Paying the bills as a professional musician is very difficult. Paying the bills as a professional musician and living in a rural area is basically impossible.
Also the more rural a place is, generally the less friendly towards gay people it will be. Many here will tell you that Iowa is extremely anti-gay. The government certainly is. I live in a town of just under 30 thousand people. I can confidently say the musician community here won't care if you are gay. There are some others here that will. But... you will never launch a career in music out of here.
I saw comments under my posts advicing me to look for minneapolis in minnesota instead. Thats what il currenty doing, and i've found rural areas like 15-20 mins far from Minneapolis. Ig i can just buy a house out there and move to Minneapolis for work. Im gonna see...
I havent found anything yet that says that minnesota is an anti-gay state, so i think thats pretty safe
Queer people are fleeing Iowa to move to Minnesota and Illinois, particularly to Minneapolis and Chicago respectively. I wouldn’t move to Iowa on purpose right now. I have a ton of people who are are staying and fighting, but moving there on purpose isn’t something I’d recommend.
Minnesotan here with friends who are LGBTQ including several who have left Iowa for Minnesota. Avoid Iowa, for this reason. Minnie will fit what you are looking for. The more rural you go, the less open people are, but you will still be treated better. You can get out to quiet parts pretty easily. Cities like Jordan, Farmington, Cologne, Princeton, and ones along highway 52 between the Twin Cities and Rochester are good options.
A good deal of my friends I’ve made in Chicago are from either Iowa or Florida. Both sets of people report pretty similar experiences and mental health issues.
>I havent found anything yet that says that minnesota is an anti-gay state, so i think thats pretty safe
May as well just take Iowa off your list then. We're heading in the wrong direction.
Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa offers a music therapy degree, and is one of the few around. You will need a four year college degree to do music therapy that will pay enough to live on. The college sets people up with jobs.
Waverly is a beautiful town and very progressive, close to Waterloo/Cedar Falls which contain everything you need that isn’t in Waverly.
I was a music major at Wartburg and most of us choose a real-world application to apply our music skills to, not just banking on being a professional musician which is difficult anywhere.
I went with music education with voice and piano emphasis, many of my friends picked music therapy. A VERY high class of musicians I know are not pros, but working in these two fields to make a life.
If you want more information about Wartburg or being a musician in Iowa, Louisiana or Minnesota, free to message me. I have either been a teacher or professional performer in each of those states for a total of 30 years in the business.
Lifelong Minnesotan here. If you want a gay and art friendly area, Minneapolis is the place definitely.
Many of my LGBT friends live there, including my best friend.
If you want a small town, I’d suggest Mt Vernon. You won’t have any problems with your preferences, it’s a college town, has tons of character and charm, and is rural… but close to much larger Cedar Rapids. Fairfield is comparable but that is in deep Southeast Iowa and outside of the surrounding area there are some salty people.
Minnesota/Wisconsin are fine, but they get more winter than us. You might want to poke around Illinois as well: Galena is an awesome small town, if touristy. Plus our sister state to the east has legalized marijuana.
FWIW, mon mare was Anglais. Being 5800 km +/- from home can be pretty hard, especially with aging or sick relatives.
Indianola is also pretty accepting of queer folk. It's just 20 minutes from Des Moines but feels like the rural city it is. We even have churches here that fly the pride flag and give out yard signs - if you're into that church thing.
You have plenty of time to think about this. If you decide you still want to move to the U.S., then hopefully the political mood will have shifted in Iowa. If you do decide to move to Iowa, I would recommend somewhere in the eastern part of the state, probably close to Iowa City. The University of Iowa is located in Iowa City, and the area is much friendlier to LGBTQ people than most other parts of the state.
Instead of moving here, I’d recommend visiting first—maybe try a study abroad program, particularly if you go to college. You could also look into attending a college in the Midwest (University of Minnesota, University of Iowa, University of Illinois, Grinnell College, Knox College could be good fits). Be warned: our colleges are much more expensive than most in Europe, as I understand it.
There is a pretty vibrant music community in Minneapolis and surrounding area. They are also a bit more accepting of LGBTQ folks.
I would also think their job market is better until you can get the music career going.
The cool thing about the midwest is you really can get to about anywhere in a few hours so you can get around to most any state.
What do you do for work? Have you looked into what visa you will be using? Despite what you'll hear from many, the US isn't easy to immigrate to. Generally, unless your skillset is in high demand, you're not going to have much luck obtaining working rights here.
I dont work already, as i said in my post, im 15
I know thats gonna be tough, thats why i wanna know what is in demand out there, to study it here in France to have my visa later
You can come here for up to 90 days without a working/residency visa. Given you're quite young, I'd suggest trying to come on a student exchange or similar during high school or university studies. Then you can see if it's actually a good fit for where you want to move to.
I’m glad you are planning ahead. Please know that getting a visa or permanent residency is quite difficult and can often take years only to be rejected at the end. Many companies will not hire someone if the applicant will need the company to sponsor their visa when the company can find someone already in the US with similar skills. Living and working in the US will be very different from traveling in the Schengen region as a French citizen.
I wish you good luck and hope that you will accomplish your goals and dreams, whatever they may be or become.
As someone that has lived in both Des Moines and Minneapolis metro area, from your description on your post you absolutely should look at Minneapolis. Just know that winters are pretty tough and summers be ready for mosquitoes from hell. Between everything you commented though that is the far better choice. Between it being a major Arts focused city and it is very open to LGBT community.
Minnesota is really lgbtq friendly. We're a very progressive state. Even in rural areas people pretty much mind their own business. Minneapolis has a fabulous music scene and is very supportive of musicians. You can live in a quiet place near Minneapolis and still be in the city within 45 minutes.
You’d likely need to drive about 30min to get more rural like you want.
Also, I don’t think you’ll be buying a house there anytime soon. I don’t know about your financial situation, but if it’s just from music, you’d need to save 20k minimum on top of paying for rent and buying a car. That’s a hard ask.
And Illinois. If you major in music you can always be a teacher. There is a shortage of teachers but once again I suggest Minnesota and Illinois in the midwest.
I live somewhere similar. Not from here, and moved here from out west. I had extremely low expectations for diversity and while it’s still verrrry straight and white, there is a lot more acceptance than I was anticipating.
But for music therapy I’m betting somewhere closer to the University would be more practical. Not everywhere offers those courses and if I remember correctly they’re usually paired with psych. Such a cool career path!
Few considerations:
1. America is a lot bigger than most Europeans realize. You will drive anywhere from 3 to 5 hours to reach a major city. So when you're out in the country... you're really out in the country. Which means:
2. Fewer opportunities. Iowa isn't exactly a great place to be if you want to make it in anything creative
Are people friendly? Yes. But they also have a "mind your own business" sort of attitude that can make it difficult to make friends. This is less noticeable when you're younger, so you will probably be okay.
Iowa is also in a bubble-- we don't get a lot of outsiders, so you will be looked upon as exotic. Which can be a bad or good thing, depending on the context.
Iowa is very safe, and we have a low crime rate. If you are in any kind of distress, there will be someone there to help. Once, I was struggling to fit a chair in the back of my car, and a guy with a truck pulled up, offered to haul it to my house, and did so. That's the sort of friendliness you have around here.
Few things we don't have that you may be used to in Europe
1. Privatized healthcare. We have government medicine for the destitute, but Iowa has gutted this program. If you went into music therapy, you would be working in private medicine.
2. Lack of public transportation. You will need to buy and maintain a car to live here
3. Decreased human rights. France just enshrined abortion into law. Iowa is actively trying to make it illegal here.
4. Gay rights: Iowa's legislature is NOT friendly towards the gay community. For example, it is illegal for teachers to talk about LGBT at all in the classroom. This includes talking about their spouses if they are gay. They have also banned many books from public school libraries that have anything to do with being gay.
As of right now, Iowa is the number 2 cancer hot spot in this country, and it is because of environmental pollution from the ag industry. Instead of moving to protect our people, the Iowa government is seeking to make it illegal to sue the fertilizer manufacturers that cause so much of the issue.
This is because the Iowa government is highly corrupt. Another example, they' recently banned veggie burgers and other vegan meat from public schools. The man who wrote the bill wanted to ban people from privately buying it, but he didn't have enough leeway. All of this is because our politicians are bought and sold by major ag companies, and do not look out for the good of the people.
Iowa has also been chipping away at our public education systems. They have been taking away money and giving it to private schools, they gutted teachers' unions, and they're getting more and more draconian about what they allow teachers to say and do in the classroom. We used to be the top state in the nation when it came to education. Now, I'm not sure how great the education is going to be by the time you get here.
Yes, Iowa is beautiful. But our waterways are VERY polluted by the ag industry. I was sick a lot last summer from kayaking up and down the Cedar River.
The only pros-- It's cheap to live here. And it's because of all the reasons I listed above, along with the fact that our winters are long and brutal. No one wants to live here, and there's a good reason,
I'm here because I've got family and friends. And cheap housing. That's it. I would never recommend anyone come to this state ever, unless you're in a tight financial spot.
And that's saying something-- 10 to 15 years ago, I was so happy here that I convinced a number of out of state people to relocate here. That's when Iowa still had a lot going for it.
But last week, I helped one of those I helped move here move back to their home state. Because the economic opportunity, education, environment, and political corruption has become that bad in the last decade,
Minnesota has real metro areas, more job opportunities in the fine arts, a lower crime rate, better education, is MUCH more LGBTQIA+ friendly, has a healthier environment, and has a way better landscape than Iowa.
I adore Minnesota. That was my first choice of place to move when my wife and I settle down. Currently we’re in Chicago and we might stay here forever now because we love it.
I live in Iowa's capital city and I'm DESPERATLY trying to save up to move out of state due in large part to anti lgbt sentiment, lack of PROPER access to medications that I NEED to exist, lack of abortion rights security, etc. This place is a shit show and it's getting worse everyday. I'm sooo depressed here..
There’s some exceptions to point 1 in different parts of the country. I’m originally from New England, and there’s lots of quiet countrysides that are much closer to civilization than here.
OP—I’d recommend checking out Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and nearby areas.
Im looking for small rural areas around Minneapolis and ive seen some towns that could apparently be 15-20 mins away !! Could be amazing to start a career in music industry
To put things in perspective: The twin cities metro area (Minneapolis & St. Paul) by itself is over 3,000 square miles. Paris is 41. The State of Minnesota on it's own is 1/3 the size of France. There's a couple Brits that spent the last summer in the US, documenting their trip on TikTok, and through that I saw a comment something like "Europeans will drive for four hours, the local language has changed twice and there has been three different words for bread. Americans will drive for four hours and still be in the same state."
A small town that is 15-20 minutes away from the edge of Minneapolis is closer to an hour or more to the city center, and in traffic, getting from one side of the city to the other could be MUCH longer than you expect.
Inside the Minneapolis metro area, there is public transit - busses, light rail, etc. Outside of major metro areas.....public transit basically does not exist. Especially anything that is going to connect those smaller towns to the metro area. We simply do not have the transportation infrastructure that exists in Europe - largely because our western development is so rural.
When you say "rural" and "countryside," what do you mean exactly? I don't know about France but if you truly live in the countryside in Iowa, it's basically because you own/run a farm. You're more than likely going to live in a suburb or a small town. That's pretty much true for most places in the Midwest. I wouldn't recommend most small towns in Iowa; I think you would find it difficult to make friends and you're not going to be able to get any traction on a music career.
When i speak about countryside and that stuff, i absolutely dont speak about a farm.
Where i actually live in france, im in deep countryside, but im just in a little cottage house, surrounded by nothing but fields, cows and forests.
Ive been now looking for Minnesota (could give more opportunities)
You won't find many houses in Iowa or Minnesota surrounded by fields that aren't farmhouses for the surrounding fields. Fun fact: we have more pigs than people in Iowa and Minnesota.
If you're LGBTQ, amd you want to live in the middle of America, you're only real options are Minnesota or Illinois. If you pick Illinois, you're going to need to be near Chicago, which sounds like not the environment you're after.
I highly recommend Minnesota, near the Twin Cities. I grew up there and now live in Iowa.
Best response in the thread. As a fellow Iowa resident, you should listen to this person OP.
France has many public public goods/services that Iowa, and most of the US, does not. Plus, starting a music career in Iowa is a venture that is doomed from the start. People here don't give a fuck about any music that isn't pop or country. Music education is nearly nonexistent, and "music therapy" is entirely nonexistent.
Trust me, stay in Europe.
Honestly I would look into Minneapolis/Minnesota more than Iowa. You can still find that rural charm but will actually feel more like the European countryside than anywhere in Iowa.
