Pella, IA (Des Moines, Iowa City, Clear Lake: fit in, home, employment)

[WIFERN]

I just posted a question about finding a small town outside of Iowa City to move to but with more research I've stumbled upon Pella. I understand this isnt close to Iowa City, but we can live anywhere in IA. I just wanted to be close to the university so I can take classes.

Then I found what looks to be a quaint small town. This looks like a great little community with high rated schools and lots of sport activities and 2 seasons of swim team for my kids, what a find! Why would I not want to move to this little town?

Not that I want a bunch of negatives about Pella but anything I should be aware of, for example if it had an unually high drug use in the high school or something like that.

I'm not afraid to come into a new community and fit in. I can dive right in and become active. We are a conservative church-going family so I'm hoping there are some contemporary styled churches in this area with like minded people.

By the way, I'm german, would that be held against me in a predominantly Dutch community, LOL.

Thanks

PS Any other quaint communities with great schools I should be aware of in IA?

[pepe1]

Pella is absolutley the best maintained small town I have ever been to. It is very clean and buildings and streets are meticulously maintained. Pella has an excellent public school system with great facilities. It is also home to a small liberal arts college that brings yet another dynamic to town.

Given the employment base in Pella, I am always surprised the town isn't bigger than it is. Pella Windows and Vermeer Manufacturing are headquartered there as well as some other mid sized manufacturers, yet the community is only around 10,000 residents.

If the nature of my job allowed me to make a decent living in a small town, Pella would certainly be tops on my list. Another similar sized community I have always loved is Clear Lake, Iowa - You might do some research into that town as well.

[El Rhino]

I was actually thinking about recommending Pella to you in that thread, but I think Pella might be an hour away from Iowa City, give or take ten minutes.

You may be able to take classes at Central College in Pella. I don't know anything about it except their mascot is the "fighting Dutchman" or something and I once ate at their dining facility, which was top-notch.

Pella is a real cool town. If you ever read "Lost Continent" by Bill Bryson, he dubs it "The Best Small Town in America".

[SharpHawkeye]

Ah, Pella!

Pella's a beautiful little town, with a great (some would say overinflated) pride in their town, history and heritage. It's near Lake Red Rock, which is probably the most underrated lake in Iowa. It's about an hour from Des Moines on nice four lane highway--good for day trips, although a bit long for a regular commute. It's actually about 2 hours from Iowa City, and part of that is backwards country roads. Good schools, very competitive athletic programs.

My best friend in high school is going to Central and he loves it. It's a pretty low-key school, a private, more conservative church-affiliated college. Good reputation in the state, excellent language programs (he's a linguistics major) and study abroad. (It's just "Dutch" though, although my friend agrees with you on the cafeteria!) One caveat though--Central is pretty pricey.

There are some things you should know about though. Pella-ites (sp?) have sort of a reputation for being snooty and elitist. Their saying is supposedly "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much". I think people like to make too much of this sometimes, but like most things--there's a grain of truth to it. Pella is also seen as too uptight by many--it's a pretty conservative place.