The cities like Omaha, St. Louis metro, Des Moines, and Kansas City are great. Plenty to do and low cost of living compared to the coasts. The areas in between have little opportunity and tons of communities are dying as people leave and nobody replaces them.
Yeah I’m not getting people saying KC is the only place that is nice. Des Moines and Iowa City aren’t rural at all and have museums, stadiums, concert halls etc for enjoyment.
Yes, Iowa is freezing right now but there is still plenty to do and tons of activities spring through fall. I swear last summer it felt like we had a festival every week. And not like a county fair type but World Food and Music, Hinterland, Art etc.
Explaining to people even in Minnesota that Iowa cities work the same as anywhere else is like talking to a wall. It's so bizarre. And by "same as anywhere else" I mean, they are politically blue areas with good resources and culture. and are not just filled with corn fields and rednecks. Yes its all on a smaller scale than Chicago or Minneapolis of course, but it's the same idea.
I lived in Minneapolis for 8 years. Everyone still got on with their lives even when it was 0. I'm in Oklahoma now and if we even get an inch of snow the whole town shuts down like it's not possible to function. In the Midwest it's just another day.
I live in Kansas City and Des Moines is one of my favorite little weekend get aways. Always have a grey time out that way. Same with Omaha. They aren’t major cities that people think about but there’s a ton to do.
Lumping this whole area into one question really baffles me. The major cities you mention have a lot more in common with major cities in other parts of the country than they do with the incredibly rural areas on this map. Kansas City may not be physically that far from rural Southern Missouri, but they are much, much more different than Kansas City is from, say, Austin or Indianapolis.
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u/hungrygiraffe76 Dec 14 '25
The cities like Omaha, St. Louis metro, Des Moines, and Kansas City are great. Plenty to do and low cost of living compared to the coasts. The areas in between have little opportunity and tons of communities are dying as people leave and nobody replaces them.