Thinking of Moving to NW Iowa (Sioux Center, Hull: fit in, salons, real estate)

[tucsonjohnny]

Does anyone have any information about Ocheyedan? Thinking of moving there. Much appreciated.

[jtv2011]

ocheyedan is a small pretty nice town...but on the flip side the town, like the rest of the county, is falling apart and losing population DRAMATICALLY. Their elementary even shut down because of the loss of students. If your moving to NW IA, consider moving somewhere in sioux county. has alot of job opportunities and unlike the surrounding counties (lyon, o'brien, plymouth) is gaining population and adding alot of new business. nice towns in sioux county are hull and sioux center. Sioux Center is bigger than hull and has more job opportunities but hull has low living costs and is only a 9 min drive from sioux center. just 50 min from two big cities (sioux falls, sioux city) shopping is an easy task. Hull, being roughly only 2,000 people, boasts several restaurants, gas stations and has a clinic, dentist, chiropractor, eye doctor, physical theripast, 5 schools, 8 churches, tanning salons, several car repair shops, a car dealership, a few insurance agenicies, a pharmacy, general store, food center, and a new cheese factory which employs hundreds and will be expanding here in the short future, and many other things i cant name off hand. if you have any questions about sioux county ill be glad to answer them as i am from sioux county and very very familiar with many of the towns in sioux county...good luck!

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by tucsonjohnny

Does anyone have any information about Ocheyedan? Thinking of moving there. Much appreciated.

I lived not too far from Ocheydan - on the Minnesota side of the border - for nearly 20 years.

It's a very small town and, because everything in it is directly connected to agriculture, it is declining in population. Because of that, I would assume that the price of housing is quite low. You could probably buy a house and have mortgage payments lower than rent payments.

One of the main draws of Ocheydan is that it is less than 20 miles from the Iowa Great Lakes area - a bustling, growing area of the state.

I don't know where you're moving from but please be aware of the fact that winters in NW Iowa/SW Minnesota/SE South Dakota can be BRUTAL. It's not that it's colder there than anywhere else, but it always seems to be humid, and the wind is ALWAYS blowing.
(Edit: I see you're in Tucson. Duhhh... This leads me to assume that you have a specific reason for moving to Ocheydan, rather than that you randomly picked it.)


If you love living in a town that is almost the country itself, you'll probably like Ocheydan.

[tiki7]

Winters are brutal there for sure. The other thing to consider before moving to any county in Northwest Iowa is that it has to be one of the most conservative areas in the country. Being a Democrat is a rarity. Life there is about marriage (1 man, 1 woman), raising a family, earning a respectable income, opposing abortion, going to church on Sundays and supporting the status quo. As with most small towns, being different is looked upon with curiosity and often gossiped about behind closed doors. This is the part of the state that brought Rep. Steve King to office. If you don't know about him, do a little reading on him. He is scarily conservative. If you are ultra-conservative and meet the above requirements (married, straight, evangelical Christian) you will probably fit in just fine. If not, you may want to look more toward Central or Eastern Iowa.

[tucsonjohnny]

Thanx for the info.

[tucsonjohnny]

I would be happy to get any relocation information anyone may have.

[hdinia]

Just Googled "Iowa Relocation" and one of the sites it came up with is:
Iowa Relocation Guide - Real Estate, Apartments, Jobs, Mortgage, Travel, Maps and more!
Looks like it may have some useful info for you!
Good luck!

[tucsonjohnny]

Thank you