Iowa's 10 worst places to live

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Al_4_State

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That's right. I'm one of them (except they're way too polite to string anyone up). I live in an awesome area on the East Coast, have traveled to every corner of this country and many others and there aren't many better little towns than Decorah. Good peeps; beautiful valley, great downtown. It's pricing some people out now that would like to stay but they move to nearby Cresco or something.

There's a lot of truth here. I live in the Cresco/Decorah area, and i could easily get $20-30K more for my home than when I bought it in 2012, based on recent sales. The recent "discovery" of the Decorah area by the outside world is seeing rising home sales all over the area (Calmar and Waukon are seeing the trickle as well). I have a buddy looking at houses in Cresco, and they have mostly been moving within a week or two of hitting the market.

I have a friend selling a house in Osage, and they will probably get $5,000 less for it than they would in Cresco. And Osage and Cresco have no discernible differences, beyond Cresco being 15-20 minutes from Decorah, and Osage being at least a half hour from anywhere, and "anywhere" from Osage is Mason City or Austin, MN (which are both larger than Decorah but lack the outdoor recreation and college town influence).
 

BillBrasky4Cy

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No way in hell is Council Bluffs the worst. Sioux City or Waterloo have to be at the #1 slot.

Sioux City has cleaned up a lot. Counciltucky is just a ****hole filled with the whos who of the the reddest of necks. The amount of crime in that town never ceases to amaze me.
 
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I-stateTheTruth

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There's a lot of truth here. I live in the Cresco/Decorah area, and i could easily get $20-30K more for my home than when I bought it in 2012, based on recent sales. The recent "discovery" of the Decorah area by the outside world is seeing rising home sales all over the area (Calmar and Waukon are seeing the trickle as well). I have a buddy looking at houses in Cresco, and they have mostly been moving within a week or two of hitting the market.

I have a friend selling a house in Osage, and they will probably get $5,000 less for it than they would in Cresco. And Osage and Cresco have no discernible differences, beyond Cresco being 15-20 minutes from Decorah, and Osage being at least a half hour from anywhere, and "anywhere" from Osage is Mason City or Austin, MN (which are both larger than Decorah but lack the outdoor recreation and college town influence).
Interesting. I started to notice in the last 10 years that people I went to DHS with that were more "blue collar" were living in even though they had deep roots in Decorah. The Big D has some natural advantages but has done a lot of things right. I'm going to be there today to see my old man ...
 

BillBrasky4Cy

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I used to hate Sioux City with the fire of a thousand suns, but I went there tor a Morningside football game (my cousin played there) a couple years ago and had a lot of fun downtown.

I grew up west of Sioux City in a small town, so we went there a lot. It still amazes me how much the downtown area has cleaned up and all of the commercial development they've had out by the mall. Downtown Sioux City used to be filled with buildings that were falling apart and the city has done an outstanding job turning that area around.
 

Al_4_State

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Interesting. I started to notice in the last 10 years that people I went to DHS with that were more "blue collar" were living in even though they had deep roots in Decorah. The Big D has some natural advantages but has done a lot of things right. I'm going to be there today to see my old man ...

The effect of Luther on the area can't be overstated. After that, you have the reality that despite being only 8-9K in population, Decorah is the largest town in Winneshiek County, and any of the counties that border it. It really is the commercial center for a large chunk of dirt.

Cresco, Waukon, and Calmar (and the other little towns in that radius) are practically suburban Decorah at this point. The commute from any of those places is less than going from West Des Moines to Downtown Des Moines.
 
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AgronAlum

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Waukee's only good if you like anorexic Barbies driving Yukons

Waukee isn't as uppity as people seem to think. It's less so than Johnston, Ankeny, Clive, etc. I think they see all the West Des Moines folks that are part of the Waukee school district and assume they're all Waukee residents. The whole Jordan Creek area of WDM goes to Waukee.
 
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BillBrasky4Cy

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Waukee isn't as uppity as people seem to think. It's less so than Johnston, Ankeny, Clive, etc. I think they see all the West Des Moines folks that are part of the Waukee school district and assume they're all Waukee residents. The whole Jordan Creek area of WDM goes to Waukee.

