[crazyme4878]

[quote=todd00;4907330]i think some of what has been said can also apply to many small towns somewhat isolated from large cities. ...quote]

I've lived and been in many small towns, and trust me, Ironwood is in a class by itself!

[cheesehead1907]

Originally Posted by nimrod52

Josetjo, There are lots of houses for rent here. Average rent is around $450 a month for a 2/3 bdrm.Most of the houses for rent do not include utilities so you have to think about that for the winter months. Heating costs can hit 3-400 a month. Make sure you have a garage ! Also a house with a basement. We heat with wood which we cut on our 40 acres & have gas furnace for backup. It cost us about $ 500 a winter to fill LP tank. This can be a real savings if you can find a place in the country. I'm not sure I can put this on here but try Kathy Richards Management for rentals. Also some of the links in one of the posts above should be helpful - Daily Globe etc.. Hope this helps & good luck.

For any potential winter warriors who can brave it and can haul logs, use a kerosene lamp. and a gas furnace, and are a PACKERS fan, then this place is for you!

[jdamin55105]

I grew up near ironwood, and lived there off and on in a five year span in my adult life. Somethings were good and somethings were bad.

The good is that the housing and rent is really cheap. It is easily affordable assuming that you have a couple of braincells and are able to somewhat manage money. Natural resources for the outdoors type such as skiing, hunting, fishing, boating, and snowmobiling, or just being outside is very good. Spending time at Lake Superior is probably one of my favorite things.

The bad generally centers around the lack of opportunity and the culture the circumstances create. Ironwood people's behavior doesn't resemble a small town, but rather a very poor inner-city lifestyle. People are very destitute and often rely on the government for their income. It is a culture based around welfare. Alcholism and drug adicts are a major infestation as well. If you do find a job (such as Ironwood Plastics which was my experience) the treatment is horrible. Often foreman and bosses will erupt in yelling and the pay is as poor as the treatment. (near or around minimum wage) If you by anychance are able to get by without working in Ironwood such as being independently wealthy or self employed such as on the interet, than it may be a better fit for you. The energy bills are terrible many times eclipsing the cheap rent and morgag savings. The people can also be leachy. I would not get in the habit of borowing people money because they have trouble paying it back. I am generalizing of course.

I always recomend peole to rather use Ironwood as a vacation place rather than a place to live. It does have some realistate opportunity, but it is not a good place to live 12 months a year.

[howiemandable]

Worst place on planit earth if you ask me! I lived in Hurley growing up. The area is sick, I would rather live in Iraq! No jobs, no hope, and just a bunch of lazy low life people. If you can live here you can live anywhere and be happy. The housing is cheap because most of the homes are old mining homes that are 150+ years old. This is a very bad place to consider moving. People that commit suicide in Ironwood are the smart ones.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by howiemandable

Worst place on planit earth if you ask me! I lived in Hurley growing up. The area is sick, I would rather live in Iraq! No jobs, no hope, and just a bunch of lazy low life people. If you can live here you can live anywhere and be happy. The housing is cheap because most of the homes are old mining homes that are 150+ years old. This is a very bad place to consider moving. People that commit suicide in Ironwood are the smart ones.

Isn't Hurley the town with all the strip clubs on the main street?

[Trail twister]

Giving advice here today on a 3 year old thread is laughable. today the OP has either wrote Iron wood off as a place to Move to or did indeed move there. Maybe even found it a horriable place to live and moved again.

[Giesela]

Still, good to have posts for anyone who does a search on Ironwood.

[jslim39]

I currently live in Houghton Michigan, and I'll be moving to Ironwood to attend Gogebic Community College after four years of living in the Copper Country. Looking for residency, I obviously visited a few times, and it seems like a nice place. Most of everything is in walking distance - Wal*Mart, Kmart, fast food, other restaraunts, stores, pharmacies, local grocery stores, bowling, gas stations, all are less than 2 miles from downtown Ironwood. Then there's Hurley accross the river; I'm not sure how great that town is according to what others have said, but in all the area seems not bad. There didn't seem to be many apartments for rent (I got lucky with a nice one on Aurora st.), but I'm not sure about houses. Now maybe once I live there for a bit I may have a different outlook on things, but at first look (yes I know don't judge a book by it's cover blah blah whatever), it seems like a nice place. But remember, it's not freaking Detroit or New York. You're in an AREA with around 12,000 people, a town with about 6,000, so if you're looking for everything a city has, like nightclubs, huge malls, etc., you better look elsewhere.

[Hightide]

Originally Posted by Trail twister

Giving advice here today on a 3 year old thread is laughable. today the OP has either wrote Iron wood off as a place to Move to or did indeed move there. Maybe even found it a horriable place to live and moved again.

Not laughable at all.
I've been thinking about moving there myself.
This thread isn't just for the OP.

[smigilicutty]

Originally Posted by jasonw33

I know this is an old post, but I read and just HAVE to reply and give a little truth.

I have lived in the Hurley-Ironwood area for about 24 years now. Mostly in Hurley(WI), but ive spent a couple years in Ironwood as well. For those not in the know, Hurley and Ironwood are seperated by the Montreal river.

Ive read all positive comments regarding Ironwood MI, but heres a little reality for anyone interested...

Traffic, period, is horrible. If you have to drive anywhere around here, it sucks. I have never seen worse roads. Potholes are everywhere. The city's solution to potholes is filling them in with tar, and then covering the tar with little white rocks - which in turn stick to your car and or chip your paint when you drive over them. There was a hole by family video this spring that you would actually bottom out in. Stopsigns are EVERYWHERE, and traffic lights that you often sit at only to have NO opposing traffic. No reason to be stopped. Most locals avoid these lights by taking a route thru sidestreets(either the cemetary way, or by the fountains and family video, or the memorial building way...).

You cannot drink the water. One taste or smell will do it for you. Its not safe.

There are no jobs. Local youth move away as soon as they can. The thought of spending their life at Bessemer Plywood, or Ironwood plastics must not appeal to them. Those that do not move away are likely to become alcoholics and work at Bessemer Plywood or Ironwood Plastics.

Everyone here is drunk. Ironwood is a small rivers width away from infamous "Silver Street" and its tempting lower block where prostitutes can be purchased in the Club Carnival, even today. This street is a tourist scurge. In the winter its a cesspool of drunken tourist snowmobilers, and drunken locals who think its fun to beat up tourists. Well, it IS fun.

Its a hard place to be comfortable. The summers are ok, and yes, the area IS VERY beautiful. But the bugs totally consume you. Lake Superior has Biting Fly infestation, and inland the gnats and mosquitos will drain you of your blood. The winters, however, will test you. Bitter cold and huge amounts of snow. Expect a 350.00 monthly heat bill. The weather is nice June thru sept. The other 8 months you have to run your furnace. Winter here, in a word, is madness.

Those are a few real observations on the area of Ironwood MI. Dont get me wrong, I actually dont hate it here. I could pack up and leave anytime. For me the good outweighs the bad. But this town is not the rosegarden its made out to be. Living here changes you. And there are deer downtown.

couldn't have found a more accurate response. Ironwood is the worst place I have ever lived. The schools are laughable, the employment non existent , anywhere would be better...