Anyone from/familiar with Iowa and have some good advice?

shelbiiii

I am considering of relocating from California to Iowa for Grad School. I want some where small, community based, and fun. I like the appeal of Des Moines Downtown area (this is solely based off of google images) and Iowa City looks like a cute little area as well.

Is Des Moines a "true" Downtown? Is there a good community feel in Des Moines or Iowa City? Is the Commute bad from one city to the other? Any tips? Lots to do? Cafes? Bars? Shopping? Gyms?

What about hiking?

I am not a big social girl. I prefer to keep to myself, study, and go to the gym. But I do enjoy taking evening walks in the city and lugging my laptop to a cafe in a downtown region to study?

ANY insight would be awesome!! P.S. My fiance and I are considering living in a loft downtown in des moines.

chuckles9189

I just did my undergrad in Iowa (Cornell College). So I was about 20 miles from Iowa City. My boyfriend lived in Iowa City and graduated from the U of I, so I was there A LOT! Loved it.

Good bus system, easy to commute. The ped mall is amazing. If you get a good place everything you need is in walking distance. The Bread Garden is a grocery store that has an AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING salad bar (and you can buy wine by the glass and beer and just hang out-- it's beautiful). I dream about eating lunch there, i miss it. A lot. But, campus is well-located and central to just about everything. And if you get a place within a mile or two, very easy commute.

There's always quite a bit going on in IC. Hawkeye games in the fall are crazy. There are nicer places to go and also some hipster-y joints. Good coffee shops. Some good restaurants. Summertime there is definitely more to do than in the winter.

Good college town. University of Iowa is a good school. I worked with a professor there for my undergrad honors thesis and he was awesome. I've definitely considered moving back.

As far as des moines goes- my sister used to live there and she was not a fan. I know nothing about the downtown feel but Iowa City definitely has it without the massiveness.

chuckles9189

Also, the fitness center is HUGGGEEEEEEE. I never went there because I was fat and didn't exercise, and also I didn't have access. But one side of it was all windows that overlooked the road towards the library. Lots of runners in iowa city. Everyone was always running. Everywhere.

If running isn't your thing--- there are two really awesome Hot Yoga houses (The one on 1st ave is my favorite). All types of yoga (Vinyasa, Hatha, a Barre-works class etc).

Let me know if you want to know anything else!

mrdk92

Oddly enough, I went to Cornell too! Iowa City is great, lots of fun and funky shops to go to. I would definitely recommend it over Des Moines.

mrdk92

Oh, and if you're interested, Iowa City has a roller derby team that has try outs several times year. They are also just fun to go watch on Saturday nights I played with them for a little while.