Not as bad as the others here say
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12/2/2005
Des Moines isn't that bad. I am originally from Michigan and found everyone to be friendly despite my single status in my first years here. That was in the mid 90s and at that time the job market was incredible. Unemployment was below 1% and employees had the pick of the jobs since there were more jobs than people to fill them. The work here is fairly limited to retail, big business (office jobs) or entrepreneurship. But, that suits me just fine because I am not into outdoor manual labor anyway.
The weather does suck! Winters do not see as much snow as Colorado, Michigan or even Chicago - but the bitter cold really is tough to live with. Every winter I've been here I have experienced days with wind-chills in the -40s. That's insane.
It has improved a lot in regards to cultural diversity and things to do. Most of these changes have been quite recent (2 years). I think that has a lot to do with the new crew of city planners that came in a few years back. The improvements have been very positive.
Also, the info on the site here is inaccurate in that Des Moines has QUITE A FEW Starbucks (unfortunately -their coffee is bitter with prepacked beans that are not roasted fresh- shame if you're a Starbuck's fan!).
Brandy | Des Moines, IA