Relocate with children to Decorah? (Luther: fit in, real estate market, cliquey)

[Rs101879]

My husband's company is throwing around idea of promotion/relocating to Decorah, Iowa. We have 2 children(boys) who are in 4th and 8th grade. Are the students typically welcoming of new people, or is that something they aren't presented with often? With Decorah being such a small town, my fear is that it would be too tight knit and cliquey for them to fit in. They have been in private Lutheran school entire life which has very advanced curriculum and I'm also worried they may not be challenged, as it appears public school is the only choice we'll have in area. They are both very involved in sports in and out of school, but not sure how many out of school options are in area(club, travel teams, etc) We would be majorly downsizing cities, coming from Fort Wayne, IN where there are many things to do. I'm not concerned with small town living and the land looks pretty, but it looks like there isn't a bigger city anywhere around which is a little discouraging. Is there enough in area to do to keep from going stir crazy, especially in Winter? Any info helps! Thanks!

[601halfdozen0theother]

Decorah is wonderful! It is a College town (Luther college), it is a tourist town, it is a retirement mecca, and it is the regional shopping hub for good quality items. It has a wonderful food co-op. The public library is excellent and has a LOT of children's programming. There are tons of things to do year round, from art classes to hiking and canoeing. Downtown is thriving. The public schools are said to be excellent (although I don't know personally), which would make sense due to the type of population in town. The vibe in town is both Upper Middle Class and Hippyish but also a good core of working people. Lutheranism is the dominant religion. I would think your children would LOVE it.

Compared to where you are living in Indiana (and I can say this because I was born and raised a Hoosier) Decorah will be a big step up in quality of life. Because of the influx of people who work for the college and the retirees, it is not an insular town at all.

As for a nearby Big City, people usually drive to Rochester MN for shopping and events - it's about 2 hrs away and has most everything that you would want - except maybe a professional sports team???

The only down side to Decorah is that because it is a very hot real estate market it can be very hard to find housing - nice homes get snapped up within days or weeks; the ones that stay on the market tend to need work. I guess the other downside is that Decorah is getting too expensive for the working poor.