Is Sioux City really that bad?? (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: low crime, how much, new house)

[SharpHawkeye]

Since you mentioned you had lived in Iowa City for a while, it's only fair to tell you that Sioux City is nothing at all like Iowa City. I would say it's fair to put Iowa City on the top ten list of the best cities in Iowa, and while Sioux City is not the worst, it is certainly near the bottom in my opinion. Please, please, please do not go to Sioux City expecting something like Iowa City...you will only be disappointed.

I don't have a whole lot of experience with Sioux City myself, but I can tell you that western Iowa as a whole is much more rural and isolated than the east. It's also much more Evangelical/conservative and more traditionally agricultural; as well as being less diverse and less like Iowa and more like Nebraska or South Dakota.

[brad88]

Yup, I live just outside of Sioux City, and thank God I don't live in the city. It's a dump, wouldn't ever live there, I agree with everyone else about how bad Sioux City really is. Choose somewhere else, Cedar Rapids is much nicer, or West Des Moines.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by TommyG

Sioux City isn't all that bad - it has its bright spots, but it does have its downers, too. It just depends on what you're looking for. I've lived there for the last 7 years, and although it's not my idea of "paradise", it is a good place to raise children. There's no such thing as traffic here, and if you look hard enough you will find enough culture and decorum to keep you happy.

Housing is incredibly affordable, but there are good parts of town (Morningside, far northern end) and really bad parts (West side, Riverside). There are also "suburbs" around that offer nice housing alternatives, such as Dakota Dunes, Elk Point, Sgt. Bluff.

Jobs? Unless you're into slaughtering hogs or driving a truck, they're mostly service industry/retail. There's been a huge downsizing in local businesses (Gateway went from 9,000 people to just under 1,000, Tyson laid off hundreds, and MCI completely shut down), but the big new local industry is telemarketing and outsourced call centers. There's always jobs available, but unfortunately most of them are in the $7.00 an hour range.

The weather stinks in the winter, but the city is pretty good about keeping up with the snow removal. The roads are in rough condition year round, thanks to potholes the size of Buicks, but for the most part its fairly easy to get around. I can get from my home in Morningside to downtown Sioux City in 6 minutes flat, which makes it easy to get to/from concerts, sporting events, movies, etc.

Sioux City is considered by many to be a backwards town, but it's really not that bad. Sure, there are a lot of people who are mentally stuck in the 60's, but there's also a certain progressive element to the community. You just have to look a little harder to find it.

So there you have it.

How is it backwards?

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by brad88

Yup, I live just outside of Sioux City, and thank God I don't live in the city. It's a dump, wouldn't ever live there, I agree with everyone else about how bad Sioux City really is. Choose somewhere else, Cedar Rapids is much nicer, or West Des Moines.

How is Sioux City a dump?

[razzle51]

sioux city is a dirty town . and they are very backwards here. I would advise another town .

[GeekPrincess]

It's more like Nebraska then Iowa. Very conservative. I can't recommend moving there.

[Duflinkka]

I have lived in Des Moines, Cedar Falls, and Sioux City. Right now I am attending college in Sioux City. I will be going to my graduation ceremony in a U-Haul so I can leave as quickly as possible. There is no way I can stress this enough - Sioux City is a dump, and an economical horror story. Cost of living is the same as Des Moines (lower than WDM, but still the same as DM metro) and jobs pay considerably less... if you can find one. Sure, call centers are hiring... at about 9 dollars an hour. There are also a lot of retail positions at that new mall... for 7 dollars an hour.

I know the original poster has already made a decision because this is an old thread. Hopefully she chose WI. I'm leaving this message to say run, do not walk, from Sioux City. Just try not to gag on the foul stench from the Morrell or Tyson plants on your way out.

[Isaysos]

I would recommend Marshall, MN or maby Sioux Falls if your going to live anywhere remote to that area.

[Steve_W]

Originally Posted by SpeedyAZ

I concur with the other posters here, stay away from Sioux City. The suburbs aren't that bad (Dakota Dunes is VERY nice) but the city itself is a dump in my opinion. There are much better areas in Iowa to live in.

I think Scottsdale is a dump.....your running out of water.....not running out of illegal mexicans.....and once again, enjoy your gravel lawn! peace

[vincolo1]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

How is Sioux City a dump?

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

How is Sioux City a dump?

It seems that everyone that has something good to say doesn't live there. I was a resident for 14 years and saw the good days and ended up in the bad. As was said the white collar industry has all but died. The reason the housing is affordable is that no one makes any decent money. If they do...they do not live within the city limits. Yes, the town stinks, the roads are always in VERY bad shape and and the city as a whole is a dirty, many shades of gray type town. There are things to do however they are not necessarily good quality events. Saturday in the park is quite expensive for the kids events and other then that, its a drunk fest. Rivercade is also a drunk fest.
I lived on the North side where the kids could play outside unattended, and even ride their bikes a few blocks away, but thats changing too fast. Cars are speeding by now on side streets, I do not trust the neighbors 'so to speak', hell they do not even speak english. The home values are stuck and dropping more then the national average. You will certainly find yourself needing to get your car aligned at least once a year and watch out for the too frequent car muffler that fell off the 1982 rusted out junker in front of you. The radio stations are behind the curve in the songs they play (there are only three non-country stations). The news casting is weak and amateur. The taxes are way high.
My home in SC which I bought for 80,000 9 years ago sold for 92,000 after dumping 20,000 into upgrades. My taxes on that house were $2400 a year for the double lot. My new house at $230,000 and taxes are $3000 on an acre.
My pay jumped up 60% over the pay scale in SC for the same job line. Oh and now that the kids are in school again, we are finding that they too are behind the curve on what they should have been learning. The schools in SC are very crowded and there are lots of problems. My friends that were teachers were admittingly spending more time on discipline then teaching.
Places to eat......this is the main event in Sioux city along with the bars, however the places to eat are all chain places and if you eat out twice a week, you'll be through them all in about 2 months.
The SC city counsel is 50% recovering alcoholics and 50% death bed elderly staffed and they cannot decide whether or not to drive the city into progression or retro. They built a great new art center where budding and well known artist could display their work and bring culture to the city. Its open about what....' 4 hours a day' and if you work you'll miss the opened times. So who did they make it for? Hey if you like Hockey, indoor football and baseball and don't mind dropping $60+ bucks to see amateur sports for a party of two....SC has it all. Oh and did I mention the gambling? There is a boat right there and you can waste all the money you earned at your $7 an hour job. There are stacks of cars there all the time.....hmmmm but instead of SC getting the boat to move, they claim that they are getting big money out of the agreement and that coupled with high property and auto tax, you get the ability to live in a poorly managed and maintained city where crime is on the rise, housing is declining faster then the national average. The schools are over crowed and mainly non-english speaking. Your pay scale has a special reduced section on Salary.com and you live in one of the windiest and most wind blown dirt areas in the country. Oh also check out the Multiple Sclerosis stats about cases of it in that area....., also check out teenage pregnancy rate, median income, average age of housing and take a look at how many red-tagged (tagged for demolition) homes there are in every neighborhood, check out the auto insurance rates for the town. Drive around and look at how the city has designed the town, how many buildings are half torn down, how many buildings are maintained or landscaped. There are sweet spots of design wins, very nice areas, but look at what you drove through to get there. The town is mismanaged, poverty stricken, generally dirty and its not gotten better over time. Its only gotten worse. It got worse while the rest of the nation flourished and now that everyone is having a hard time, SC is in really bad shape.
If you move there, don't say no one warned you.