I went to college at Iowa State University in Ames. It's a good town if you're young. Probably 25,000 college students and 25,000 to 35,000 permanent residents. Lots of good bars, not too much for dancing type clubs. Tons of hotties at the bars always, especially around the college, but they might be a bit young depending on your taste. Of course there's alway grad students too. Housing is pretty cheap, ~$700 for a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment. It gets cold in the winter if you are used to California weather. It's probably the cleanest town I've ever lived in, highly educated population, low crime, good schools, etc. It's about a 45 minute drive to Des Moines. The Des Moines metro area is around 500,000, but you can find almost everything you need in Ames. I liked it besides walking to class in the winter. Oh, I hope you're not a smoker. A couple years ago the town passed a no-smoking ordinance in restaurants, unless something like 70+% of sales are from alcohal. So pretty much all the bars that don't serve food are still smoking, but all restaurants are non-smoking. That's all I can think of for now.