Why are lakes in Iowa so dumpy? (Storm Lake, Clear Lake: real estate, buying a home)

[paiste13]

In Minnesota and Wisconsin lake shores are covered with 200k-multi-millions dollar homes. In Iowa it seems the lakes are surrounded by dumpy trailers. For example, Holiday Lake and Union Grove lake in central Iowa are really crappy. Why did it turn out this way compared to MN and WI?

[atler8]

What type of lakes are Holiday & Union Grove? If they are in central Iowa I would guess that they are man-made lakes & not natural lakes given that there is a cut off line across the middle of the state below which there are few naturally occurring lakes. If they are indeed dumpy, could that be a factor in the type of development on their shorelines?
In view of what I have seen of the natural lakes of Minnesota & Wisconsin in dozens of visits, as compared to those of Iowa, I'd say that you have made a generalization that may not be fact based.

[fezzador]

Holiday Lake and Union Grove lakes are absolutely tiny lakes. They're not too much bigger than a football field.

Iowa doesn't have the grandiose natural lakes of MN, WI, and ND (lots of them of the glacial variety) but they do have some decent ones, such as Spirit Lake (Iowa Great Lakes) in the northwest part of the state (and there are some VERY posh lakefront homes there to boot). Saylorville and Red Rock are large lakes by Iowa standards, but are manmade and neither really have any appreciable lakefront property.

[Stavemaster]

Union Grove is about a mile long and maybe 1/3 of a mile wide at the widest part, so it's definitely bigger than a football field. But it is indeed a man-made lake in an otherwise kind of nondescript area. There are some decent houses there, but the OP is right about there being a lot of trailers as well, especially towards the southeast end. It's nice enough for an afternoon fishing/paddleboating/birdwatching trip, but if you're looking for a place to plunk down a quarter of a million dollars for a home, you could do a lot better.

[fezzador]

Yes, I was exaggerating a bit, but you know what I meant.

Iowa's simply not blessed with the pretty natural lakes its northern neighbors have because the glaciers didn't reach far enough south to create anything spectacular... as I already said, the only real notable, natural glacial lakes Iowa has are Spirit Lake and the Okoboji lakes, and those are in the extreme northern portion of the state. They're solid lakes and all, but they're bush league compared to the gems like Devil's Lake and Leech Lake.

After the IGL, Lake Panorama is probably the second best place in Iowa for lake front property. Unfortunately, it's not a natural lake either. Take away the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, the amount of natural water body surface area in Iowa is absolutely miniscule.

[mattyheiden]

Do not forget Clear Lake or Storm Lake..They're also glacial lakes in northern Iowa and part of the same glacier sheet that created most of the lakes in MN and WI.

Natural water body surface area? [rude] Have you seen the number of rivers that criss cross the state?

River Map

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by paiste13

In Minnesota and Wisconsin lake shores are covered with 200k-multi-millions dollar homes. In Iowa it seems the lakes are surrounded by dumpy trailers. For example, Holiday Lake and Union Grove lake in central Iowa are really crappy. Why did it turn out this way compared to MN and WI?

Compare any state to Minnesota - the land of 10,000 lakes - see if you might find some descrepancies.

Try buying a home on Clear Lake, IA. First realitor in CL I click on via google. Two listings. $899K and $599K.

Residential Real Estate Listings | Schoneman Realtors

Try getting our more and live a little beyond these two lakes you mention that no one has ever heard of.

[fezzador]

Originally Posted by mattyheiden

Do not forget Clear Lake or Storm Lake..They're also glacial lakes in northern Iowa and part of the same glacier sheet that created most of the lakes in MN and WI.

Natural water body surface area? Either you're very ignorant or uneducated. Have you seen the number of rivers that criss cross the state?

River Map

Ummm... what part of tributaries did you not understand? Just about every lotic system in the state of Iowa has its roots from either the Mississippi or the Missouri.

[mattyheiden]

and??

Rivers are still considered a natural water body system.

Also, northern Iowa has several lakes that were as a result of glacial action.

Glacial Landmarks Trail

[fezzador]

Well no kidding. I was never trying to argue that rivers were not a natural geographical feature, how you misconstrued that is beyond me.

The point I am trying to make is that a very significant percentage of standing water in Iowa (lakes and ponds) is artificial in origin.