[yeldarb]

Des Moines is great. Cheap, good jobs, big enough to get decent concerts/theater tours, and small enough to feel a sense of community. Only downside is ~1-2 months of brutal weather in the winter.

In response to the parent comment, the reason it's largely escaped these effects is that the economy is anchored in insurance and financial services rather than manufacturing.

There's also a big ag-tech sector and growing bio-tech industry if you include Ames which is a university town about 30 miles North.