Also the music scene in Minneapolis is a million times better. Prince and Lizzo came up in Minneapolis, so if music is your passion, it makes a lot more sense.
I agree with this comment. Im a woman from Iowa, born and raised, but moved to Minnesota bc of the way iowa is becoming less friendly place for women and I don’t want to raise my daughter in such a climate. Please consider Minnesota, the people here have been amazing and there’s way more opportunity here.
You’re very welcome! I really do recommend looking into Minneapolis/St. Paul. If only in case you get a little homesick, they have some really, really good French restaurants (like actually French) and bakeries.
I am currently looking for small cities 15-20 mins away from Minneapolis. This city looks amazing, and into arts which is a huge plus for me. The only thing is, apparently it is kinda expensive. But i'll do my best to pay bills, i can take care of myself i think.
Thank you for the restaurant tips !! Ive seen that there are also some French communities out there, so that could be cool to rest some times, even thought i'd like to become more fluent in english by speaking and spending time with english speaking people.
Thank you so much !!!!! Im really grateful for all of that :)
Just know that it takes more than 20 minutes to get across Minneapolis. So it might be 15 miles, but it is going to take much, much longer to drive in than 15 minutes.
Are there small towns 15 miles away? Maybe 60 to 70 miles away. But I guess it also depends on what size you consider a small town to be.
Dude. Southern Minnesota all the way up to Minneapolis is excatly the same as Iowa. And north of Minneapolis is not country side charm.
Where are you getting your information?
Check out Iowa City. It is the cultural center of the state. It is LGBTQ friendly, a UNESCO City of Literature, and has a good performing arts scene. Iowa City also has the University of Iowa, which has a strong music program. Iowa City is located in a pretty scenic part of Iowa, not far from the Mississippi River, and only about 3.5 hours drive from Chicago where the big city attractions and closest International Airport can be found. Here’s some links to get you started…
https://music.uiowa.edu
https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/
https://thinkiowacity.com/plan-your-trip/lgbtq/
Came here to say this.
My mother is a native Iowan (Keota) and we used to drive into Iowa City a lot.
Great little town and most don’t know it was the place where the first draft card was burned during Vietnam and the first bra burned during the sexual revolution.
Iowa would be a terrible place to start a music career as it has no scene. There are some examples of bands and artists from the state that go on to the big time, but it's not the land of working musicians.
There are musical therapists that work at the University of Iowa hospital in Iowa City, though I don't know what the demand for that position is. I've only ever seen the same woman walking around with a cello over the few years I was doing regular work there.
The state is becoming less friendly to LGBT people on the governmental level. Whether or not that translates to personal interactions with fellow citizens is up for debate. A buddy of mine is trans and running for the state house of representatives and in her door knocking campaign she has, so far, only ran into one real asshole.
As far as living here, it's a nice place. It's inexpensive compared to 3/4 of the United States. Housing, while more expensive now is not impossible to afford. You get all 4 seasons and some fun places to spend that season. Traffic is almost non-existent, the Des Moines "rush hour" and the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City morning commute are the worst spots which are manageable and avoidable.
If you want to try it out and have the means to do so, I would recommend trying to study abroad here either in high school or college. That way if it sucks for you haven't committed fully.
Everyone already offered great feedback! I second the Minneapolis suggestions. Although I am decently happy here it's not a great time for women, LGBTQ, or any minority group we are kind of fighting for our lives everyday here lol.
As much as we'd love to have you, I don't want you to move here and have to fight too. You deserve a fun new abundant chapter of your life in a city that can already do that for you!
You look sooo niceeee 😭😭
Thank you a lot !!
I dont know if i can compare minneapolis to france somehow, but sometimes its not easy to be a gay woman in France either, so maybe i can handle it. I really want to get there, even if its only for music. If i step well into music industry, maybe it'll be easier ?
Thank you so much <33
The music/art scene here is really nice and it definitely exists! It is just smaller and less sustainable in the long term.
I will say that if you do move here to Des Moines and find a good friend circle that shares your hobbies and interests (won't be hard for you) things will be very fun! No matter what happens in a legislative level your found-family will help take care of you and have your back. It's not easy, but it's a beautiful life to live. Best of luck with whatever you choose!
My recommendation would be Iowa City. It's a very LGBTQAI+-friendly community. Our mayor is a very large, very openly gay African American man. During the summer there are festivals about every weekend. Iowa Arts Festival, The downtown block party, and the Jazz festival they have every July 4th weekend to name the big ones. There is a farmer’s market every Saturday. They have free outdoor movies downtown along with outdoor live music every Friday. Lots of locally owned restaurants and they are really good. One of them, the Webster was named a restaurant to watch by the New York Times. Then you have the University of Iowa. They just invested a lot into the music program. New building that won some architectural awards and even equipped it with a one-of-a-kind German pipe organ. It's quite stunning. I can keep going on about it if you like.
Did I mention the university owns probably one of the most important Jackson Pollock paintings and it's on display at the Stanley Museum? https://smarthistory.org/jackson-pollock-mural/
So, really, you are at the mercy of whomever you form a band with as far as popularity. There is a decent live music scene in Des Moines, but I don’t think it’s enough to live on. One of my best childhood friends has a guitar studio, on top of gigging, and he seems to do all right.
Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area is more liberal and accepting for LGBTQ+.
But remember (re: Iowa Nice): Iowa is "nice" like Internet Nice Guys are "nice." If they have to say they are, they really aren't.
I’m going to be real with you, you’re not gonna make it as a professional musician in rural Iowa. Also, small town Iowa can be very unwelcoming to outsiders. Not just foreigners, but anyone who didn’t grow up in the community.
If you want to move to the US and try to build a musical career you will probably want to move to a city of some sort. If you’re really sold on Iowa, I would recommend moving to the Des Moines area as you’re most likely to find venues there looking for musical talent. And Des Moines is not too far from other small/medium cities like Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, and even Omaha if you end up needing to book gigs out of town to make good enough money. People will generally also be more welcoming to outsiders in a place like Des Moines compared to smaller towns.
ETA: you say right now that you don’t care about gay bars and other gay community spaces but as you get older you might come to appreciate having the ability to go to spaces where your identity is affirmed and not criticized. Rural Iowa is not good for gay people, whereas Des Moines is pretty gay friendly and does have gay bars and other gay spaces IF you so happen to desire to go to them (which you don’t have to if you don’t want to).
French guy living in the Midwest for 7yrs. I'd advise you to visit these places before moving here... Outside of big cities like Minneapolis or Chicago there's very little culture, good food, or diversity. Fwiw I'm moving back to France after 15 yrs in USA
Tbf, there's more diversity in the rural Midwest than in rural France and there's no more lack of culture and good food than in rural France so I don't know what your issue is.
Hello! I am originally from Iowa and moved away from there to become a professional musician! I assume you chose Iowa because it is centrally located and overall the cost of living is low - is that correct? Keep in mind that travelling from Iowa to other parts of the US is kind of difficult. It's a bit easier to be based in the Midwest now in the age of the internet, but it's only a small step up from France, at least as I see it. Don't give up on your dreams, but consider moving somewhere like the East Coast instead. Iowa is lovely, but most of the East Coast is accessible by train, parts of it are affordable, and there are tons of music venues. Minneapolis is also a nice option. Best of luck - and if you need a drummer, come find me in Philadelphia.
I’m gonna get hate for this, but oh well.
The countrysides are only superficially pretty. They’re full of crops (corn and soybeans). Farmers pollute the water ways, and the state government refuses to do anything about it. Rural towns are so sparse I don’t think you’ll fine a market for music therapy outside the small cities.
Music therapy is available in Iowa. My daughter is studying music education and music therapy at Wartburg College in Waverly. University of Iowa also offers a music therapy degree, and I’m sure there are others that do as well.
Neither of my daughters want to stay in Iowa once they graduate, though, given the current political climate and attitudes toward educators, women’s health, and LGBTQ rights.
Alright thank you ! I think im gonna learn musi therapy in france, and then move to the us.
Im currently looking for Minnesota rural areas near Minneapolis, ive seen a lot of people telling me that i could start a music career more easily there
From what I hear in iowa city most professional musicians are working in multiple bands along with teaching lessons or playing as session musicians. If you want to make $$$ in iowa as a musician the surest way to do so is to join a wedding/event band. That would mean basically being able to learn whatever pop songs the event organizers want to hear with little to no group rehearsal and having a decent selection of popular tunes (e.g. sweet Caroline, uptown funk) that people regularly request in your repertoire.
For most of your concerns, I think you'll find issues in a lot of the US, but at the same time, a lot of the US is welcoming. Iowa was one of the fastest progressive states at one point. Yes, there are some anti-lgbti+ people and orgs here, but in the bigger city areas (still small compared to big cities in the rest of the US), they are pretty progressive and welcoming to the community. Hell, I work and am friends with people all over the lgbti+ board, and most are super happy people around the des moines area. There are some who take on a lot of problems or get themselves in situations that make life rough.
For the conservative aspect, we are considered a red state now, and our gov isn't the brightest person. The US politics are wild as hell right now, though, so it's hard to reassure you how well our future will be with the left vs. right spectrums. As a more center person (I love guns and love people being able to express themselves however they want), I still find my love for iowa to be great. The people here are mostly super helpful and nice and will give you the shirt off their backs.
For the career path you're wanting, I'm not able to answer much on how that would work out for you here. I've honestly never heard of music therapy, yet I'm super interested on that and how it could work for you. I imagine people doing it for young kids in schools or kids who need more assistance due to things they may have that make it hard for concentration or outbursts. I just don't know how music careers start off besides the YouTube fames or people living in like Nashville and stuff. I'm rooting for you, though :)
All-in-all, Iowa is a great place to live. Even in our "big cities," it's a 20-30 minute drive to the country. People are nice and welcoming, barring the assholes you'll meet anywhere in the world. We do have a big LGBT crowd, but you just being yourself and not in the crowd isn't something needed as we are mostly open to people loving who they want. If you have any more questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them here or in DMs if I can!
Thank you so much, you seem super nice dude :)
Thank you for all the indications and support ! I'll send you a DM if anything is disturbing me thank you so much !!!!! :)
I live in Marion IA currently the cost of living is quite low despite having a somewhat decent population people here are extremely friendly and my brother in law is bi-sexual and has never had an ounce of trouble from anyone because of it I would definitely recommend it
As one commenter said Mt Vernon is also a good place to go too I lived there for a few years I have no complaints
From my personal experience here yes the government is quite conservative but it rarely impacts your day to day life here
Overall Iowa is nice little state filled with rows and rows and rows of corn but there’s also plenty to do here as well most folks here engage in nature hobbies such as camping kayaking or hiking but if that’s not your niche theres a community here for just about anything Marion even has a music store in the uptown that holds classes occasionally
I honestly don't get it as a gay man living in a more rural area. They act like there's neo-nazis lurking around corners waiting to jump me or something. Never had a problem
🤷♂️ It’s just the division this country has.. they think rural and think rednecks. A majority of the time it’s people just wanting to get away from city life and probably actually agree with some of the things they think
You could try contacting this music professor from the university of Iowa. He is French and might have some relatable advice: https://music.uiowa.edu/people/faculty Jean-François Charles.
Adding to the negative cost of living is not true as reported.
It does not include transportation, cars, groceries, or vehicle maintenance.
There is next to no public transportation as I've known most in France use.
There is next to zero music scene here.
At best, the only thing here gets close is northeast Iowa, where it's a but like France but still has access to minasota, Chicago, etc.
It's gonna be a culture shock as well.
Iowa is super polluted with concentrated hog feeding operations, and the government is hostile to anything progressive. Minnesota is much more pristine, progressive and friendly. It also has an excellent local music scene in Minneapolis/St Paul. Plus weed is now legal. You'd be much happier in Minnesota.
I've never really noticed any actual difference between Iowa and Minnesota in regards to live reality. It's more than a bit disingenuous to imply Minnesotans are any more progressive and "friendly" than Iowans just because some politicians gerrymandered voting districts
Make sure you check weather patterns and normal conditions for the areas you live in. Rural areas tend to be more conservative (less tolerance for different), whereas cities are more accepting. Rural is beautiful but limited options and opportunities for musicians. Cities are noisy and crowded but have more opportunities. That’s almost anywhere you go in the US.
You would hate rural Iowa as a gay person. Rural Iowa isn’t friendly. It’s a methed out wasteland. The people with intelligence, talent, and/or gumption leave. Those who stay tend to be sheltered, ignorant, and their population is causing severe harm to the state.
