Moving back after 30 years

I was born in Iowa. My family moved away from Des Moines in 1996 to Florida. I went to high school/college here, got married and had 2 kids. My marriage is failing and we are getting divorced. My family isn’t close and all I have left is my best friend in Johnston who is willing to help me pick up the pieces of my broken life.

I’m very conflicted about moving back to Des Moines. I haven’t lived there for 30 years. When I did, I lived on the South side so because it’s familiar I wanted to go back. Everyone tells me that the south side is terrible now, nothing like what it was in the mid 1990’s. Apparently, lots of other parts of Des Moines have gone to shit too. I’ve been told to look into Clive, Urbandale, Johnston, Windsor Heights, West Des Moines and Jordan Creek as the only acceptable areas.

I’m a 41 year old mixed black/white woman and my kids are mixed as well. I’m wondering what racism, friendship, political affiliation, dating etc is like in Iowa. I typically date white/latin men. Is that an issue in Iowa? Are they backwards about interracial dating? Is it hard to meet people/date there? Also am I being stupid by leaving Florida to move to Iowa? Florida is very expensive and as a single mom, it would be easier to survive in Iowa. But I’m worried I’m going to get there and be insanely depressed with limited options for finding a new partner.

Also I worry about my kids. Will it be too mix of a culture shock for them to go there? Will it be too much of a culture shock for me?

I’m not sure what I’m asking other than is it stupid to move to Iowa from Florida?