Can anyone tell me anything about LeMars Iowa? (Sioux City, Sioux Center: real estate, find a job)

[Mary77]

Anything? All I know is that it has an Ice Cream plant and a couple people said it smells like cow manure. What else is there to know? How long is the drive from LeMars to Sioux City (preferably from someone who has driven that route, I know what Mapquest thinks). Is there any thing to do there? And what's up with the cow manure smell? Is there a large cow farm there? Thanks.

[Mary77]

Really? No one?

[Squeamish]

I LOVE their ice cream! It's one of the great things about living in Iowa. (I used to live in various parts of Iowa where Blue Bunny was common.)

[disneyrecords]

I like the "dutch corner" of Iowa. Smells like cow manure? What? LeMars is a nice community. Keep in mind, most of the economies of the area are invested in agribusiness and farming. You will often notice smells from time to time. If you a locating to a community with agribusiness, ask a reputable real estate agent which side of town experiences the most inconveniences. Weather on the great plains usually involves westerly winds; therefore, the east end of town gets the most impact.

I've spent time in LeMars and worked briefly in Sioux Center. Nice communities; very friendly people. No, LeMars does not "smell". Granted, if you are looking at moving to rural America, you will have smells from time to time as farmers fertilize their fiends and clean their barns. This is true anywhere farming and agribusiness thrives.

The economy in LeMars is stable. Currently, I live in a small town in Western Minnesota, but if I got transferred to LeMars, I would have no reservation living there and raising a family.

[jmgg]

LeMars is right next to, but not in little Holland (Sioux County). Unlike it's next door neighbor where not being Dutch can somewhat alienate you, LeMars is not dominated by any one race or religion. If there is a dominate religion there, it might be Catholic.

This works to LeMar's advantage and to me makes it a much more desirable place. It's a very clean and progressive community. In that part of Iowa, I think it's the first place I'd want to live.

Incidentally, it's mostly 4 lane highway all the way to Sioux City.

[Mary77]

Thank you for the responses. I feel a lot better about the idea of living there after reading them. Can you tell me how long the drive is from LeMars to Sioux City? I'm an Accountant and I would probably have to find a job there.

Can you give more info on what you mean by being alienated if you're
not Dutch? How can you even tell if a person is Dutch or not?

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by Mary77

Thank you for the responses. I feel a lot better about the idea of living there after reading them. Can you tell me how long the drive is from LeMars to Sioux City? I'm an Accountant and I would probably have to find a job there.

Can you give more info on what you mean by being alienated if you're
not Dutch? How can you even tell if a person is Dutch or not?

LeMars is only about 25 miles from Sioux City with mostly a 4 lane road. How long it takes you depends on whether you imitate a Nascar driver or an AARP member.

As to whether you can tell if someone is a true Sioux County dutchman it would take living there and having dealings with them. It's subtle up until you find that you trusted them to be fair with you and they've somehow screwed you out of something. It can be in business, school (grade school, high school, college) at any level or "heaven" forbid something in your family. If they get caught doing something to you that they swear that they wouldn't, the pat answer is that they'll "pray for you". No kidding, they're the ones that pulled something, but they're praying FOR YOU.

If you are an accountant, wait until you do their taxes. Whatever your fee is for the service will be WAY too high. They'll have a million dollars in income for the year, but they'll try to whittle you down because you charged too much. If they get away with it, trust me, they will spread it around the entire community. If you stick to your guns, they will trash your service because you're overpriced. The only way you can avoid this is to be dutch yourself AND you are a member of one of the Reformed churches. If you are Catholic and live in dutch country, be prepared to struggle for any business. They wouldn't dare be seen patronizing a Catholic owned business. It's equivelant to being seen walking in the FRONT door of a bar (this little tidbit of info can be only appreciated by those who have lived around here).

I know of which I speak since 1/2 of my family fits this mold. A couple generations ago, many communities in the midwest were settled by different ethnic groups and there was plenty of this type of attitude towards people that weren't "one of them". Whether it be German, Irish, Norweigian, Slavic, Swedish, etc. these attitudes are pretty much a thing of the past. Not so with the dutch.

At arms length they'll always be congenial and friendly. Keep them at that distance.