sigourney and Talleyrand Iowa Information (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: mobile home, employment, neighborhood)

[shankshome90]

My husband myself and 13 yr. old son are thinking about moving to one of these two spots, From California, any information on either one or both would be wonderful. And any info on jobs in both of them. Thank you

[duster1979]

I have to ask, what would make you decide on those two towns? I can sort of see Sigourney; but Talleyrand?? I have a sister-in-law who lives in Harper which can't be more than 5 miles away, and I had never heard of that community until now.

Anyway, to answer your question as best I can, most of the jobs available in Sigourney are going to be typical of small-town Iowa. There are a few retail establishments, couple of banks, At least one new car dealership (maybe two), and several businesses serving the agriculture industry. I think they also have a hospital, or at least a medical clinic of some sort. And of course the local school district. And there are several other small towns in the vicinity that also offer similar employment opportunities. Iowa City has much more opportunity if you don't mind an hour commute.

I doubt that there are any jobs of any kind in Talleyrand.

Folks in that part of the state are very friendly, but maybe a little suspicious of newcomers at first. It doesn't take long to feel at home, though. It's the kind of place where old men congregate at the coffee shop/gas station/hardware store/grain elevator and talk about the weather, and old women congregate and talk about the old men. Don't be surprised if strangers knock on your door and ask if you want any of their surplus vegetables from their gardens, and don't expect to start on any project within view of the street without attracting a small crowd of onlookers and advice givers.

The schools seem good from what I've seen (wife has a nephew who graduated from there and a niece who is a senior), and housing prices are very reasonable.

Don't know if this is of any help or not, but if you have more specific questions I'd be glad to try to answer them!

[duster1979]

I just read your other post, and now see why you were looking at Sigourney (still trying to figure out Talleyrand, though).

Take a look at Washington; as I recall it has quite a bit more to offer than Sigourney and would also be pretty close to the same distance between Ottumwa and Iowa City.

The two cities you want to be close to really aren't that far apart; unless the families involved are extremely petty, it wouldn't be that big a deal to live in either Iowa City or Ottumwa and just make frequent trips to the other town to visit.

Don't pick Ottumwa, though. It stinks. Figuratively AND literally. I fact, you should probably ask the Ottumwa relatives why they want to live there in the first place.

[shankshome90]

Thank you for your response, It really helps alot, Since I had posted this, family has also mentioned Mount Pleasant, Do you know anything about Mount Pleasant, I have looked at all of these places online, but, you really don't get a "personal touch" with those pages. Talleyrand, I had just seen that it was somewhere along the middle lines also And family has also directed me away from there. Again, thank you so very much for your input, Looking forward to hearing more.

[duster1979]

Mt. Pleasant is a nice town. Big enough that it has pretty much anything you'd need on a day-to-day basis, but it still definitely has that small-town atmosphere. And for those times you want more variety for shopping, dining, etc, it's just a short trip to Iowa City/Cedar Rapids.

I'd say it's about 30 minutes from Iowa City, and maybe 45 from Ottumwa. The route to Iowa City is all 4-lane, and most of highway 34 to Ottumwa is, as well, except for a short stetch through Fairfield.

There should be housing available in Mt. Pleasant for pretty much every price range, and there's plenty of opportunity for employment as long as your desires are fairly open. They used to have good schools, and I have no reason to think that's not still the case. There's also a small college there, Iowa Weslyan.

Hopefully this is somewhat helpful; if you have specific questions please post them and I'll try to answer them!

[primal]

Hello, Sigourney is prob one of the worst places to settle/look for work. I have friends there, but live 50 miles away in Grinnell. There are definitely some good people there, but a lot of people with handicaps (not sure why they have so many). There's like 2 factories and maybe 2 banks. Grinnell is north west of there and on the interstate...50 miles from des moines, much better place to find work.

[pnklfnt]

I was just wondereing how your move to Iowa turned out, if you had moved yet...and what you thought of the community you ended up in. The conversation that I happend upon, is very interesting. Thanks.

[NSLogan]

I am planning on moving to sigourney Iowa soon myself. I found a home from 1910 from a retired man that moved to Georgia due to weather and climate. The home was well cared for and has a basement. I like iowa and was in Lineville iowa for a few weeks after buying a mobile home there, then moving there on jan 1st of 08 only to find half of it flooded and unlivable. so i came back to CA and have alredy sold my home in Lineville, at a loss, but not I will have a home on a foundation, a basement (in case of a tornado), storage shed etc. I also learned that homes built in 1910 were built better than homes that are built today. Back then they took pride in building homes unlike today how companies skimp around the corners and use drywall that eventually cracks and need more work done on them. I read that Sigourney is boring and filledwith handicapped people. Well we all get old and cripled at some point and time in our lives. Wether it be in Californa or Sigourney, Iowa. That's just the way life works out for all people unfortunately. The upside of Sigourney Iowa is that you will be surrounded by nice people, and people that care for their communities. Unlike California, most people just let their communities get taken over by child molesters, gangs, and then mve to another neighborhood to escape it once they become victimized. Shouldn't be that way, but that's just the way it is in California. Sigourney Iowa is a place were people have respect for one another and care for one another and to me that is a big plus. Just like Lineville Iowa, the people there are very nice and wonderful to have around. So I'm moving back to Iowa all because I was bitten by the Iowan bug of nice people and only 22 miles from the nearest Walmart, and 83 miles from Des Moines. Small towns are nice places to live, but I do know when it gets cold, you better insolate your buns well or you'll freeeeeeeeze your azz off there.