Hey, Hawkeye Jet, you are not the only one anymore

[Lith]

@HawkeyeJet, you will not be the only member of this board watching the Jets from Iowa this season.  We just rented an apartment in a suburb west of Des Moines.  Effective October 1, I will be a part-time Iowa resident.

Our daughter in law is pregnant with our second grandchild, due in November.  Our kids grew up in Illinois with grandparents in NY and FL.  We have always said we don't want to be absentee grandparents, so we are making the move.  Part-time for now.  But we will probably sell the house and move out permanently in a year or two.

10 years ago if anyone told me I would plan to retire in Iowa, I would have thought they were crazy.  But here I am.

 

 

[Dcat]

13 minutes ago, Lith said:

@HawkeyeJet, you will not be the only member of this board watching the Jets from Iowa this season.  We just rented an apartment in a suburb west of Des Moines.  Effective October 1, I will be a part-time Iowa resident.

Our daughter in law is pregnant with our second grandchild, due in November.  Our kids grew up in Illinois with grandparents in NY and FL.  We have always said we don't want to be absentee grandparents, so we are making the move.  Part-time for now.  But we will probably sell the house and move out permanently in a year or two.

10 years ago if anyone told me I would plan to retire in Iowa, I would have thought they were crazy.  But here I am.

Similar but different situation for me.  My daughter and husband built a house right here in Sparta NJ.  We were going to get out of New Jersey and move somewhere less costly with better full year weather.  But we want to remain 5 minutes away from our daughter and grandkids right here.  So here we stay.  My sons will probably end up moving to areas with better job opportunities and lower costs of living.  Maybe we will purchase something somewhere and become the prototypical snowbirds.  But not for a while.

[HawkeyeJet]

That’s awesome, Lith!  Family is what kept me in Iowa all these years.  Happy to hear you will be close to your growing group, congrats.  My in-laws live in Waukee so we make it that way often.  I live in Cedar Rapids.  

I’d put October in Iowa against any month, anywhere.  A lot more natural beauty than outsiders know and I’m my opinion the best weather.  Sweatshirt and pants, crisp but not cold.  That’s football to me.

I know you aren’t unfamiliar with the area but I think most are pleasantly surprised with the things to do in that area.

Welcome to Iowa!  You now can legally say: “Is this Heaven? No it’s Iowa.

[Dcat]

6 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

That’s awesome, Lith!  Family is what kept me in Iowa all these years.  Happy to hear you will be close to your growing group, congrats.  My in-laws live in Waukee so we make it that way often.  I live in Cedar Rapids.  

I’d put October in Iowa against any month, anywhere.  A lot more natural beauty than outsiders know and I’m my opinion the best weather.  Sweatshirt and pants, crisp but not cold.  That’s football to me.

I know you aren’t unfamiliar with the area but I think most are pleasantly surprised with the things to do in that area.

Welcome to Iowa!  You now can legally say: “Is this Heaven? No it’s Iowa.

Ray Kinsella approves

[peebag]

This board really has gone down hill fast.

[Jet_Engine1]

2 hours ago, HawkeyeJet said:

That’s awesome, Lith!  Family is what kept me in Iowa all these years.  Happy to hear you will be close to your growing group, congrats.  My in-laws live in Waukee so we make it that way often.  I live in Cedar Rapids.  

I’d put October in Iowa against any month, anywhere.  A lot more natural beauty than outsiders know and I’m my opinion the best weather.  Sweatshirt and pants, crisp but not cold.  That’s football to me.

I know you aren’t unfamiliar with the area but I think most are pleasantly surprised with the things to do in that area.

Welcome to Iowa!  You now can legally say: “Is this Heaven? No it’s Iowa.

Where's the best place to live out there (crime, walkability, amenities, real estate/condos, etc)? 

 

I have a hard and fast retirement date in 4 years (I'll be 55 with 18 and 15 year old sons) and looking to gtfo of Florida. Too hot all the time, not into the beach anymore,  we rarely go beyond the pool or Water Parks for water. ?

We've talked about SD and WY but Iowa seems to offer a lot more....

[Lith]

6 hours ago, Dcat said:

Similar but different situation for me.  My daughter and husband built a house right here in Sparta NJ.  We were going to get out of New Jersey and move somewhere less costly with better full year weather.  But we want to remain 5 minutes away from our daughter and grandkids right here.  So here we stay.  My sons will probably end up moving to areas with better job opportunities and lower costs of living.  Maybe we will purchase something somewhere and become the prototypical snowbirds.  But not for a while.

Yup.  I get it.  As we get older our ppriorities change.  I see the kids every few months now.  Looking forward to being there a lot more regularly and not getting in their hair by staying in the house with them.  This is the best solution for us, and Iowa is a lower cost of living than Jersey, so it should make retirement more comfortable financially.

[Lith]

6 hours ago, HawkeyeJet said:

That’s awesome, Lith!  Family is what kept me in Iowa all these years.  Happy to hear you will be close to your growing group, congrats.  My in-laws live in Waukee so we make it that way often.  I live in Cedar Rapids.  

