Do the Most Hipster Thing Possible—Move to Des Moines

National Journal ^ | October 16, 2014 | Matt Vasilogambros and Mauro Whiteman

[2ndDivisionVet]

I left in 2001. Sounds like a lot has changed.

[gr8eman]

So you know what they queers were doing to the soil?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71PNZH1OaW0

[a fool in paradise]

Maybe this is a covert plan to encourage “young” voters to move to Iowa in advance of the 2016 straw polls...

[bigbob]

Chicken vs egg. Dubuque has had a real rebirth too, but largely driven by private investment, just like Omaha. Once people have jobs and businesses are prospering, the cultural stuff will take care of itself.

[Riley]

Maybe this is a covert plan to encourage “young” voters to move to Iowa in advance of the 2016 straw polls...

Exactly what I was thinking.

[JimRed]

So, the new arrivals will bring their unfortunate voting habits with them , and the town will be ruined in 10-20 years.

[SgtHooper]

And the cancer metastasizes.

[wbill]

Thousands of hipster tool-bags sounds like a good reason for me to avoid Des Moines like the plague.

Too bad, it probably was a nice city, once.

[xcullen]

Had to comment - that video is awesome.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Downtown Des Moines was thoroughly flooded back in the early 1990s. Saylorville Reservoir, north of the city, is a typical Army Corps of Engineers boondoggle that was built too small to handle a couple weeks of rain.
It will flood again and again.

[a fool in paradise]

Sounds “conspiracy theory” but there have been spoken efforts from the Left to turn some states “Democrat” through migration.

[thefactor]

Yessssss. Love their song Bitchin Camaro.

[WayneS]

I wonder what Matt Vasilogambros and Mauro Whiteman have against Des Moines to make them wish such a thing on that city.

[gr8eman]

I was always surprised that the gay mafia didn’t go after those guys after they sang that song.

[dfwgator]

Former Detroit Tiger great Jim Walewander’s favorite band.

[ifinnegan]

“Talking Heads frontman and Des Moines fan David Byrne touched on that idea at the Social Club’s launch party “

Quite an ironic statement from Byrne.

Remember the song “Big Country” from 1977. It was all about him flying over the US (flyover country) and holding contempt for the people who live down there, saying he wouldn’t live there if you paid him.

Here are some of the lyrics.

—

I guess it’s healthy, I guess the air is clean.
I guess those people have fun with their neighbors and friends.
Look at that kitchen and all of that food.
Look at them eat it’ guess it tastes real good.

They grow it in the farmlands
And they take it to the stores
They put it in the car trunk
And they bring it back home
And I say ...

I say, I wouldn’t live there if you paid me.
I couldn’t live like that, no siree!
I couldn’t do the things the way those people do.
I wouldn’t live there if you paid me to.

I’m tired of looking out the windows of the airplane
I’m tired of travelling, I want to be somewhere.
It’s not even worth talking
About those people down there.

[Alex Murphy]

Ditch Brooklyn, millennials. The real place to be is Des Moines, a city with a blossoming culture scene, thriving start-ups, and urban beauty.

"Urban beauty"? Since when is urinated-on cement considered attractive?

[VanShuyten]

The Capitol building is nice, but there’s nothing in the flood plain that’s particularly beautiful, especially this time of year.

At one time, Des Moines was a manufacturing hub for farm equipment. It then moved into banking and insurance, but lost all the manufacturing. It certainly hasn’t ever been “vibrant”, even when compared to neighboring cities such as KC, St. Louis, Chicago or Minneapolis.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Maybe he was being ironic or maybe he’s changed his mind?

[niteowl77]

Dubuque has had a real rebirth too, but largely driven by private investment, just like Omaha.

Dubuque? Wow. I have long been of the belief that Dubuque was Iowa's "welfare queen," what with all the grant money they transfer from taxpayers around the state/nation to a handful of the "right" (local) developers. (DBQ doesn't like auslanders horning in.) I will say this, though- Dubuque has certainly had a rebirth in violent crime that only accidentally coincides with a burgeoning population of certain demographic groups from Rockford and Chicago.

Mr. niteowl77

*Other Peoples' Money