. Yeah, occasionally, but nothing like what you get in Boston, DC, Atlanta, or Texas.

The skies are just beautiful. Big and colorful and always changing.

Everything is green and lush in the summer.

It just seems a tranquil, happy place compared so many other places.

 

[madguy30]

The amount of open space.

I live in WI so not exactly that far away but still different.

As a fisherman, there is certainly more opportunity to fish here in various ways in some truly wild areas that is unmatched even by NE Iowa.

But, fishing is also much more of an industry here so with that comes having to do some work at times to avoid the crowds.

I go back to Iowa pretty often and the ease of finding spots where I don't see hardly anyone else is welcomed.

 

[jbclone10]

Family and friends. I moved away right after college, and it can be tough at times.
AE. As said by other posters... nothing compares.
Thunderstorms. This one might be weird but Denver storms are fast and furious. I miss the long thunderstorms of Iowa/midwest.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

1.) After living outside of Iowa I really gained an appreciation for the cleanliness of gas stations/convenience stores in Iowa.

2.) When I lived out on the east coast one of the things I missed most was the ability to just get from point A to point B without having to factor in possible traffic issues.

 

[madguy30]

Having moved back recently...

Sounds like a cliché, but the people are nice, friendly, and polite. They aren't out East.

Cost of living is lower across the board -- not just housing but food/services/everything almost.

No traffic. Yeah, occasionally, but nothing like what you get in Boston, DC, Atlanta, or Texas.

The sky are just beautiful. Big and colorful and always changing.

Everything is green and lush in the summer.

It just seems a tranquil, happy place compared so many other places.

I've seen sunsets in the mountains, over Lake Superior, etc. and those were amazing in their own ways, and I have no idea why but an Iowa sunset is right up there.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Family and friends. I moved away right after college, and it can be tough at times.
AE. As said by other posters... nothing compares.
Thunderstorms. This one might be weird but Denver storms are fast and furious. I miss the long thunderstorms of Iowa/midwest.

I respect the AE love but prior to selling off their dairy operations to Land O'Lakes, Wells Blue Bunny was right there with AE.

 

[1100011CS]

Cheap golf.

 

[CoachHines3]

I moved from waukee out to rural west central iowa and i'll never go back to living in the "city".

 

[Al_4_State]

I still live here and have never left, but I've traveled the rest of the country extensively. This is why I stay in Iowa (besides job and family):

-There is a real pride in maintaining property and communities, especially in the rural areas. We talk about how rural Iowa is declining, but when you travel the country, you realize that there's a pocket of the rural northern/western Midwest (that includes much of Iowa) that is far more well maintained - to the point of almost thriving in some spots - compared to what you see in the eastern/lower Midwest, South, and farther West. Traveling through places like Missouri, Oklahoma, Indiana, New Mexico, eastern Colorado, and you just see these bombed out and dilapidated rural communities. Buildings falling apart and not maintained, and things just abandoned. There's much less of that in Iowa.

-I see on an almost daily basis that people in Iowa do actually try and take care of their neighbors and help each other get through. I'm not saying that's unique to Iowa, but it's definitely still very present in how people interact with each other every day. I probably have a skewed view on that as I'm on a volunteer fire department, and you're there to help people regardless of politics, and you see more of people at their best in that situation.

-I have uncrowded access to the things I love to do. I live on the western edge of the Driftless Area, and within 20 minutes of home I have the best kayaking/canoeing in the state. The best mountain biking in the state. 3 different paved bike trail systems. 3 excellent breweries. Some really good/cool local restaurants. I don't have to fight crowds to enjoy these things. Any time we travel to more noted recreation destinations, it feels like you're fighting people. I don't have traffic jams. I'm not dealing with high strung, angry people on a frequent basis.

 

[Colorado]

The green summers and fall colors. I also miss Ames

 

[TXCyclones]

I left IA in '96 and moved to Richmond, VA, then to Atlanta, GA, and now have been in Dallas, TX since '07.

1) I miss IA from mid-May through October.
2) I miss pheasant hunting.
3) I miss easy access to campus and being at every football game.
4) I miss high school friends who are still in the area.
5) I miss AE cottage cheese.
6) I miss tenderloin sandwiches.
7) I miss cousins/relatives still in the area and hate how the family drifted apart after Grandma died.

 

[Cy4Lifer]

I miss Governor Robert Ray and the members of the Iowa Congress, back when both sides worked together for the betterment of our entire state and didn’t argue about every single issue.

I miss the years when Iowa students and their scores traditionally ranked in the top three states of the nation.

And strangely enough, I miss walking beans.

 

[RezClone]

Was just in Durant visiting family and as I get older the more I feel drawn to slower, rural life

When I was a teenager/young adult, I thought there was nothing lamer than a small-town County fair.

Now that I'm in my mid 30s with two small children, I've recently caught myself looking forward to and appreciating the relaxed family/community atmosphere of them. Perhaps in some ways even more so than the state fair or amusement park experience. It was almost an embarrassing revelation for me.