My only issue with Waukee is that it isn't accessible at all. Even with the new Grand prairie Trail exit you have to come a long ways North and it's pretty slow going. Give Waukee another 10-15 years and they are going to have the same problems that Ankeny has as far as congestion goes. Using Hickman to get there makes me want to kick a puppy.
 
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Al_4_State

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Waukee isn't as uppity as people seem to think. It's less so than Johnston, Ankeny, Clive, etc. I think they see all the West Des Moines folks that are part of the Waukee school district and assume they're all Waukee residents. The whole Jordan Creek area of WDM goes to Waukee.

I think it's all the Dallas County portions of WDM, Clive, and Urbandale as well as the entire city of Waukee.
 

DaHiltonHaus1

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Waterloo shouldn't be on here. Council Bluffs is right where it should be. Gross town and some clueless idiot wanted to fight me as I left a sports restaurant there. I started laughing at him in front of his face.
 

jdcyclone19

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Beg to differ with Schleswig, what make its terrible ? Just like any other little town, a bar , gas station, restaurant and a golf course are the main things. 15 miles from Denison for groceries.

Thats what drives me nuts in this thread. How do 90% of the people in here judge a town? Just because its small and has a bunch of older houses , little to no business and some low income renters doesnt make it the worst town in Iowa.


Guilty by association with Denison.
 

jdcyclone19

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The meth lab to person ratio in Kiron and Ricketts has to be like 3-1. IMO Schleswig went down hill after they closed the drive inn on the North side of ton. I too am way to familiar with this area.

That place was one of the best. We'd use to drive to Schleswig for the food and ice cream.
 
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cyclonebillski

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I currently live in CB. Don't like it and want to move away, but it's not the worst town in IA. The west end sucks and that is where most of the crime happens, but other than that it is fine. Most b&e & robbery type stuff for most crimes because you have a lot of homeless druggies stealing copper for meth. You don't see many shootings around here. That **** is all in Omaha. Just my 2 cents. Can't wait to leave, but it's not all bad.
 

ca4cy

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The effect of Luther on the area can't be overstated. After that, you have the reality that despite being only 8-9K in population, Decorah is the largest town in Winneshiek County, and any of the counties that border it. It really is the commercial center for a large chunk of dirt.

Cresco, Waukon, and Calmar (and the other little towns in that radius) are practically suburban Decorah at this point. The commute from any of those places is less than going from West Des Moines to Downtown Des Moines.

Part of it is definitely the willingness to commute. I won't say there are "a lot" but there are people that commute from Decorah, Cresco, New Hampton, and even Waukon to Rochester to work at Mayo. The Waukon area sends quite a few to LaCrosse. People think nothing of driving 45+ minutes one way. Many people seem to have taken a step back in time and appreciate the small town lifestyle over convenience and amenities.

The aesthetics of extreme NE can't be underestimated either. Again, it's not a lot, but there are retirees or people that can work from home with limited or no ties to the area that have moved there just because it's so scenic.
 
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Al_4_State

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Part of it is definitely the willingness to commute. I won't say there are "a lot" but there are people that commute from Decorah, Cresco, New Hampton, and even Waukon to Rochester to work at Mayo. The Waukon area sends quite a few to LaCrosse. People think nothing of driving 45+ minutes one way. Many people seem to have taken a step back in time and appreciate the small town lifestyle over convenience and amenities.

The aesthetics of extreme NE can't be underestimated either. Again, it's not a lot, but there are retirees or people that can work from home with limited or no ties to the area that have moved there just because it's so scenic.

You're definitely seeing that. There are these beautiful homes being built out in the rural areas where wealthy people from Minneapolis, Madison, the Corridor, etc are moving. There are entire developments near Harper's Ferry, Lansing, Marquette (in view of the river) where these nice new homes are being built out in the country.

It's not a massive influx, but you're definitely seeing more of it, and probably in greater numbers than other heavily rural parts of the state.
 

Cyched

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I think it's all the Dallas County portions of WDM, Clive, and Urbandale as well as the entire city of Waukee.

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