Relocation Question for Iowa FReepers

I am asking not for myself, but for a good, long-time friend considering relocating to Iowa from Texas for a job. He's been unemployed for 6 months now, thanks to the wonderful Obanomy we've been enjoying for the last 4+ years. An interview last week seemed to go very well (he's a mechanical engineer.)

It is in the Des Moines area, which I hear is a liberal cockroach nest politically. The town is about 38 miles SE of Des Moines in Pella. I've looked up stats on the area on city-data.com, but stats can only tell so much, so I was hoping some local FReepers could fill me in on the pros and cons of the area, where to look for housing, areas to avoid, local politics/culture to expect, etc.

About friend's family: they are in their early 50's, in relatively good health, one daughter who just started college here in D/FW, financially stable with no debt, own their home outright. They are committed, devout Christians, and by that I mean they live it out in their lives and aren't quiet about it. Friend is not completely sheltered or naive about Leftist climes, having grown up in Madistan, WI.

Des Moines has turned rather Democrat over the past 30 years, but to call it a liberal cesspool? That’s ridiculous.

I do note with sadness that racial crime is starting to come to Des Moines. That puzzles me. Why would thugs want to live in Iowa, of all places?

The Des Moines Register has pretty much become a liberal rag, but it doesn’t speak for the people of Iowa. It doesn’t even deliver all over the state like it used to. It’s a skinny little Gannett rag. Sad. It used to be a good, substantial newspaper in the ‘70s, when I started reading it.

Pella is an attractive, decent, conservative town.

Iowa is a great state with great people. You can find out how great they are by joining the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa one July. People open their homes to let you use their shower.

I don’t know where you get your information about Iowa, but you need a new source.

Music Man - Iowa Stubborn

Townspeople:
Oh, there's nothing halfway
About the Iowa way to treat you,
When we treat you
Which we may not do at all.

There's an Iowa kind of special
Chip-on-the-shoulder attitude.
We've never been without.
That we recall.

We can be cold
As our falling thermometers in December
If you ask about our weather in July.
And we're so by God stubborn
We could stand touchin' noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye-to-eye.

But what the heck, you're welcome,
Join us at the picnic.
You can eat your fill
Of all the food you bring yourself.
You really ought to give Iowa a try.

Provided you are contrary,

We can be cold
As our falling thermometer in December
If you ask about our weather in July.
And we're so by God stubborn
We can stand touchin' noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye-to-eye.

But we'll give you our shirt
And a back to go with it
If your crops should happen to die.

Farmer:
So, what the heck, you're welcome,
Glad to have you with us.

Farmer and Wife:
Even though we may not ever mention it again.

Townspeople:
You really ought to give Iowa
Hawkeye Iowa
Dubuque, Des
Moines, Davenport, Marshalltown,
Mason City, Keokuk, Ames,
Clear Lake
Ought to give Iowa a try!

Naw, I don’t see Des Moines protecting Somalian dog-hating taxi drivers like Minneapolis does.

Minnesotans, for the most part, are self-hating Scandinavians.

Iowans, for the most part, are sensible Germans, Luxembourgers and Dutch.

IMO.

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