I've heard the only Dutch Letters they'll sell you is F and U.
Worst city in Iowa?
- Thread starter Cfinnerty16
- Start date
All downhill after Alco and Pamida closed.
Lived there with my then fiancee for a year (she grew up there, I grew up in nearby Ogden). I didn't name them because I've already considered that place a ghost town. Fort Dodge at least has murders to keep it interesting.
A couple of deer strategically placed could bankrupt the town.
My wife’s son lives in a nice area of Cedar Rapids. Somebody opened his garage door in the middle of the night,and took his car. No walk in door from the outside. And could have opened a door and walked into their house. The cops were like no big deal.
Felt sorry for the nurse on call during kaleidoscope quiz. You had to drive to Boone and get her name At 2 a.m
Having grown up in Iowa during the '80's farm crisis, I disagree. Many of these towns were ready to dry up and blow away. I am very surprised at the renewal. My up close example is the Hwy 20 corridor of Independence, Manchester, and Dyersville. They all have more to offer than 20 years ago. Housing prices in all these communities reflect this as well. The small industries that have grown up in these communities is significant. I am shocked to be honest. I am more optimistic on these type of communities than ever before.
I lived there as a young single guy at my first teaching job. An incredibly close knit community which can be very judgmental and exclusive. On top of that, there's a damned snowmobile route through the center of town and the neighborhoods. Idiots going on poker runs gunning it up and down the street all night. It was a nice cheap place to live, but I don't think I'll be raising my family there.
A principal in our town went to central college and as a prank at midnight took a push mower and mowed a section of tulips in a businessman’s yard. It created quite a scandal. It was found out that the culprit was a Central College student. The Pella mayor demanded the college expel him, which they did. That’s why he was a William Penn graduate.
Thats just because we had nothing else to do in our smaller towns. Plus Taco Tico is the bomb.
I hate these threads, because there are professionals actively working (and devoting their lives) to improve the situations in these cities/towns, only to be undermined by dumb twitter polls, memes like this, and summer radio segments on "crap towns" on local radio.
CR seems to have almost oddly improved in some ways since the flood. The Newbo area and a few other pockets are nice. Older parts look worse though and since the derecho some parts look like new suburbs just with older houses.
I grew up around there and when I officially lived there for a full year after college in the mid-2000s I actually kinda hated going out.
It felt like one big small town and there just seemed to be some weird vibe in the air like someone was going to get in a fight over some high school drama from 10+ years prior.
I grew up around there and when I officially lived there for a full year after college in the mid-2000s I actually kinda hated going out.
It felt like one big small town and there just seemed to be some weird vibe in the air like someone was going to get in a fight over some high school drama from 10+ years prior.
True - there are places that were on the edge during that time, and that was a big hit followed by a rebound, but most are slowly declining since that rebound.
But that's a good observation - I think those Highway 20 towns have held up very well, esp. Dyersville and Manchester. I would say Independence stabilized after the farm crisis and has changed, but it hasn't really grown much since stabilizing in terms of population.
The general trend in the non-urban areas in Iowa were pretty broadly big decline in population in the 80s, stabilization, then mostly stagnant population growth, slight decline. Which in itself would not be as big a deal for these towns if it was not combined with that population being older.
What I mostly have in mind are towns that I remember having a school, and as a result activity and businesses that fed off the fact that there were families and a major employer in town, but no longer have that school. The other thing is noticing the size of towns in terms of population that don't have a school anymore. A lot of the towns in NW Iowa that I grew up around are of relatively similar size in total population as they were 20-30 years ago, but the school class sizes are maybe 50-60% of what they were.
But I think some of the smaller towns like the Hwy 20 cluster you mention can see some of that growth from people from rural parts that don't want to live in one of the larger metros.
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
As a former Central student myself, I know better than to mess with Pella’s tulips. That’s serious business.
Also thought the Central-William Penn beef they used to have (at least before WP left the conference to go NAIA) was pretty funny (particularly when my brother ended up going to William Penn). On the other hand, Pella just seems to have beef with every other town around (Oskaloosa and Knoxville for sure) - maybe that says something about you when you’re the one complaining about everybody else.
THIS! CR has an odd feel when in an older neighborhood that no longer has trees...
Southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas is one of my favorite places to be. Some of those small towns are pretty nice little towns. If you know where to look. But, yeah, most of the towns are sketchy.
Instead of eastern Oklahoma, you should just say "Oklahoma".