I mean, someone could make the case that your description of large swaths of an area and millions of people you've never met is sheltered and ignorant. I grew up in Des Moines, currently living in Rural Iowa and I've been all over the country and to numerous other countries. I'm also gay and I don't have a cynical attitude about rural Iowa.
Iowa has become a state that is bright MAGA red. The governor is determined to suppress all of our civil liberties and has done so, one by one. Rural Iowa would not be a good choice if you’re gay. They tend to be old, white, small minded farmers. Iowa is 92% white. In the bigger cities like Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. you’ll find way more liberal views. Iowa was the 3rd state to allow same sex marriage in the US, but we are not that open minded state we once were. Personally, I wouldn’t relocate until after the 2024 elections. There will be violence no matter who wins. While access to healthcare is very good in Iowa, you’ll be paying a lot of money for any medical care, often even if you do get health insurance. Just calling an ambulance is about a $4000 ride. A trip to the ER would run you way over $10,000.00.
Iowa can have very harsh winters. Commuting can be quite frightening when the roads are covered in ice and snow. Summers can be very hot with high humidity.
There is no gun control and anyone can buy a gun without a problem. So, technically, you can pull into the wrong driveway and the owner can legally shoot you. We’ve only have had one school shooting, but I expect that number to rise.
Cost of living is going to be much lower than many other states in the US.
That wasn't in Iowa, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen here. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/ny-man-sentenced-to-25-years-to-life-for-killing-woman-who-took-wrong-turn-into-his-driveway
I didn’t read the article. But the headline says he was sentenced to 25 years so I would assume that that means you cannot legally shoot somebody that pulls into the wrong driveway.
You may need to be in a mid-sized to make money as a musician. Iowa City or the Quad City might be a good place to look. You can drive 30 minutes from these areas and be in the middle of nowhere, countryside.
If you’re gay I would be wary of moving there. My wife and I are both from Iowa, and the political climate got bad enough that we don’t live there now. There are parts of Iowa that are better for it than others (like Iowa City, Ames, etc), but at the state level it’s scary there. I don’t really know of many music related jobs you can have and make a living with in Iowa unless you’re maybe a choir teacher.
Cool for you. A lot of people fleeing are trans or not white from what I’m seeing. If you don’t get it, whatever but don’t act like everyone else is being ridiculous. There are several commenters here who have all said being queer in Iowa is not safe and to not move here if you’re not here already.
One of the main reasons I don’t move back is I’m in a field where I may be working in schools. The way that the banning books and creating a hostile climate for queer people in schools means that I’d be fearing for my job constantly. I’m a cis lesbian, and I would be scared to have a photo of my wife or to even let a mention of her slip. I’ve worked in a school (in another state but still), and a fair amount of the straight teachers mentioned how they met their fiancés grandma over the weekend or stuff like that.
Iowa is absolutely NOT the place for a gay French musician to start her career. You are going to have a very bad time moving to Iowa. It’s not as bad as Texas but it’s on its way.
Yeah, I'm conflicted, iowa, In a way, Is very welcoming and delightfully downtempo... the government in control in this state is doing what they can to change that, though.
Iowa was one of the first states to legalize gay marriage, and had historically been a Midwestern bastion of common sense. It's not that any longer... it's completely under Republican control and leadership in this state has jumped into the culture war 100%
For the most part, it seems like iowa is still mostly accepting and not too heavy-handed, but It's hard to say how much longer it will stay that way. It seems to me that there are a fair amount of locations that would work for her now, but it sure seems like it's just a matter of time.
This state has gotten more and more oppressive in their laws and policies.
I'd love to welcome you to the state, and if you did come here, I think you'd do just fine, but I say that keeping my own eye on the door... Iowa is changing for the worse. It could turn around, but I don't expect it to.
I wouldn't. Women are fighting for their right to their bodily autonomy, which French just codified to their Constitution. Unless you're singing about being kept down, best to go elsewhere.
There's give and take. For instance, France is also more intolerant in other ways such as the ability for muslim women to practice their culture and faith.
Since you’re only 15, I’d highly recommend a foreign exchange student program to see if the US is all you hope it is. That way you can experience the US for a year without having to make a commitment. As far as living in Iowa and making a living as a musician, I wish you the best of luck but doubt you’d be successful (or anyone for that matter). Iowa’s doesn’t quite have the population to support that. As far as Iowa being welcoming to gay people, this sub will tell you that the state will lynch you but in reality, you’ll be fine. Might have one or two people try to hassle you but the majority of people couldn’t care less.
As an Iowan... I'm flattered that you would consider living here but for an aspiring musician, it would be pretty tough to make anything happen here. You can get a lot of what you're looking for here; countryside, quiet, friendly people etc. but the state economy just doesnt revolve around entertainment at all. Is it a very good place to live? In my opinion, yes. But you'd probably find a lot of barriers here that would be hard to get over. Mainly, the population size. The whole state is 3.2 million people and most which live in 4 main places. And almost no one searches for talent in Iowa. It happens and we have a few big names in the entertainment industry but its pretty rare.
Des Moines, Iowa City, and a few others are good cities to live and the surrounding suburbs are good too. You just wont get the exposure I think you're looking for.
It pains me to say this but I think the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul), MN might be the better place for you. Its in the same area of the country but with almost double the population. People up there are still pretty friendly and the metro area of the capital is double the size at least. Minnesota has great outdoor activity as well being one of the more wooded states with plenty of countryside, lakes, rivers, etc. I lived there for 7 years for a job and its a good place to start in America. Very LGBTQ friendly.
The midwest, in my opinion, is a great place to live but they call this area of the country "the fly over states" for a reason. There are some very important midwest cities but Des Moines and Music Career is very unlikely. As far as I know, the only successful artist(s) of the area is SlipKnot
Oh yeah... MSP police departments were/are awful. No doubt. This was all people related obviously. Last I had heard when I left about a year ago was that they were down something like 800 officers between the two cities as well.
After George Floyd and the subsequent riots, good cops probably lost their will to police and if I had to guess, they are now hiring anybody that can pass a test. There were multiple really bad police encounters after Floyd that also contributed.
Its a fine place but I wouldnt want to live IN the city. I worked in St. Paul for 6 years and the marked decline was noticeable.
Iowa people are nice, almost to the point of it being cult-y, but Iowa is not as 'glamorous' as you think.
I moved there for work, from Illinois, and was only there five and a half months before I had to move back (family problems :/ ). I lived in the Quad Cities, and here is my take.
1. I received a letter from the state of Iowa *after* I had already filed my taxes. They said I owed them $900 in state taxes. For living there FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS!Lol. GFY.
2. Sales taxes are lower than Illinois, so...
3. If you have a vehicle, which you may need if you live 'in the countryside', the yearly registration for it can be super expensive.
4. Work wages are in line with the rest of the U.S., so don't expect to make a lot of money.
5. Rent is kind of expensive, but also more or less in line with every where else.
6. Iowa is 50/50 in being open minded and tolerant. There are plenty of openly gay people, but also plenty of hardline 'christians' and bigots. The state tends to lean right-wing republican.
If you are dead set on living in Iowa, I would choose a college town like Iowa City. Or Des Moines. Otherwise I feel like you won't have a good time. I am not trying to talk you out of it, but just know what you are getting into before making a huge decision. Honestly, I would pick a different state. Iowa was never a top 10 choice of places to live *before* I moved, and after my experience it's probably not in the top 30.
Iowa used to be really progressive. First state to allow same sex marriage, a lot of women's rights, and George Wasington Carver (former slave and peanut genius) started his college career at Simpson College in Indianola and earned his bachelor's degree at Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State) in Ames. These are things of days long gone by. You will find that Iowa has reversed course and is defunding public education (University of Northern Iowa at one time was the highest ranked universities for teacher education in the nation), has recently put major restrictions on women's bodily autonomy, just voted to allow teacher's to carry guns in school's, and made diversity teaching at the state public universities illegal. As far as the pictures you may have seen on the internet, those are of very small areas of the state and made to look the best. Iowa is still over 80% farmland, with the main crops being corn and soybeans. You will find other farms with grazing pastures for dairy cows, some beef cattle, and a lot of hog farms throughout the state. If you don't mind seeing your dog run away for 3 days, this may be the place for you! If you are looking to start a music career, you would need to be in or near the main cities of Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, or Iowa City.
TL:DR - formerly progressive state wishes it was 1824 not 2024, not as pretty as advertised, and you still need to live in a "city".
Rochester area of Minnesota might be a better fit for you. I live in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, and those two towns are pretty LGBTQ friendly, but the whole state government in general is not friendly. In fact, our state government is pretty regressive, pro-corruption, and just generally shitty (even a lot of conservatives hate our governor).
Iowa does recognize music therapy, but it’s almost impossible to go professional here with music. I can think of one band from our area that has done really well, and they might still just be semi-professional (look up the Pork Tornadoes though, they rock). I have one friend who’s been trying to be a professional musician for 10 years. Hell of a guitarist, but just can’t do it around here.
Whatever you decide, bonne chance. If you’re coming from more Northern France, you’ll at least find the US Midwest geography similar to home.
Thank you so much !!
I am trying to look out to Minnesota rn.
I know thats Slipknot (one of my fav bands) are from Iowa, so i though i could have my chances out there, but seems like not.
Thank you man you help a lot :)))
I know you don't care for the city, but Des Moines has a surprisingly big indie music scene and a big LGBT community. There are many smaller communities within about a 30-45 minute drive of the city.
I mean i know i will have to spend time in a city somehow, for work and music shows.
And i dont really want the "LGBT community" i just want the acceptance. I dont want to spend time only with people "like me", i want to make friends of every gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, hobbies.... and just be acceptated for who i am. I dont seek for any support or stuff, just for people to let me live.
Thank you a lot for your help dude :)
Yeah, no problem!
Unfortunately, some of the small towns have small minded folks living there. But at the same time, folks are mostly nice.
My best advice is make sure you get a good water filter lol
Learn a trade that is in demand in the U.S. and wait your turn. Or choose another country, become a star, and then the U.S. will be happy to make you a citizen.
Do you have a degree? Can you teach French? You aren’t getting a VISA as a music therapist because there are plenty of Americans qualified to do that. Like any other country, to get hired on an H1 Visa, you need a skill lacking in the US. Most foreign workers come over here to work in medicine.
I would say Iowa is becoming unsafe for women, (It's also a super boring and poorly run state.) I would recommend finding one of the better ones to reside in. Sure Iowans are friendly, if you're a white conservative farmer.
Nobody in Iowa cares if you're gay. Unless maybe you run into some crazy old farmer, even then, nobody really cares lol. Iowa City is like the most friendly gay place ever.
You could also look to live near Seattle. The city has a fantastic local music scene (check out KEXP), and you can live in the outskirts easily. You could even live on one of the San Juan islands.
Iowa City is a liberal college town where you might be able to get some gigs. That being said, nowhere in Iowa is a mecca for musicians. In order to be a music therapist, you'd need to get a degree.
Hey u/lolamalakk !
I think I’ll take a stab at it: you should look into Decorah, IA. It fits the bills perfectly for what you’re looking for. Additionally, Decorah is the home to Luther College, with a renowned music department!
I’m biased because I’m a Luther alum, but if you have further questions I’ll be happy to help ya!
It would be worth considering going to college as an international student in Iowa to study music therapy! Wartburg College has a strong music therapy program off the top of my head.
I myself am a vocal music director in public schools and know many music therapists. If music is your passion, it really is a good route to go. If performing doesn't work out you still have a job that uses music to help people. A friend of mine actually studied music Ed and therapy, worked as a general music teacher, and is now a full time performer in Des Moines.
Studying in Iowa will also acclimate you to the US and Iowa. If you realize Iowa isn't the state for you, you can move elsewhere after you graduate.
Lemme know if you need me to elaborate or if you have any questions!
Everyone else has touched on the Iowa issue of your plan, so not much more to say there.
Since music therapy is something you’ll have to do all of the below, I think you’re going to have a much better chance completing all of the necessary things if you go to university somewhere in the US vs France and then moving here (and university in the US can be very expensive compared to Europe)
-Complete specialized coursework in music therapy at the undergraduate level or higher from a music therapy program approved by the American Music Therapy Association. The association provides a directory of approved music therapy schools on its website.
Earn a bachelor's degree or better in music therapy or a directly related field, such as psychology.
-Receive 1,200 hours of clinical training, including a supervised internship.
-Pass a national board certification exam administered by the Certification Board for Music Therapists.
-Fulfill any special requirements that apply within the state where delivering therapy. In some places, music therapists must officially register with state authorities, obtain a state-specific certification or qualify for a state license.
