Outside magazine recently voted Iowa City as "Best in the Midwest" in their annual survey of the best places to live. The magazine cited Prairie Lights Bookstore, Kurt Vonnegut and James Alan McPherson (pictured) as some of the contributing influences for their decision. The magazine also gave Iowa City the #10 slot in their "40 Best College Towns in America" survey, in part because of Iowa City's remarkable history as a writing community.

"Surrounded by hills and bisected by the Iowa River, the liberal college town is or has been home to notable writers like 1978 Pulitzer Prize winner James Alan McPherson and the late Kurt Vonnegut, who penned part of the seminal 'Slaughterhouse-Five' here. The University of Iowa's nearly 30,000 students keep this oak-lined Pleasantville real, with six yoga studios, the famed Prairie Lights independent bookstore, and everything from Ethiopian cafes to grilled-cheese stands." (Outside Magazine, August 2007)