City in Iowa Is One Of "Most Neighborly" Cities of 2021

I bet you can guess which one already.

t's fairly safe to say that over the pandemic most of us got to know our neighbors quite a bit better. Coupled with the derecho here in Iowa, many of our neighborhoods became more tight-knit than we ever expected. The proverbial borrowing a cup of sugar (has anyone actually ever done that?) became borrowing gas for the generator or presenting each other with snacks or entire meals that were prepared just to be neighborly and helpful. A new survey reports that 79 percent of people have done at least one favor for their neighbor over the past, and 66 percent say they have at least two neighbors they can depend on for things like watering their plants or picking up their mail when they are away.

It's no surprise a city here in the Hawkeye state gained high marks. Neighbor.com put out the survey and if you're wondering what their criteria was:

the Neighbor app just released its second annual ranking of the "Most Neighborly Cities in America." They consider a whole slew of things, including charitable giving, nonprofit organizations, volunteering rates, happiness rankings, and most importantly . . . "neighborly behaviors"

I know what you're saying. It'd be nice if Cedar Rapids and other cities got some love in these surveys but we can't complain about being well-represented in the Top 5 of the 25 "most neighborly cities" with Des Moines taking the gold star. In fact, they were among three midwes cities at the top.

Madison, Wisconsin
Rochester, New York
Portland, Oregon
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Des Moines, Iowa

A better look at what they used to determine these cities include the following factors:

Where people volunteer and do kind acts for their neighbors
Where people give money and donations to charities
Where people are happiest
Where crime rates are low
Where nonprofit organizations thrive, based on how many of them exist in the city per 100,000 residents

It's good to be neighborly and it's great to prove we're "Iowa Nice" once again.

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LOOK: Here are the 25 best places to live in Iowa

Stacker compiled a list of the best places to live in Iowa using data from Niche. Niche ranks places to live based on a variety of factors including cost of living, schools, health care, recreation, and weather. Cities, suburbs, and towns were included. Listings and images are from realtor.com.

On the list, there's a robust mix of offerings from great schools and nightlife to high walkability and public parks. Some areas have enjoyed rapid growth thanks to new businesses moving to the area, while others offer glimpses into area history with well-preserved architecture and museums. Keep reading to see if your hometown made the list.