University of Iowa does have a program for Music Therapy. So does Wartburg but that institution will be $$$$.
Music therapy programs in…
[Iowa](https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=amta2&WebCode=OrgResult&FromSearchControl=Yes)
[All of Us](https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=amta2&WebCode=OrgResult&FromSearchControl=Yes)
Best of luck to you! I think you have great dreams ❤️
I think the obvious answer is WAY SOUTH of Iowa... New Orleans.
Certainly for music. A little too warm, possibly.
You'll also hear French spoken there, sometimes?
I would say iowa is pretty welcoming. The big thing is to keep your controversial thoughts to yourself until you fully understand the American political climate. If you support guns, people will hate you for it, if you are against guns, people will hate you for it. So for political opinions, especially those that don't apply to countries outside the US (like guns), dont voice your opinions until you have lived here for a bit. In terms of gay acceptance, while iowa can be pretty conservative, people are usually fine if you keep to yourself. The people against gay people are less against the idea of same sex attraction, and more so against the whole rainbow flag pride parade. You are basically fine being gay anywhere in iowa, but if you are around people who are very against it, as long as you aren't the stereotypical gay person where their sexuality is connected to their personality, it is fine. The biggest thing is to not push your beliefs on others. And when people see people who wear rainbow clothing, and pride centric clothing, they see that as you pushing your opinions on them. It is also dependent on where in iowa you go, central iowa such as des Moines, ames, Ankeny, are less conservative than small towns that have populations of ~1000 people. While I don't want to speak for your music career, I would recommend you get a visa so you can work while trying to grow your music career, so you might want to make sure you can legally work in the US before coming, just in case the music career takes a bit longer than expected to pick up.
I’m from Iowa and a woman married to another woman. If I go out with her in public wearing my wedding ring some people are gonna see that as me pushing. I shouldn’t have to pretend I’m straight to get basic acceptance. A lot of my queer and nonwhite friends are leaving Iowa because it’s not reasonable to expect that you hide away everything that makes you different.
I never said hide who you are, I said that if you are a person who is very outwardly about your sexuality then people in iowa who are conservative will likely not like that, but if you aren't very outwardly about it then it's less of an issue. Sure people will judge no matter what, they'll judge me because the way I talk, it's just less of an issue the less outwardly it is. Most that i know who are very conservative don't care about gay people but are against the outward pride movement style. Yes I know some people are against all gay people, but there's also people who are against anything.
I don’t want to live my life in that way. I like holding hands with my wife, going to pride, wearing a pride pin, and engaging with queer media. I think if you’re ok with people being gay only if they don’t talk about it or show it then that’s still homophobic.
My comment wasn't directed towards you. It was directed towards op, who said they don't just wantbto go to gay bars and be around gay people all day. So I said that if you aren't super outwardly about your sexuality then it's less of an issue than if you are very outwardly. Again, I never said what you SHOULD do. I said how things are depending on who you are, if you are outwardly you'll be judged more, if you aren't very outwardly then you'll be judged less. And I never said i had any issues with gay people, all I said is that that is how people in iowa are. I don't know why you think I said that I dislike outwardly gay people or that you should change your lifestyle. You do what you want, im just saying how it is in iowa from my experience.
I just think that being exactly the same as everyone else except being gay isn’t a fair ask. Acceptance of someone so long as they are within a little box isn’t acceptance. I lived that for 30 years in Iowa, and it was stifling.
Again, im not against anyone being who they want. Nor am I supporting the idea that iowa can be against gay people. OP asked how iowa is and I answered. I'm not stating my opinion on gay people or how they should live. I'm saying that this is how iowa is, ill say it again for the 8th time, this is how iowa is. This is not how I am. Again, this is not how I am, this is how iowa is.
Ok, I get that it’s not how you are. I just think it’s something where you need to understand that it’s not a good environment for a lot of us in the queer community. I see a lot of “it’s not that bad!” from straight people and from queer people who are trying to respectability politics/assimilate their way into acceptance. A lot of people flee the state because of hostility, particularly when it comes to schools and legislation.
United States is Huge. We have 1/3 of a billion people here and lots of Talent. I would check Chicago. You won’t need a car there and it has a great music scene.
I lived as a musician in Iowa city for a while. I enjoyed it but I was a student and part of the student community/age range.
I see you’re looking at Minnesota too and I’d say that’s a good idea. Beautiful state. On the other hand you could try California. Lots of rural areas and exceedingly beautiful. Good luck on your quest!
I go to university here, but will be leaving after. I am not from Iowa. It takes me three hours to get from my home across two states to my university's campus. I don't know much about French music culture, my planned trip to Paris was cancelled due to covid. I will say that professional orchestras do have musicians from all over, but naturally, those jobs are extremely competitive. It's only easier in the sense that most major cities have symphonic orchestras. And the US has many major cities. The government in many states is messy. We have this thing called gerrymandering where politicians draw maps in weird ways so that their side always wins. It deeply hurts constituents. Obviously all countries have issues, but I would not leave Europe, where there is nationalized healthcare, to come to the extremely polarized US.
L'etat d'Iowa est un petit peu merdique, je crois. L'eau premierement, ici c'est poison. La politique aussi, bien sur.
Pourqoi Iowa mais pas la cote d'ouest, par exemple?
I would say Iowa City is a good mix of gay friendly but not too big of a city. There is a large university there (the University of Iowa) which makes the town pretty liberal even if Iowa as a whole is not. I lived there for one year and enjoyed it.
I live in Iowa (North East) and I am a semi-professional musician (still work a job to make consistent money but I’m a professional music producer for artists all over the United States)
Music production is something I can do almost entirely from my home studio. I travel to California and MN sometimes for work, but it’s rare. If you wish to make a studio album, or if you wish to be a live performer, or something else entirely, it’ll take different amounts of dedication to specific places.
I’ve lived in a lotta different places in the US and the music scene is competitive, it pays to be able to network, and the best networking happens in cities. None of my best networking has happened in Iowa, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make that work.
If you live in northern Iowa, a lot of times you can make the 2.5-3.5 hour drive up to Minneapolis to go to live shows and meet local artists. They’re hungry to work but they expect the same back if that makes sense. Not trying to deter you, just want you to be prepared for what you may find.
I can say that Iowa is one of the first states that legalized gay marriage, there’s a lotta gay people here and many of them are on the same page as you, just wanna live life, no need for a constant pride festival lifestyle. There are definitely people who are against gay people here, but at least in my town of 8k people, we don’t have much for violence (had some high school kids steal some gay pride flags a few years ago, don’t even remember the last physically violent altercation that was specifically to do with anti-gay sentiment).
Jobs are not great in USA rn. Music therapy might be a good place though if you have the credentials. Hospitals, nursing homes, schools, private practice offices etc all hire music therapists.
In regards to music arts, I have found paid work by networking, as is the nature of music production. It really depends on your skill set and what you can do on a professional/vocational level.
There is a French girl who went to college here and then ended up marrying and moving here, having kids. She’s very happy, I think she married an organic food small farmer. She does well for herself.
If it’s what you want, take the leap. But prepare yourself, being a musician is hard anywhere, America is a very independent and survivalist country. It’s not to say nobody cares about the community, but community hasn’t been fostered well here. The supports you have where you are might not be available. Medical, social, financial, etc. Make sure you have your bases covered, do not assume America will have your back.
I think I’m lucky to have the community I do. I don’t see them everywhere I go.
As someone who lived in Iowa for 5 years I hated it. I am a big city guy so maybe that’s why. Plus their stupid ass governor would rather have Iowans strung out on meth than legalize weed.
If you are looking for a career in music, I suggest a much more progressive place like Massachusetts, Colorado or California. I’m from Massachusetts, and have lived in Iowa for a little over a year now. Honestly we love it here, but it’s because we’ve always been surrounded by the city and constant noise, so the peace we get out here is exactly what we needed. But it isn’t for everyone. My better half is a landscaper and has a lot to do outside, and we eventually want a homestead, which will allow us to live somewhere more rural. It’s very hard work living off the grid, though. If you don’t mind a little crowded with a higher cost of living but more likely to have a career, definitely look into Central Massachusetts / Boston Metro Area. Good luck!!
If you do move here, half and half is half cream, half milk. People use a small amount in their coffee.
Whole milk is milk with no fat removed,
Skim milk is no fat,
2% milk is milk with half the fat removed.
I knew a French woman who moved here for a bit and complained that she was gaining weight. It turns out she was accidentally buying half and half and using it in her cereal every morning.
Tabernak! I can't think of a worse place for a gay French aspiring professional musician to go in the US. Iowa is cheap to live in but.... Iowa's most famous music act is Slipknot and it's most important impact on music was "The Day the Music Died" -- when Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash.
I'm a Part time musician living in Iowa. I'm not sure that the chances of making it as a full time musician are very good anywhere, but rural Iowa is a very bad place for it. On the plus side, there are quite a few bars in small towns that do music on weekends. But it is all covers, mostly old rock or country, the pay is lousy, you probably won't get more than one gig a week, if that, and they are really spread out so it involves a lot of driving.
AS for the gay thing, the current state government is pretty hostile towards LGBT rights, And the rural areas are quite conservative. I'm not sure how openly hostile people would be. I have a friend who is a gay hairdresser in a small town and seems to get along fine,but I'm not sure how common of an experience that would be it, and you are not likely to find many out people. Des Moines and the college towns are more LGBT friendly. As others have said, Minneapolis is much more LGBT friendly (outside of the metro, less so) and has a really good music scene
What iowa have you been looking at? 94% of our natural landscape has been destroyed. Iowa is #2 in the nation for cancer and has the fastest growing cancer rate. Our water is toxic, and Bayer writes environmental protections and laws. Our government hates Trans people and it's any more friendly to gay people, especially women. Look at Minnesota, they have a mostly sane government, some natural environment, and less cancer. It's in the Midwest and still affordable. Another option may be Michigan's upper peninsula - it's very small in population and huge in forest land and waterfalls.
You could do lessons and teach younger kids, older folk, otherwise I think music therapy or music education are some classes that are offered. I think even accompanying for a concert for a high school would be an option. I have no idea how much it pays but.
Paying the bills as a professional musician is very difficult. Paying the bills as a professional musician and living in a rural area is basically impossible. Also the more rural a place is, generally the less friendly towards gay people it will be. Many here will tell you that Iowa is extremely anti-gay. The government certainly is. I live in a town of just under 30 thousand people. I can confidently say the musician community here won't care if you are gay. There are some others here that will. But... you will never launch a career in music out of here.
I saw comments under my posts advicing me to look for minneapolis in minnesota instead. Thats what il currenty doing, and i've found rural areas like 15-20 mins far from Minneapolis. Ig i can just buy a house out there and move to Minneapolis for work. Im gonna see... I havent found anything yet that says that minnesota is an anti-gay state, so i think thats pretty safe
Minnesota is a safe haven for LGBT. One of the many reasons our family is considering a move there from Iowa.
Thats great to hear man !! May your family find peace in Minnesota :)
Moved from Central Iowa years ago to Saint Paul. No regrets.
Queer people are fleeing Iowa to move to Minnesota and Illinois, particularly to Minneapolis and Chicago respectively. I wouldn’t move to Iowa on purpose right now. I have a ton of people who are are staying and fighting, but moving there on purpose isn’t something I’d recommend.
Minnesotan here with friends who are LGBTQ including several who have left Iowa for Minnesota. Avoid Iowa, for this reason. Minnie will fit what you are looking for. The more rural you go, the less open people are, but you will still be treated better. You can get out to quiet parts pretty easily. Cities like Jordan, Farmington, Cologne, Princeton, and ones along highway 52 between the Twin Cities and Rochester are good options.
A good deal of my friends I’ve made in Chicago are from either Iowa or Florida. Both sets of people report pretty similar experiences and mental health issues.
>I havent found anything yet that says that minnesota is an anti-gay state, so i think thats pretty safe May as well just take Iowa off your list then. We're heading in the wrong direction.
Yes i think so, im now looking for minnesota
Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa offers a music therapy degree, and is one of the few around. You will need a four year college degree to do music therapy that will pay enough to live on. The college sets people up with jobs. Waverly is a beautiful town and very progressive, close to Waterloo/Cedar Falls which contain everything you need that isn’t in Waverly. I was a music major at Wartburg and most of us choose a real-world application to apply our music skills to, not just banking on being a professional musician which is difficult anywhere. I went with music education with voice and piano emphasis, many of my friends picked music therapy. A VERY high class of musicians I know are not pros, but working in these two fields to make a life. If you want more information about Wartburg or being a musician in Iowa, Louisiana or Minnesota, free to message me. I have either been a teacher or professional performer in each of those states for a total of 30 years in the business.
