There are a lot of parts of rural Iowa that are deteriorating quickly because of the dirty nasty crap called meth. It is not unusual to find remnants of a meth lab when out hunting. It's really sad.

Offshore outsourcing of jobs has also killed many small towns quickly.

>Not to mention the quality of life in Iowa is cleaner, quiter, less stressful than NYC.
>
>>>>>>>Come to NYC and you will seldomly find bellow 90K.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>What's the cost of living in NYC in relation to what might be considered a 'larger city' in Iowa.
>>>>>
>>>>>Well, NYC is one of the most expensive cities in USA if we don't consider CA, where I believe the cost of living is higher. I don't know Iowa, but renting an apt. in Columbus, OH was 3 times cheaper than similar (and worse) apt. in NYC.
>>>>
>>>>In Iowa, I was renting a 3 bedroom older house for 375 a month + utils in college. In Cedar Falls, which is a larger city, I could probably rent a decent apartment for 800-900 a month.
>>>>
>>>>As far as buying, you can find a newer (built 2000+) ranch style 3-4 bedroom house with 2 stall garage and nice sized backyard for around 145K-170K.
>>>
>>>Well, in this case it would be may be 8-9 times higher in NYC. The decent home in the area I live now will cost from 700K, I think. May be more, I didn't make inquery.
>>>
>>>You can rent 2 bedroom apt. for ~1,5K in the area where I live. It varies in different areas, I think.
>>
>>OK, you just eased the depression you caused me in your last post... ;-)