Are you looking for places to stay, or cities to check out? Unfortunately I can't help with the former, being as I'm crashing in a friend's guestroom already while I try to make a move, but if you're looking into cities, I can tell you about the places I've lived in the Midwest – Iowa City, Iowa and Lincoln, Nebraska. (Both are pretty cheap (Lincoln more than IC), have good culture (Iowa City's is based more around the student population and the Writers Workshop, whereas Lincoln has more community things), and Iowa City at least is very walkable. Iowa has been doing pretty well on unemployment, Nebraska is not as good as Iowa, I think, but still not bad compared to the rest of the nation. Iowa is more liberal, Nebraska more conservative, though Iowa City and Lincoln are both more liberal than the rest of their states. Etc.)