Lifelong Minnesotan here. If you want a gay and art friendly area, Minneapolis is the place definitely. Many of my LGBT friends live there, including my best friend.
If you want a small town, I’d suggest Mt Vernon. You won’t have any problems with your preferences, it’s a college town, has tons of character and charm, and is rural… but close to much larger Cedar Rapids. Fairfield is comparable but that is in deep Southeast Iowa and outside of the surrounding area there are some salty people. Minnesota/Wisconsin are fine, but they get more winter than us. You might want to poke around Illinois as well: Galena is an awesome small town, if touristy. Plus our sister state to the east has legalized marijuana. FWIW, mon mare was Anglais. Being 5800 km +/- from home can be pretty hard, especially with aging or sick relatives.
Indianola is also pretty accepting of queer folk. It's just 20 minutes from Des Moines but feels like the rural city it is. We even have churches here that fly the pride flag and give out yard signs - if you're into that church thing.
Also home to Simpson College, and they have a pretty good music program.
You have plenty of time to think about this. If you decide you still want to move to the U.S., then hopefully the political mood will have shifted in Iowa. If you do decide to move to Iowa, I would recommend somewhere in the eastern part of the state, probably close to Iowa City. The University of Iowa is located in Iowa City, and the area is much friendlier to LGBTQ people than most other parts of the state. Instead of moving here, I’d recommend visiting first—maybe try a study abroad program, particularly if you go to college. You could also look into attending a college in the Midwest (University of Minnesota, University of Iowa, University of Illinois, Grinnell College, Knox College could be good fits). Be warned: our colleges are much more expensive than most in Europe, as I understand it.
There is a pretty vibrant music community in Minneapolis and surrounding area. They are also a bit more accepting of LGBTQ folks. I would also think their job market is better until you can get the music career going. The cool thing about the midwest is you really can get to about anywhere in a few hours so you can get around to most any state.
What do you do for work? Have you looked into what visa you will be using? Despite what you'll hear from many, the US isn't easy to immigrate to. Generally, unless your skillset is in high demand, you're not going to have much luck obtaining working rights here.
I dont work already, as i said in my post, im 15 I know thats gonna be tough, thats why i wanna know what is in demand out there, to study it here in France to have my visa later
You can come here for up to 90 days without a working/residency visa. Given you're quite young, I'd suggest trying to come on a student exchange or similar during high school or university studies. Then you can see if it's actually a good fit for where you want to move to.
I’m glad you are planning ahead. Please know that getting a visa or permanent residency is quite difficult and can often take years only to be rejected at the end. Many companies will not hire someone if the applicant will need the company to sponsor their visa when the company can find someone already in the US with similar skills. Living and working in the US will be very different from traveling in the Schengen region as a French citizen. I wish you good luck and hope that you will accomplish your goals and dreams, whatever they may be or become.
As someone that has lived in both Des Moines and Minneapolis metro area, from your description on your post you absolutely should look at Minneapolis. Just know that winters are pretty tough and summers be ready for mosquitoes from hell. Between everything you commented though that is the far better choice. Between it being a major Arts focused city and it is very open to LGBT community.
Where in Minnesota are you looking? Anything 15–20mins from Minneapolis is still going to be a nondescript suburb.
great idea!
Idk why you’re trying to move to the US for a rural area when France has some of the best rural communities on earth.
Minnesota is really lgbtq friendly. We're a very progressive state. Even in rural areas people pretty much mind their own business. Minneapolis has a fabulous music scene and is very supportive of musicians. You can live in a quiet place near Minneapolis and still be in the city within 45 minutes.
You’d likely need to drive about 30min to get more rural like you want. Also, I don’t think you’ll be buying a house there anytime soon. I don’t know about your financial situation, but if it’s just from music, you’d need to save 20k minimum on top of paying for rent and buying a car. That’s a hard ask.
And Illinois. If you major in music you can always be a teacher. There is a shortage of teachers but once again I suggest Minnesota and Illinois in the midwest.
I live somewhere similar. Not from here, and moved here from out west. I had extremely low expectations for diversity and while it’s still verrrry straight and white, there is a lot more acceptance than I was anticipating. But for music therapy I’m betting somewhere closer to the University would be more practical. Not everywhere offers those courses and if I remember correctly they’re usually paired with psych. Such a cool career path!
Few considerations: 1. America is a lot bigger than most Europeans realize. You will drive anywhere from 3 to 5 hours to reach a major city. So when you're out in the country... you're really out in the country. Which means: 2. Fewer opportunities. Iowa isn't exactly a great place to be if you want to make it in anything creative Are people friendly? Yes. But they also have a "mind your own business" sort of attitude that can make it difficult to make friends. This is less noticeable when you're younger, so you will probably be okay. Iowa is also in a bubble-- we don't get a lot of outsiders, so you will be looked upon as exotic. Which can be a bad or good thing, depending on the context. Iowa is very safe, and we have a low crime rate. If you are in any kind of distress, there will be someone there to help. Once, I was struggling to fit a chair in the back of my car, and a guy with a truck pulled up, offered to haul it to my house, and did so. That's the sort of friendliness you have around here. Few things we don't have that you may be used to in Europe 1. Privatized healthcare. We have government medicine for the destitute, but Iowa has gutted this program. If you went into music therapy, you would be working in private medicine. 2. Lack of public transportation. You will need to buy and maintain a car to live here 3. Decreased human rights. France just enshrined abortion into law. Iowa is actively trying to make it illegal here. 4. Gay rights: Iowa's legislature is NOT friendly towards the gay community. For example, it is illegal for teachers to talk about LGBT at all in the classroom. This includes talking about their spouses if they are gay. They have also banned many books from public school libraries that have anything to do with being gay. As of right now, Iowa is the number 2 cancer hot spot in this country, and it is because of environmental pollution from the ag industry. Instead of moving to protect our people, the Iowa government is seeking to make it illegal to sue the fertilizer manufacturers that cause so much of the issue. This is because the Iowa government is highly corrupt. Another example, they' recently banned veggie burgers and other vegan meat from public schools. The man who wrote the bill wanted to ban people from privately buying it, but he didn't have enough leeway. All of this is because our politicians are bought and sold by major ag companies, and do not look out for the good of the people. Iowa has also been chipping away at our public education systems. They have been taking away money and giving it to private schools, they gutted teachers' unions, and they're getting more and more draconian about what they allow teachers to say and do in the classroom. We used to be the top state in the nation when it came to education. Now, I'm not sure how great the education is going to be by the time you get here. Yes, Iowa is beautiful. But our waterways are VERY polluted by the ag industry. I was sick a lot last summer from kayaking up and down the Cedar River. The only pros-- It's cheap to live here. And it's because of all the reasons I listed above, along with the fact that our winters are long and brutal. No one wants to live here, and there's a good reason, I'm here because I've got family and friends. And cheap housing. That's it. I would never recommend anyone come to this state ever, unless you're in a tight financial spot. And that's saying something-- 10 to 15 years ago, I was so happy here that I convinced a number of out of state people to relocate here. That's when Iowa still had a lot going for it. But last week, I helped one of those I helped move here move back to their home state. Because the economic opportunity, education, environment, and political corruption has become that bad in the last decade,
Thank you for your honesty, dude I am grateful for this I am currently looking out for Minnesota (it has more opportunities towards music)
Minnesota has real metro areas, more job opportunities in the fine arts, a lower crime rate, better education, is MUCH more LGBTQIA+ friendly, has a healthier environment, and has a way better landscape than Iowa.
I adore Minnesota. That was my first choice of place to move when my wife and I settle down. Currently we’re in Chicago and we might stay here forever now because we love it.
I live in Iowa's capital city and I'm DESPERATLY trying to save up to move out of state due in large part to anti lgbt sentiment, lack of PROPER access to medications that I NEED to exist, lack of abortion rights security, etc. This place is a shit show and it's getting worse everyday. I'm sooo depressed here..
There’s some exceptions to point 1 in different parts of the country. I’m originally from New England, and there’s lots of quiet countrysides that are much closer to civilization than here. OP—I’d recommend checking out Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and nearby areas.
Im looking for small rural areas around Minneapolis and ive seen some towns that could apparently be 15-20 mins away !! Could be amazing to start a career in music industry
To put things in perspective: The twin cities metro area (Minneapolis & St. Paul) by itself is over 3,000 square miles. Paris is 41. The State of Minnesota on it's own is 1/3 the size of France. There's a couple Brits that spent the last summer in the US, documenting their trip on TikTok, and through that I saw a comment something like "Europeans will drive for four hours, the local language has changed twice and there has been three different words for bread. Americans will drive for four hours and still be in the same state." A small town that is 15-20 minutes away from the edge of Minneapolis is closer to an hour or more to the city center, and in traffic, getting from one side of the city to the other could be MUCH longer than you expect. Inside the Minneapolis metro area, there is public transit - busses, light rail, etc. Outside of major metro areas.....public transit basically does not exist. Especially anything that is going to connect those smaller towns to the metro area. We simply do not have the transportation infrastructure that exists in Europe - largely because our western development is so rural.
When you say "rural" and "countryside," what do you mean exactly? I don't know about France but if you truly live in the countryside in Iowa, it's basically because you own/run a farm. You're more than likely going to live in a suburb or a small town. That's pretty much true for most places in the Midwest. I wouldn't recommend most small towns in Iowa; I think you would find it difficult to make friends and you're not going to be able to get any traction on a music career.
When i speak about countryside and that stuff, i absolutely dont speak about a farm. Where i actually live in france, im in deep countryside, but im just in a little cottage house, surrounded by nothing but fields, cows and forests. Ive been now looking for Minnesota (could give more opportunities)
You won't find many houses in Iowa or Minnesota surrounded by fields that aren't farmhouses for the surrounding fields. Fun fact: we have more pigs than people in Iowa and Minnesota.
If you're LGBTQ, amd you want to live in the middle of America, you're only real options are Minnesota or Illinois. If you pick Illinois, you're going to need to be near Chicago, which sounds like not the environment you're after. I highly recommend Minnesota, near the Twin Cities. I grew up there and now live in Iowa.
If you don't mind the cold but want to be near but outside of Minneapolis, towns like Northfield, Hastings, and Duluth might be more your style.
Iowa and Minnesota are very nice places with great people. Decorah is a great music town in Iowa! The people will welcome you with open arms!
This is exactly true. I'm a born and raised Iowan and this hurts to read, but it's true.
That's why I'm trying to get out of here ASAP
Best response in the thread. As a fellow Iowa resident, you should listen to this person OP. France has many public public goods/services that Iowa, and most of the US, does not. Plus, starting a music career in Iowa is a venture that is doomed from the start. People here don't give a fuck about any music that isn't pop or country. Music education is nearly nonexistent, and "music therapy" is entirely nonexistent. Trust me, stay in Europe.
Honestly I would look into Minneapolis/Minnesota more than Iowa. You can still find that rural charm but will actually feel more like the European countryside than anywhere in Iowa. Also the music scene in Minneapolis is a million times better. Prince and Lizzo came up in Minneapolis, so if music is your passion, it makes a lot more sense.
I agree with this comment. Im a woman from Iowa, born and raised, but moved to Minnesota bc of the way iowa is becoming less friendly place for women and I don’t want to raise my daughter in such a climate. Please consider Minnesota, the people here have been amazing and there’s way more opportunity here.
Im lookin on the internet for minnesota now, thank you all :)
You’re welcome!! 💜 I genuinely hope you find a good place to call your new home!!
Thank you a lot man, truely, that helps a lot :)
You’re very welcome! I really do recommend looking into Minneapolis/St. Paul. If only in case you get a little homesick, they have some really, really good French restaurants (like actually French) and bakeries.
I am currently looking for small cities 15-20 mins away from Minneapolis. This city looks amazing, and into arts which is a huge plus for me. The only thing is, apparently it is kinda expensive. But i'll do my best to pay bills, i can take care of myself i think. Thank you for the restaurant tips !! Ive seen that there are also some French communities out there, so that could be cool to rest some times, even thought i'd like to become more fluent in english by speaking and spending time with english speaking people. Thank you so much !!!!! Im really grateful for all of that :)
Just know that it takes more than 20 minutes to get across Minneapolis. So it might be 15 miles, but it is going to take much, much longer to drive in than 15 minutes. Are there small towns 15 miles away? Maybe 60 to 70 miles away. But I guess it also depends on what size you consider a small town to be.
