Whats Fort Madison like? (Burlington, Colo: for rent, house, transfer)

[ocean2026]

No real threads on here except for renting a house.

Are summers hot and sticky?

Is it pretty to walk around?

Anything else?

[TheFarmer'sDaughter]

This summer was rather cool and pleasant actually. Sometimes you will have hot and sticky weather. That's kind of an Iowa thing. It varies season to season.

Fort Madison can be an attractive place to walk around in some areas, especially if you like older homes and nice little communities. Other places are a little more downtrodden. It's a working class town, and the people tend to reflect that. They are pretty friendly and quick to help out anyone, in my experience. Driving through all those one-ways can be a pain in the bum.

Not alot to do as far as shopping, movies, etc. Most people venture into Burlington for that.

[Persimmony]

In general, it's very hot and sticky. Keep in mind that is the warmest part of Iowa and humidity is horrible here.

I'm going to be honest because I don't want you to make a mistake - I have nothing against small towns, but Fort Madison - in my opinion - is NOT a good place to live. Yes, it's on the beautiful Mississippi, but there is no real pretty riverfront areas except for maybe one ... the town is very dirty and declining. I'm sure there are happy people there - however it seems as if there is a very negative mind set in the area.

If you are willing to take it on and keep your head above water - go for it! But I don't think I could be happy living in that town. I'd rather live in the country outside of it.

BTW it stinks there... not sure what factory makes it stink but it smells like ham.

[NomadMomma]

We just moved to Fort Madison from Prescott Arizona. We've been here a month now. Let me just say this here (and I'll update my own thread in a minute too). Fort Madison is beautiful. The main drag is a bit run down in areas but it is being working on and it does have charm. It is in A LOT better shape than many other cities I've been to - including Burlington. After my first visit to town I wasn't sure but when we came back I fell in love with the town. There are a lot of little restaurants and the downtown area still has little mom and pop shops. Every weekend there has been some activity to do with our children in the area (corn festival, watermelon festival, fireworks this weekend, rodeo next week). The YMCA has activities for my entire family year round.

The weather has been wonderful (I know this summer wasn't the norm) averaging around 70-75 during the day lately. It is getting cooler at night and doesn't seem humid at all to me. We'll see how we do with winter

People have been wonderful. Neighbors actually wrote notes welcoming us and came over to say "hi" and ask if we needed anything. When you drive around people wave. People are friendly and helpful and go out of their way to be kind. The preschool we put our son in is excellent. The movie theater has movies for kids in the summer. The library has story time for my toddler. All the parks are well maintained and look nice. My children love going to throw rocks in the river and watch the sail boats (wed nights in summer). We could afford much more house here than in AZ. I LOVE our house and our street and even if my husband gets transferred again in the future I have no doubts this house would sell easily.

As for the person that says the city is declining . . . I don't see that. There are numerous plants here. I don't know if they are all hiring but I don't get the feeling that there are alot of people out of work. I also don't see many unhappy people walking around. There are lots of young families and many older folks. I think it's a good balance of young and old.

[Persimmony]

Fort Madison does have one thing that tops anything in any other city ... Vels Amigos Mexican Restaurant.

[Persimmony]

Originally Posted by NomadMomma

As for the person that says the city is declining . . . I don't see that. There are numerous plants here. I don't know if they are all hiring but I don't get the feeling that there are alot of people out of work. I also don't see many unhappy people walking around. There are lots of young families and many older folks. I think it's a good balance of young and old.

I realize what I said was negative ... but I wanted to be honest. I wasn't saying run the other way really ... You may not see that Ft. Mad is in a decline - stats tell otherwise.

[NomadMomma]

I think the smell being referred to is from Scotts (fertilizer). I have only noticed it when near Shopko (near Scotts) and only then when it is raining. I don't know what the rain has to do with it though. Just wanted to say, the whole town doesn't smell bad. I liken it to exhaust from freeway traffic in a big city. Every place has things we could live without. Same goes for the trains. Since Fort Madison isn’t that wide, you can pretty much hear the trains anywhere in town. They bothered me for about a day and a half. Now I don’t even notice – even when downtown. My boys really love them though. Their favorite thing is to watch for the “people trains” (aka Amtrack).

Just for the record, many of the comments I've seen regarding Fort Madison (not just on this thread but going back to when I posted my first inquiry) seem to be limited to the main street through town (hwy 61). A main artery is naturally going to be less than ideal when discussing where one should live/ visit. This is a small town but there is a good bit more to it than what you can see from the purview of highway 61. Just think of the main artery through your town and then imagine judging your entire town based on that street. Also, when a person actually lives somewhere the experience is a good bit different even from when you’re just visiting. It all depends on what you’re looking for, your lifestyle, and what you make of things.

To us, the move to Fort Madison has been surprisingly positive. At first, I was dead set against moving here but I am glad we decided to live here.

[Persimmony]

Originally Posted by NomadMomma

I think the smell being referred to is from Scotts (fertilizer). I have only noticed it when near Shopko (near Scotts) and only then when it is raining. I don't know what the rain has to do with it though. Just wanted to say, the whole town doesn't smell bad. I liken it to exhaust from freeway traffic in a big city. Every place has things we could live without. Same goes for the trains. Since Fort Madison isn’t that wide, you can pretty much hear the trains anywhere in town. They bothered me for about a day and a half. Now I don’t even notice – even when downtown. My boys really love them though. Their favorite thing is to watch for the “people trains” (aka Amtrack).

Just for the record, many of the comments I've seen regarding Fort Madison (not just on this thread but going back to when I posted my first inquiry) seem to be limited to the main street through town (hwy 61). A main artery is naturally going to be less than ideal when discussing where one should live/ visit. This is a small town but there is a good bit more to it than what you can see from the purview of highway 61. Just think of the main artery through your town and then imagine judging your entire town based on that street. Also, when a person actually lives somewhere the experience is a good bit different even from when you’re just visiting. It all depends on what you’re looking for, your lifestyle, and what you make of things.

To us, the move to Fort Madison has been surprisingly positive. At first, I was dead set against moving here but I am glad we decided to live here.

Yah I lived 15 minutes south for 15 years. Fort Madison does have some nice brick streets and homes on the bluffs behind town.