RE: Mason City (Des Moines, Sioux City: health insurance, crime, home)

[Jackpine1]

Hi Iowanites,
I'd like to ask two questions.
[a] If moving to Iowa as a retired person, is there anything I need to be aware of? For instance, I believe Humana is available for health insurance (I'm on Medicare w/ Humana currently, a great plan). COL isn't great in IA, but not terrible there either. Both auto ins. and home insurance are considerably lower than here in FL. Am I missing anything else? I'm originally from MN so I'm well aware of the weather patterns.

[b] Mason City fits some my criteria for a move to Iowa (2 hours to the Twin Cities, reasonable housing costs). BUT, I don't really know anything about it, can anybody weigh in? For instance, that hospital gets really terrible reviews... I'm a relatively active 70 yr. old on SS; conservative but not in-your-face about it.

Thank you!
JP

[601halfdozen0theother]

For the past three years I have occasionally recorded the Mason City Globe Gazette newspaper when I record newspapers for the blind. It's been a while since I've been to the town myself, but I do enjoy reading this paper - it's a pretty good one compared to some others I read (looking at you, Sioux City Journal!)

So, based just on reading the local newspaper, it seems that the town is relatively economically healthy, with diverse small industries. There has been some residential growth over the past few years. It is mostly on the regressive side of the political spectrum, and has some crime but not a major problem. The golf course gets a ton of stories! There is a strong Catholic presence. The Music Man was set there and the Surf Ballroom is nearby, so the city plays this up by having lots of events around the theme of music.

If you're White and "conservative" you'll do just fine. If you're not, there are other communities in Iowa you'd probably enjoy more.

Also: this post should probably be moved to the general Iowa forum.

[pepe1]

I grew up just 8 miles from Mason City. There are certainly some things that are endearing about it, and other things that are problematic. The positive:

It is the biggest city around for 90 miles so it is the retail hub of a large trade area. Consequently, It has a good selection of retail and restaurants.

I think it has outstanding location. Right next to one of the better recreational lake in the Midwest and less than 2 hours interstate trip to Minneapolis or Des Moines.

The city has some really nice cultural attractions. Music man museum, bill Baird puppets, and an impressive collection of buildings from the prairie style school of architecture.

The bad:
Since it is the biggest city in the area, it has always been a collector of folks that require social services. I.e. the city has always had a lot of riff raff for a town of only 30,000. FWIW, I’ve never thought Mason city to be unsafe, it just has a lot scurvy people

The town has been slowly declining in population and industry since about 1970. As a result, some parts of town are pretty run down.

The economy is dominated by retail, hospitality, and low skilled manufacturing jobs so there is limited opportunities for young people.

People in the area indeed live to bag on Mercy Hospital. But it all honestly, it’s a very good facility. I think because of its proximity to Mayo Clinic, that locals have a distorted view of healthcare quality