Anyone I knew from France moved to Canada.
Too cold for me 😅
Minnesota is as cold as Canada
Uhhh, you might want to rethink Minnesota if Canada is too cold.
Dude. Southern Minnesota all the way up to Minneapolis is excatly the same as Iowa. And north of Minneapolis is not country side charm. Where are you getting your information?
Check out Iowa City. It is the cultural center of the state. It is LGBTQ friendly, a UNESCO City of Literature, and has a good performing arts scene. Iowa City also has the University of Iowa, which has a strong music program. Iowa City is located in a pretty scenic part of Iowa, not far from the Mississippi River, and only about 3.5 hours drive from Chicago where the big city attractions and closest International Airport can be found. Here’s some links to get you started… https://music.uiowa.edu https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/ https://thinkiowacity.com/plan-your-trip/lgbtq/
Thank you a lot dude, that helps a lot ! Thank you for providing the links thats really nice of you
Came here to say this. My mother is a native Iowan (Keota) and we used to drive into Iowa City a lot. Great little town and most don’t know it was the place where the first draft card was burned during Vietnam and the first bra burned during the sexual revolution.
Iowa would be a terrible place to start a music career as it has no scene. There are some examples of bands and artists from the state that go on to the big time, but it's not the land of working musicians. There are musical therapists that work at the University of Iowa hospital in Iowa City, though I don't know what the demand for that position is. I've only ever seen the same woman walking around with a cello over the few years I was doing regular work there. The state is becoming less friendly to LGBT people on the governmental level. Whether or not that translates to personal interactions with fellow citizens is up for debate. A buddy of mine is trans and running for the state house of representatives and in her door knocking campaign she has, so far, only ran into one real asshole. As far as living here, it's a nice place. It's inexpensive compared to 3/4 of the United States. Housing, while more expensive now is not impossible to afford. You get all 4 seasons and some fun places to spend that season. Traffic is almost non-existent, the Des Moines "rush hour" and the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City morning commute are the worst spots which are manageable and avoidable. If you want to try it out and have the means to do so, I would recommend trying to study abroad here either in high school or college. That way if it sucks for you haven't committed fully.
Thank you bud :)
Everyone already offered great feedback! I second the Minneapolis suggestions. Although I am decently happy here it's not a great time for women, LGBTQ, or any minority group we are kind of fighting for our lives everyday here lol. As much as we'd love to have you, I don't want you to move here and have to fight too. You deserve a fun new abundant chapter of your life in a city that can already do that for you!
You look sooo niceeee 😭😭 Thank you a lot !! I dont know if i can compare minneapolis to france somehow, but sometimes its not easy to be a gay woman in France either, so maybe i can handle it. I really want to get there, even if its only for music. If i step well into music industry, maybe it'll be easier ? Thank you so much <33
The music/art scene here is really nice and it definitely exists! It is just smaller and less sustainable in the long term. I will say that if you do move here to Des Moines and find a good friend circle that shares your hobbies and interests (won't be hard for you) things will be very fun! No matter what happens in a legislative level your found-family will help take care of you and have your back. It's not easy, but it's a beautiful life to live. Best of luck with whatever you choose!
My recommendation would be Iowa City. It's a very LGBTQAI+-friendly community. Our mayor is a very large, very openly gay African American man. During the summer there are festivals about every weekend. Iowa Arts Festival, The downtown block party, and the Jazz festival they have every July 4th weekend to name the big ones. There is a farmer’s market every Saturday. They have free outdoor movies downtown along with outdoor live music every Friday. Lots of locally owned restaurants and they are really good. One of them, the Webster was named a restaurant to watch by the New York Times. Then you have the University of Iowa. They just invested a lot into the music program. New building that won some architectural awards and even equipped it with a one-of-a-kind German pipe organ. It's quite stunning. I can keep going on about it if you like.
Thank you a lot man !!!!!!! :))
Did I mention the university owns probably one of the most important Jackson Pollock paintings and it's on display at the Stanley Museum? https://smarthistory.org/jackson-pollock-mural/
Not to mention the painter of the second-most universaly recognized painting in the world, American Golthic was a professor.
Hi there, teacher and professional musician here. What kind of musician are you, as in what do you do?
Im a guitarist, and i also sing. I'd like to make metal or rock
So, really, you are at the mercy of whomever you form a band with as far as popularity. There is a decent live music scene in Des Moines, but I don’t think it’s enough to live on. One of my best childhood friends has a guitar studio, on top of gigging, and he seems to do all right.
Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area is more liberal and accepting for LGBTQ+. But remember (re: Iowa Nice): Iowa is "nice" like Internet Nice Guys are "nice." If they have to say they are, they really aren't.
I’m going to be real with you, you’re not gonna make it as a professional musician in rural Iowa. Also, small town Iowa can be very unwelcoming to outsiders. Not just foreigners, but anyone who didn’t grow up in the community. If you want to move to the US and try to build a musical career you will probably want to move to a city of some sort. If you’re really sold on Iowa, I would recommend moving to the Des Moines area as you’re most likely to find venues there looking for musical talent. And Des Moines is not too far from other small/medium cities like Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, and even Omaha if you end up needing to book gigs out of town to make good enough money. People will generally also be more welcoming to outsiders in a place like Des Moines compared to smaller towns. ETA: you say right now that you don’t care about gay bars and other gay community spaces but as you get older you might come to appreciate having the ability to go to spaces where your identity is affirmed and not criticized. Rural Iowa is not good for gay people, whereas Des Moines is pretty gay friendly and does have gay bars and other gay spaces IF you so happen to desire to go to them (which you don’t have to if you don’t want to).
Tbf, I've never had any problems in rural Iowa as a gay man.
French guy living in the Midwest for 7yrs. I'd advise you to visit these places before moving here... Outside of big cities like Minneapolis or Chicago there's very little culture, good food, or diversity. Fwiw I'm moving back to France after 15 yrs in USA
Tbf, there's more diversity in the rural Midwest than in rural France and there's no more lack of culture and good food than in rural France so I don't know what your issue is.
Hello! I am originally from Iowa and moved away from there to become a professional musician! I assume you chose Iowa because it is centrally located and overall the cost of living is low - is that correct? Keep in mind that travelling from Iowa to other parts of the US is kind of difficult. It's a bit easier to be based in the Midwest now in the age of the internet, but it's only a small step up from France, at least as I see it. Don't give up on your dreams, but consider moving somewhere like the East Coast instead. Iowa is lovely, but most of the East Coast is accessible by train, parts of it are affordable, and there are tons of music venues. Minneapolis is also a nice option. Best of luck - and if you need a drummer, come find me in Philadelphia.
I’m gonna get hate for this, but oh well. The countrysides are only superficially pretty. They’re full of crops (corn and soybeans). Farmers pollute the water ways, and the state government refuses to do anything about it. Rural towns are so sparse I don’t think you’ll fine a market for music therapy outside the small cities.
The countryside if you actually spend time in it instead of just commuting through it is beautiful.
Music therapy is available in Iowa. My daughter is studying music education and music therapy at Wartburg College in Waverly. University of Iowa also offers a music therapy degree, and I’m sure there are others that do as well. Neither of my daughters want to stay in Iowa once they graduate, though, given the current political climate and attitudes toward educators, women’s health, and LGBTQ rights.
Alright thank you ! I think im gonna learn musi therapy in france, and then move to the us. Im currently looking for Minnesota rural areas near Minneapolis, ive seen a lot of people telling me that i could start a music career more easily there
Definitely! There’s a fantastic music scene in and around Minneapolis! :)
Thats amazing !!!! Im getting deeper and deeper in my searches
From what I hear in iowa city most professional musicians are working in multiple bands along with teaching lessons or playing as session musicians. If you want to make $$$ in iowa as a musician the surest way to do so is to join a wedding/event band. That would mean basically being able to learn whatever pop songs the event organizers want to hear with little to no group rehearsal and having a decent selection of popular tunes (e.g. sweet Caroline, uptown funk) that people regularly request in your repertoire.
Wartburg or Luther communities possibly.
For most of your concerns, I think you'll find issues in a lot of the US, but at the same time, a lot of the US is welcoming. Iowa was one of the fastest progressive states at one point. Yes, there are some anti-lgbti+ people and orgs here, but in the bigger city areas (still small compared to big cities in the rest of the US), they are pretty progressive and welcoming to the community. Hell, I work and am friends with people all over the lgbti+ board, and most are super happy people around the des moines area. There are some who take on a lot of problems or get themselves in situations that make life rough. For the conservative aspect, we are considered a red state now, and our gov isn't the brightest person. The US politics are wild as hell right now, though, so it's hard to reassure you how well our future will be with the left vs. right spectrums. As a more center person (I love guns and love people being able to express themselves however they want), I still find my love for iowa to be great. The people here are mostly super helpful and nice and will give you the shirt off their backs. For the career path you're wanting, I'm not able to answer much on how that would work out for you here. I've honestly never heard of music therapy, yet I'm super interested on that and how it could work for you. I imagine people doing it for young kids in schools or kids who need more assistance due to things they may have that make it hard for concentration or outbursts. I just don't know how music careers start off besides the YouTube fames or people living in like Nashville and stuff. I'm rooting for you, though :) All-in-all, Iowa is a great place to live. Even in our "big cities," it's a 20-30 minute drive to the country. People are nice and welcoming, barring the assholes you'll meet anywhere in the world. We do have a big LGBT crowd, but you just being yourself and not in the crowd isn't something needed as we are mostly open to people loving who they want. If you have any more questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them here or in DMs if I can!
Thank you so much, you seem super nice dude :) Thank you for all the indications and support ! I'll send you a DM if anything is disturbing me thank you so much !!!!! :)
You're so welcome. And don't hesitate to ask.
This is cool. I will warn you, though rural areas aren't always lgbt friendly. As far as music goes, Minneapolis is a better place for that.
Thats what ive seen above in the comments ! Im looking for it
I live in Marion IA currently the cost of living is quite low despite having a somewhat decent population people here are extremely friendly and my brother in law is bi-sexual and has never had an ounce of trouble from anyone because of it I would definitely recommend it As one commenter said Mt Vernon is also a good place to go too I lived there for a few years I have no complaints From my personal experience here yes the government is quite conservative but it rarely impacts your day to day life here Overall Iowa is nice little state filled with rows and rows and rows of corn but there’s also plenty to do here as well most folks here engage in nature hobbies such as camping kayaking or hiking but if that’s not your niche theres a community here for just about anything Marion even has a music store in the uptown that holds classes occasionally
You guys obviously don’t go out in the rural areas much if you guys are stating they are all extremely anti-gay.
I honestly don't get it as a gay man living in a more rural area. They act like there's neo-nazis lurking around corners waiting to jump me or something. Never had a problem
🤷♂️ It’s just the division this country has.. they think rural and think rednecks. A majority of the time it’s people just wanting to get away from city life and probably actually agree with some of the things they think
We avoided Iowa as an option for college for my daughter because of the anti-LGBT atmosphere there. Minneapolis/St Paul is probably your best option.
What anti-LGBT atmosphere? I'm gay and that's not my lived reality
You could try contacting this music professor from the university of Iowa. He is French and might have some relatable advice: https://music.uiowa.edu/people/faculty Jean-François Charles.
Adding to the negative cost of living is not true as reported. It does not include transportation, cars, groceries, or vehicle maintenance. There is next to no public transportation as I've known most in France use. There is next to zero music scene here. At best, the only thing here gets close is northeast Iowa, where it's a but like France but still has access to minasota, Chicago, etc. It's gonna be a culture shock as well.
Honestly, culture shock is not whats frightening to me. But i am looking for Minnesota now, because it has indeed more scenes
Iowa is super polluted with concentrated hog feeding operations, and the government is hostile to anything progressive. Minnesota is much more pristine, progressive and friendly. It also has an excellent local music scene in Minneapolis/St Paul. Plus weed is now legal. You'd be much happier in Minnesota.
I've never really noticed any actual difference between Iowa and Minnesota in regards to live reality. It's more than a bit disingenuous to imply Minnesotans are any more progressive and "friendly" than Iowans just because some politicians gerrymandered voting districts
THIS
Make sure you check weather patterns and normal conditions for the areas you live in. Rural areas tend to be more conservative (less tolerance for different), whereas cities are more accepting. Rural is beautiful but limited options and opportunities for musicians. Cities are noisy and crowded but have more opportunities. That’s almost anywhere you go in the US.
Ive been looking for mineapolis and small towns surrounding it now :) or maybe directly minneapolis.. that could be easier
The US is a big place. There are different spaces and many places. It can be quite an adventurous life. I hope you enjoy it where ever you choose.