I’d put October in Iowa against any month, anywhere.  A lot more natural beauty than outsiders know and I’m my opinion the best weather.  Sweatshirt and pants, crisp but not cold.  That’s football to me.

I know you aren’t unfamiliar with the area but I think most are pleasantly surprised with the things to do in that area.

Welcome to Iowa!  You now can legally say: “Is this Heaven? No it’s Iowa.

I think you mentioned once before you were from the Cedar Rapids area.  Our rental is in Waukee and that is probably the area we will look for a house in -- Waukee or one of the other western suburbs.  We looked to buy in the spring, but couldn't find anything that met all of our requirements, so we decided to rent and take time to find the right place for long term.

Des Moines is a nice small city, Omaha is not too far to the West.  The area does have a lot to offer.  Even if I may be closer to the Cyclones than the Hawkeyes.

[Dcat]

1 hour ago, Lith said:

Yup.  I get it.  As we get older our priorities change.  I see the kids every few months now.  Looking forward to being there a lot more regularly and not getting in their hair by staying in the house with them.  This is the best solution for us, and Iowa is a lower cost of living than Jersey, so it should make retirement more comfortable financially.

They also enjoy having both sets of grandparents within 5 miles.  It great for them too.  We are there every few days or more and they come here a few times a week.  Lots of dinners.  There's always someone to watch them and the dogs. Win-win for everyone.  

[HawkeyeJet]

5 hours ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

Where's the best place to live out there (crime, walkability, amenities, real estate/condos, etc)? 

 

I have a hard and fast retirement date in 4 years (I'll be 55 with 18 and 15 year old sons) and looking to gtfo of Florida. Too hot all the time, not into the beach anymore,  we rarely go beyond the pool or Water Parks for water. ?

We've talked about SD and WY but Iowa seems to offer a lot more....

I guess that depends on what you are used to and looking for.  If you want a smaller version of bigger US metropolitan experience, likely the only option is the Des Moines metro area and to a lesser extent the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor.  Crime , for the most part, is not even something I really think about, even in the two bigger areas of Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.  Outside of very isolated areas within each of the actual cities themselves, there is very few areas where I’d say are “rough”.

However if you want to get out of that type of vibe and want more small town/rural America vibe there are all sorts of options that with the basic build of towns of 3k-10k with a handful of fast food and pizza restaurants and maybe a few local restaurants etc with more options like Des Moines and Cedar Rapids within an hour.   Any where you chose would be within a short trip of “outdoor” life like rivers, lakes, so on and so forth.  I grew up and still live I. The eastern part of the state.  About and hour from the Mississippi River.  I grew up in a town of about 3,500 people that had and moved to Cedar Rapids after college.  I could live back in my hometown and would be perfectly fine, but even living in Cedar Rapids, which I’m sure feels like a podunk town to some, is night and day from those rural small towns.  I’ve always though that outside of the arts, more specifically actual art studios and live theatre, you can for the most party get everything in Des Moines or Cedar Rapids you can in bigger metropolitan US areas, just not in the same abundance.   But you can also go down a river in a canoe and see some breath taking bluff’s etc more easily here than I’d assume in those places.

[HawkeyeJet]

2 hours ago, Lith said:

I think you mentioned once before you were from the Cedar Rapids area.  Our rental is in Waukee and that is probably the area we will look for a house in -- Waukee or one of the other western suburbs.  We looked to buy in the spring, but couldn't find anything that met all of our requirements, so we decided to rent and take time to find the right place for long term.

Des Moines is a nice small city, Omaha is not too far to the West.  The area does have a lot to offer.  Even if I may be closer to the Cyclones than the Hawkeyes.

Waukee is a great town.  If I were to move out that direction, I’d be choosing the western suburbs as well.  Waukee has exploded(at least in Iowa context) in the past 10 years or so.

[Lith]

17 hours ago, Dcat said:

They also enjoy having both sets of grandparents within 5 miles.  It great for them too.  We are there every few days or more and they come here a few times a week.  Lots of dinners.  There's always someone to watch them and the dogs. Win-win for everyone.  

The kids are looking forward to us being out there probably as much as we are.  Both sets of parents live in the Chicago area.  They have no family nearby to help them out.  They have wanted this as much as we have, I know they are both very appreciative that we will be there to help out, especially during the time the second baby is born.  Definitely is a win-win.

Only downside is  I really wanted to travel out to the Denver game this year, but they have asked us to be in Iowa for the last week in October and first week in November since that is when the baby is due.  Sacrifices we make for our kids I will go to GB instead.

[Dcat]

2 hours ago, Lith said:

The kids are looking forward to us being out there probably as much as we are.  Both sets of parents live in the Chicago area.  They have no family nearby to help them out.  They have wanted this as much as we have, I know they are both very appreciative that we will be there to help out, especially during the time the second baby is born.  Definitely is a win-win.

Only downside is  I really wanted to travel out to the Denver game this year, but they have asked us to be in Iowa for the last week in October and first week in November since that is when the baby is due.  Sacrifices we make for our kids I will go to GB instead.

2nd grandson is due last week October here.  Congrats in advance!  Cigars all around this Oct.  1st grandson was also October.