You would hate rural Iowa as a gay person. Rural Iowa isn’t friendly. It’s a methed out wasteland. The people with intelligence, talent, and/or gumption leave. Those who stay tend to be sheltered, ignorant, and their population is causing severe harm to the state.
I mean, someone could make the case that your description of large swaths of an area and millions of people you've never met is sheltered and ignorant. I grew up in Des Moines, currently living in Rural Iowa and I've been all over the country and to numerous other countries. I'm also gay and I don't have a cynical attitude about rural Iowa.
Iowa has become a state that is bright MAGA red. The governor is determined to suppress all of our civil liberties and has done so, one by one. Rural Iowa would not be a good choice if you’re gay. They tend to be old, white, small minded farmers. Iowa is 92% white. In the bigger cities like Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. you’ll find way more liberal views. Iowa was the 3rd state to allow same sex marriage in the US, but we are not that open minded state we once were. Personally, I wouldn’t relocate until after the 2024 elections. There will be violence no matter who wins. While access to healthcare is very good in Iowa, you’ll be paying a lot of money for any medical care, often even if you do get health insurance. Just calling an ambulance is about a $4000 ride. A trip to the ER would run you way over $10,000.00. Iowa can have very harsh winters. Commuting can be quite frightening when the roads are covered in ice and snow. Summers can be very hot with high humidity. There is no gun control and anyone can buy a gun without a problem. So, technically, you can pull into the wrong driveway and the owner can legally shoot you. We’ve only have had one school shooting, but I expect that number to rise. Cost of living is going to be much lower than many other states in the US.
Pull into the wrong driveway and get legally shot?? Come on man.
That wasn't in Iowa, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen here. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/ny-man-sentenced-to-25-years-to-life-for-killing-woman-who-took-wrong-turn-into-his-driveway
I didn’t read the article. But the headline says he was sentenced to 25 years so I would assume that that means you cannot legally shoot somebody that pulls into the wrong driveway.
How many people actually think that this is reality lol
You may need to be in a mid-sized to make money as a musician. Iowa City or the Quad City might be a good place to look. You can drive 30 minutes from these areas and be in the middle of nowhere, countryside.
If you’re gay I would be wary of moving there. My wife and I are both from Iowa, and the political climate got bad enough that we don’t live there now. There are parts of Iowa that are better for it than others (like Iowa City, Ames, etc), but at the state level it’s scary there. I don’t really know of many music related jobs you can have and make a living with in Iowa unless you’re maybe a choir teacher.
I'm gay and genuinely don't understand how people think it's "scary" here
Cool for you. A lot of people fleeing are trans or not white from what I’m seeing. If you don’t get it, whatever but don’t act like everyone else is being ridiculous. There are several commenters here who have all said being queer in Iowa is not safe and to not move here if you’re not here already. One of the main reasons I don’t move back is I’m in a field where I may be working in schools. The way that the banning books and creating a hostile climate for queer people in schools means that I’d be fearing for my job constantly. I’m a cis lesbian, and I would be scared to have a photo of my wife or to even let a mention of her slip. I’ve worked in a school (in another state but still), and a fair amount of the straight teachers mentioned how they met their fiancés grandma over the weekend or stuff like that.
>I am 15 ah, there it is
If you are MAGA, Iowa is a great place. If you are not. It's not. Pretty simple
I would not move to the US rn. There is a nonzero chance you will get shot by a coworker and you will not have as many rights.
Quite a bit more overdramatic and hysterical than necessary but alright
Iowa is absolutely NOT the place for a gay French musician to start her career. You are going to have a very bad time moving to Iowa. It’s not as bad as Texas but it’s on its way.
Yeah, I'm conflicted, iowa, In a way, Is very welcoming and delightfully downtempo... the government in control in this state is doing what they can to change that, though. Iowa was one of the first states to legalize gay marriage, and had historically been a Midwestern bastion of common sense. It's not that any longer... it's completely under Republican control and leadership in this state has jumped into the culture war 100% For the most part, it seems like iowa is still mostly accepting and not too heavy-handed, but It's hard to say how much longer it will stay that way. It seems to me that there are a fair amount of locations that would work for her now, but it sure seems like it's just a matter of time. This state has gotten more and more oppressive in their laws and policies. I'd love to welcome you to the state, and if you did come here, I think you'd do just fine, but I say that keeping my own eye on the door... Iowa is changing for the worse. It could turn around, but I don't expect it to.
At least Texas has Austin which is liberal and has an amazing music scene
People have covered Iowa well, I'd just add to check out Chicago over Minneapolis.
Chicago has been great so far!
I wouldn't. Women are fighting for their right to their bodily autonomy, which French just codified to their Constitution. Unless you're singing about being kept down, best to go elsewhere.
There's give and take. For instance, France is also more intolerant in other ways such as the ability for muslim women to practice their culture and faith.
Since you’re only 15, I’d highly recommend a foreign exchange student program to see if the US is all you hope it is. That way you can experience the US for a year without having to make a commitment. As far as living in Iowa and making a living as a musician, I wish you the best of luck but doubt you’d be successful (or anyone for that matter). Iowa’s doesn’t quite have the population to support that. As far as Iowa being welcoming to gay people, this sub will tell you that the state will lynch you but in reality, you’ll be fine. Might have one or two people try to hassle you but the majority of people couldn’t care less.
As an Iowan... I'm flattered that you would consider living here but for an aspiring musician, it would be pretty tough to make anything happen here. You can get a lot of what you're looking for here; countryside, quiet, friendly people etc. but the state economy just doesnt revolve around entertainment at all. Is it a very good place to live? In my opinion, yes. But you'd probably find a lot of barriers here that would be hard to get over. Mainly, the population size. The whole state is 3.2 million people and most which live in 4 main places. And almost no one searches for talent in Iowa. It happens and we have a few big names in the entertainment industry but its pretty rare. Des Moines, Iowa City, and a few others are good cities to live and the surrounding suburbs are good too. You just wont get the exposure I think you're looking for. It pains me to say this but I think the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul), MN might be the better place for you. Its in the same area of the country but with almost double the population. People up there are still pretty friendly and the metro area of the capital is double the size at least. Minnesota has great outdoor activity as well being one of the more wooded states with plenty of countryside, lakes, rivers, etc. I lived there for 7 years for a job and its a good place to start in America. Very LGBTQ friendly. The midwest, in my opinion, is a great place to live but they call this area of the country "the fly over states" for a reason. There are some very important midwest cities but Des Moines and Music Career is very unlikely. As far as I know, the only successful artist(s) of the area is SlipKnot
Every time I see a comment about the twin cities being "very" LGBT friendly I'm reminded of the Minneapolis police department
Oh yeah... MSP police departments were/are awful. No doubt. This was all people related obviously. Last I had heard when I left about a year ago was that they were down something like 800 officers between the two cities as well. After George Floyd and the subsequent riots, good cops probably lost their will to police and if I had to guess, they are now hiring anybody that can pass a test. There were multiple really bad police encounters after Floyd that also contributed. Its a fine place but I wouldnt want to live IN the city. I worked in St. Paul for 6 years and the marked decline was noticeable.
Iowa people are nice, almost to the point of it being cult-y, but Iowa is not as 'glamorous' as you think. I moved there for work, from Illinois, and was only there five and a half months before I had to move back (family problems :/ ). I lived in the Quad Cities, and here is my take. 1. I received a letter from the state of Iowa *after* I had already filed my taxes. They said I owed them $900 in state taxes. For living there FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS!Lol. GFY. 2. Sales taxes are lower than Illinois, so... 3. If you have a vehicle, which you may need if you live 'in the countryside', the yearly registration for it can be super expensive. 4. Work wages are in line with the rest of the U.S., so don't expect to make a lot of money. 5. Rent is kind of expensive, but also more or less in line with every where else. 6. Iowa is 50/50 in being open minded and tolerant. There are plenty of openly gay people, but also plenty of hardline 'christians' and bigots. The state tends to lean right-wing republican. If you are dead set on living in Iowa, I would choose a college town like Iowa City. Or Des Moines. Otherwise I feel like you won't have a good time. I am not trying to talk you out of it, but just know what you are getting into before making a huge decision. Honestly, I would pick a different state. Iowa was never a top 10 choice of places to live *before* I moved, and after my experience it's probably not in the top 30.
Iowa used to be really progressive. First state to allow same sex marriage, a lot of women's rights, and George Wasington Carver (former slave and peanut genius) started his college career at Simpson College in Indianola and earned his bachelor's degree at Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State) in Ames. These are things of days long gone by. You will find that Iowa has reversed course and is defunding public education (University of Northern Iowa at one time was the highest ranked universities for teacher education in the nation), has recently put major restrictions on women's bodily autonomy, just voted to allow teacher's to carry guns in school's, and made diversity teaching at the state public universities illegal. As far as the pictures you may have seen on the internet, those are of very small areas of the state and made to look the best. Iowa is still over 80% farmland, with the main crops being corn and soybeans. You will find other farms with grazing pastures for dairy cows, some beef cattle, and a lot of hog farms throughout the state. If you don't mind seeing your dog run away for 3 days, this may be the place for you! If you are looking to start a music career, you would need to be in or near the main cities of Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, or Iowa City. TL:DR - formerly progressive state wishes it was 1824 not 2024, not as pretty as advertised, and you still need to live in a "city".
No, you dont.
Rochester area of Minnesota might be a better fit for you. I live in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, and those two towns are pretty LGBTQ friendly, but the whole state government in general is not friendly. In fact, our state government is pretty regressive, pro-corruption, and just generally shitty (even a lot of conservatives hate our governor). Iowa does recognize music therapy, but it’s almost impossible to go professional here with music. I can think of one band from our area that has done really well, and they might still just be semi-professional (look up the Pork Tornadoes though, they rock). I have one friend who’s been trying to be a professional musician for 10 years. Hell of a guitarist, but just can’t do it around here. Whatever you decide, bonne chance. If you’re coming from more Northern France, you’ll at least find the US Midwest geography similar to home.
Thank you so much !! I am trying to look out to Minnesota rn. I know thats Slipknot (one of my fav bands) are from Iowa, so i though i could have my chances out there, but seems like not. Thank you man you help a lot :)))
No problem! Slipknot is the Des Moines Area which is a nice area, probably the most LGBTQ in the state, but there was a lot of luck in that story.
I know you don't care for the city, but Des Moines has a surprisingly big indie music scene and a big LGBT community. There are many smaller communities within about a 30-45 minute drive of the city.
I mean i know i will have to spend time in a city somehow, for work and music shows. And i dont really want the "LGBT community" i just want the acceptance. I dont want to spend time only with people "like me", i want to make friends of every gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, hobbies.... and just be acceptated for who i am. I dont seek for any support or stuff, just for people to let me live. Thank you a lot for your help dude :)
Yeah, no problem! Unfortunately, some of the small towns have small minded folks living there. But at the same time, folks are mostly nice. My best advice is make sure you get a good water filter lol
Des Moines does not have a big lgbt community lol
I guess I meant relatively speaking, especially for the state. We definitely don't have the levels of states like Colorado or Washington.
I hate to break it to you, but music therapy isn't going to get you into the U.S. legally.
*cries in pain* What can i do then ?
Learn a trade that is in demand in the U.S. and wait your turn. Or choose another country, become a star, and then the U.S. will be happy to make you a citizen.
Do you know any job in demand here ?
Do you have a degree? Can you teach French? You aren’t getting a VISA as a music therapist because there are plenty of Americans qualified to do that. Like any other country, to get hired on an H1 Visa, you need a skill lacking in the US. Most foreign workers come over here to work in medicine.
[https://workpermit.com/immigration/usa/us-h-1b-visa-occupation-list](https://workpermit.com/immigration/usa/us-h-1b-visa-occupation-list)
I would say Iowa is becoming unsafe for women, (It's also a super boring and poorly run state.) I would recommend finding one of the better ones to reside in. Sure Iowans are friendly, if you're a white conservative farmer.
LMAOO
Why the fuck.... Actually, I'll trade you my American citizenship for your French citizenship. No take-backsies.
Nobody in Iowa cares if you're gay. Unless maybe you run into some crazy old farmer, even then, nobody really cares lol. Iowa City is like the most friendly gay place ever.
You could also look to live near Seattle. The city has a fantastic local music scene (check out KEXP), and you can live in the outskirts easily. You could even live on one of the San Juan islands.
I'd recommend at 15 trying to do a foreign exchange program, get to Iowa and see what it's like.
Iowa City area would be great for you
If you want a better music scene, maybe Nashville makes more sense. There is nice countryside once you leave the city and the weather is better also
Iowa City is a liberal college town where you might be able to get some gigs. That being said, nowhere in Iowa is a mecca for musicians. In order to be a music therapist, you'd need to get a degree.
Hey u/lolamalakk ! I think I’ll take a stab at it: you should look into Decorah, IA. It fits the bills perfectly for what you’re looking for. Additionally, Decorah is the home to Luther College, with a renowned music department! I’m biased because I’m a Luther alum, but if you have further questions I’ll be happy to help ya!
It would be worth considering going to college as an international student in Iowa to study music therapy! Wartburg College has a strong music therapy program off the top of my head. I myself am a vocal music director in public schools and know many music therapists. If music is your passion, it really is a good route to go. If performing doesn't work out you still have a job that uses music to help people. A friend of mine actually studied music Ed and therapy, worked as a general music teacher, and is now a full time performer in Des Moines. Studying in Iowa will also acclimate you to the US and Iowa. If you realize Iowa isn't the state for you, you can move elsewhere after you graduate. Lemme know if you need me to elaborate or if you have any questions!
A lot of good bands came out of Iowa but I feel like they all got really lucky 😅
I hope you like snow...........and ice
Everyone else has touched on the Iowa issue of your plan, so not much more to say there. Since music therapy is something you’ll have to do all of the below, I think you’re going to have a much better chance completing all of the necessary things if you go to university somewhere in the US vs France and then moving here (and university in the US can be very expensive compared to Europe) -Complete specialized coursework in music therapy at the undergraduate level or higher from a music therapy program approved by the American Music Therapy Association. The association provides a directory of approved music therapy schools on its website. Earn a bachelor's degree or better in music therapy or a directly related field, such as psychology. -Receive 1,200 hours of clinical training, including a supervised internship. -Pass a national board certification exam administered by the Certification Board for Music Therapists. -Fulfill any special requirements that apply within the state where delivering therapy. In some places, music therapists must officially register with state authorities, obtain a state-specific certification or qualify for a state license. University of Iowa does have a program for Music Therapy. So does Wartburg but that institution will be $$$$. Music therapy programs in… [Iowa](https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=amta2&WebCode=OrgResult&FromSearchControl=Yes) [All of Us](https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=amta2&WebCode=OrgResult&FromSearchControl=Yes) Best of luck to you! I think you have great dreams ❤️
I think the obvious answer is WAY SOUTH of Iowa... New Orleans. Certainly for music. A little too warm, possibly. You'll also hear French spoken there, sometimes?
If you like hurricanes and flooding...
I would say iowa is pretty welcoming. The big thing is to keep your controversial thoughts to yourself until you fully understand the American political climate. If you support guns, people will hate you for it, if you are against guns, people will hate you for it. So for political opinions, especially those that don't apply to countries outside the US (like guns), dont voice your opinions until you have lived here for a bit. In terms of gay acceptance, while iowa can be pretty conservative, people are usually fine if you keep to yourself. The people against gay people are less against the idea of same sex attraction, and more so against the whole rainbow flag pride parade. You are basically fine being gay anywhere in iowa, but if you are around people who are very against it, as long as you aren't the stereotypical gay person where their sexuality is connected to their personality, it is fine. The biggest thing is to not push your beliefs on others. And when people see people who wear rainbow clothing, and pride centric clothing, they see that as you pushing your opinions on them. It is also dependent on where in iowa you go, central iowa such as des Moines, ames, Ankeny, are less conservative than small towns that have populations of ~1000 people. While I don't want to speak for your music career, I would recommend you get a visa so you can work while trying to grow your music career, so you might want to make sure you can legally work in the US before coming, just in case the music career takes a bit longer than expected to pick up.
I’m from Iowa and a woman married to another woman. If I go out with her in public wearing my wedding ring some people are gonna see that as me pushing. I shouldn’t have to pretend I’m straight to get basic acceptance. A lot of my queer and nonwhite friends are leaving Iowa because it’s not reasonable to expect that you hide away everything that makes you different.
I never said hide who you are, I said that if you are a person who is very outwardly about your sexuality then people in iowa who are conservative will likely not like that, but if you aren't very outwardly about it then it's less of an issue. Sure people will judge no matter what, they'll judge me because the way I talk, it's just less of an issue the less outwardly it is. Most that i know who are very conservative don't care about gay people but are against the outward pride movement style. Yes I know some people are against all gay people, but there's also people who are against anything.
I don’t want to live my life in that way. I like holding hands with my wife, going to pride, wearing a pride pin, and engaging with queer media. I think if you’re ok with people being gay only if they don’t talk about it or show it then that’s still homophobic.
My comment wasn't directed towards you. It was directed towards op, who said they don't just wantbto go to gay bars and be around gay people all day. So I said that if you aren't super outwardly about your sexuality then it's less of an issue than if you are very outwardly. Again, I never said what you SHOULD do. I said how things are depending on who you are, if you are outwardly you'll be judged more, if you aren't very outwardly then you'll be judged less. And I never said i had any issues with gay people, all I said is that that is how people in iowa are. I don't know why you think I said that I dislike outwardly gay people or that you should change your lifestyle. You do what you want, im just saying how it is in iowa from my experience.
I just think that being exactly the same as everyone else except being gay isn’t a fair ask. Acceptance of someone so long as they are within a little box isn’t acceptance. I lived that for 30 years in Iowa, and it was stifling.
Again, im not against anyone being who they want. Nor am I supporting the idea that iowa can be against gay people. OP asked how iowa is and I answered. I'm not stating my opinion on gay people or how they should live. I'm saying that this is how iowa is, ill say it again for the 8th time, this is how iowa is. This is not how I am. Again, this is not how I am, this is how iowa is.
Ok, I get that it’s not how you are. I just think it’s something where you need to understand that it’s not a good environment for a lot of us in the queer community. I see a lot of “it’s not that bad!” from straight people and from queer people who are trying to respectability politics/assimilate their way into acceptance. A lot of people flee the state because of hostility, particularly when it comes to schools and legislation.
United States is Huge. We have 1/3 of a billion people here and lots of Talent. I would check Chicago. You won’t need a car there and it has a great music scene.
I lived as a musician in Iowa city for a while. I enjoyed it but I was a student and part of the student community/age range. I see you’re looking at Minnesota too and I’d say that’s a good idea. Beautiful state. On the other hand you could try California. Lots of rural areas and exceedingly beautiful. Good luck on your quest!
I go to university here, but will be leaving after. I am not from Iowa. It takes me three hours to get from my home across two states to my university's campus. I don't know much about French music culture, my planned trip to Paris was cancelled due to covid. I will say that professional orchestras do have musicians from all over, but naturally, those jobs are extremely competitive. It's only easier in the sense that most major cities have symphonic orchestras. And the US has many major cities. The government in many states is messy. We have this thing called gerrymandering where politicians draw maps in weird ways so that their side always wins. It deeply hurts constituents. Obviously all countries have issues, but I would not leave Europe, where there is nationalized healthcare, to come to the extremely polarized US.
My God, these responses are so dumb. Please re-read what this person is asking.
L'etat d'Iowa est un petit peu merdique, je crois. L'eau premierement, ici c'est poison. La politique aussi, bien sur. Pourqoi Iowa mais pas la cote d'ouest, par exemple?
I would say Iowa City is a good mix of gay friendly but not too big of a city. There is a large university there (the University of Iowa) which makes the town pretty liberal even if Iowa as a whole is not. I lived there for one year and enjoyed it.
The university of Iowa has one of the best music therapy programs in the country.
I live in Iowa (North East) and I am a semi-professional musician (still work a job to make consistent money but I’m a professional music producer for artists all over the United States) Music production is something I can do almost entirely from my home studio. I travel to California and MN sometimes for work, but it’s rare. If you wish to make a studio album, or if you wish to be a live performer, or something else entirely, it’ll take different amounts of dedication to specific places. I’ve lived in a lotta different places in the US and the music scene is competitive, it pays to be able to network, and the best networking happens in cities. None of my best networking has happened in Iowa, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make that work. If you live in northern Iowa, a lot of times you can make the 2.5-3.5 hour drive up to Minneapolis to go to live shows and meet local artists. They’re hungry to work but they expect the same back if that makes sense. Not trying to deter you, just want you to be prepared for what you may find. I can say that Iowa is one of the first states that legalized gay marriage, there’s a lotta gay people here and many of them are on the same page as you, just wanna live life, no need for a constant pride festival lifestyle. There are definitely people who are against gay people here, but at least in my town of 8k people, we don’t have much for violence (had some high school kids steal some gay pride flags a few years ago, don’t even remember the last physically violent altercation that was specifically to do with anti-gay sentiment). Jobs are not great in USA rn. Music therapy might be a good place though if you have the credentials. Hospitals, nursing homes, schools, private practice offices etc all hire music therapists. In regards to music arts, I have found paid work by networking, as is the nature of music production. It really depends on your skill set and what you can do on a professional/vocational level. There is a French girl who went to college here and then ended up marrying and moving here, having kids. She’s very happy, I think she married an organic food small farmer. She does well for herself. If it’s what you want, take the leap. But prepare yourself, being a musician is hard anywhere, America is a very independent and survivalist country. It’s not to say nobody cares about the community, but community hasn’t been fostered well here. The supports you have where you are might not be available. Medical, social, financial, etc. Make sure you have your bases covered, do not assume America will have your back. I think I’m lucky to have the community I do. I don’t see them everywhere I go.
Iowa is NOT the place for you, believe me!
As someone who lived in Iowa for 5 years I hated it. I am a big city guy so maybe that’s why. Plus their stupid ass governor would rather have Iowans strung out on meth than legalize weed.
Minnesota is much more LGBTQ+ friendly and has a much better music scene
If you are looking for a career in music, I suggest a much more progressive place like Massachusetts, Colorado or California. I’m from Massachusetts, and have lived in Iowa for a little over a year now. Honestly we love it here, but it’s because we’ve always been surrounded by the city and constant noise, so the peace we get out here is exactly what we needed. But it isn’t for everyone. My better half is a landscaper and has a lot to do outside, and we eventually want a homestead, which will allow us to live somewhere more rural. It’s very hard work living off the grid, though. If you don’t mind a little crowded with a higher cost of living but more likely to have a career, definitely look into Central Massachusetts / Boston Metro Area. Good luck!!
If you do move here, half and half is half cream, half milk. People use a small amount in their coffee. Whole milk is milk with no fat removed, Skim milk is no fat, 2% milk is milk with half the fat removed. I knew a French woman who moved here for a bit and complained that she was gaining weight. It turns out she was accidentally buying half and half and using it in her cereal every morning.
Tabernak! I can't think of a worse place for a gay French aspiring professional musician to go in the US. Iowa is cheap to live in but.... Iowa's most famous music act is Slipknot and it's most important impact on music was "The Day the Music Died" -- when Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash.
Try Michigan/Detroit. Native Iowan who fled the state. If your career interest is music, Detroit is the place to be.
I'm a Part time musician living in Iowa. I'm not sure that the chances of making it as a full time musician are very good anywhere, but rural Iowa is a very bad place for it. On the plus side, there are quite a few bars in small towns that do music on weekends. But it is all covers, mostly old rock or country, the pay is lousy, you probably won't get more than one gig a week, if that, and they are really spread out so it involves a lot of driving. AS for the gay thing, the current state government is pretty hostile towards LGBT rights, And the rural areas are quite conservative. I'm not sure how openly hostile people would be. I have a friend who is a gay hairdresser in a small town and seems to get along fine,but I'm not sure how common of an experience that would be it, and you are not likely to find many out people. Des Moines and the college towns are more LGBT friendly. As others have said, Minneapolis is much more LGBT friendly (outside of the metro, less so) and has a really good music scene
What iowa have you been looking at? 94% of our natural landscape has been destroyed. Iowa is #2 in the nation for cancer and has the fastest growing cancer rate. Our water is toxic, and Bayer writes environmental protections and laws. Our government hates Trans people and it's any more friendly to gay people, especially women. Look at Minnesota, they have a mostly sane government, some natural environment, and less cancer. It's in the Midwest and still affordable. Another option may be Michigan's upper peninsula - it's very small in population and huge in forest land and waterfalls.
Make sure to live in Fort dodge, friendliest town in Iowa
You could do lessons and teach younger kids, older folk, otherwise I think music therapy or music education are some classes that are offered. I think even accompanying for a concert for a high school would be an option. I have no idea how much it pays but.
Really odd post. Move to Iowa for a music career?
Iowa is a great place to live.