Anyone moved to Iowa from Minn.? Seriously thinking about it. (Des Moines: appointed, sales)

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by lthenderson

Although born and raised in Iowa, I worked for ten years in Hutchinson, MN before returning back to Iowa. I live in southeast Iowa so too far for you to travel easily to St. Paul on a regular basis but our school has been full time in person since the August start date. I was leery at first with sending out kids back but now I think it was absolutely the right decision. Few kids have contracted the virus and what few that bring it from home. There have been no spreading events at school other than a few sports teams where close contract abounds and social distancing isn't an option. I should note that our school district mandated masks from the beginning. Saying that, the virus has been hard on the adult teachers and staff at the school and they did have to shut down two days because there wasn't enough teachers well enough to keep it going.

Our school was the rarity in August but from what I have heard, most school are back to in person learning except for the larger urban areas. We were 100% virtual from March to June of this year and it was a complete disaster and for my kids, it was more like an extended summer break than school. I have heard from friends who still do virtual schooling and while they say it is a lot better, it is still very lacking and hard on the children.

I don't know what Mason City is doing with their schooling but have you looked there? It is a smaller town though has quite a bit of shopping so finding a place near there might be a good area while still being fairly close to St. Paul. Further down the road is Charles City which is a much smaller place but really beautiful and relaxing place to live. I have lots of relatives that grew up in that area so have visited them often over the years. There isn't much in town so you would still have to drive aways, to get supplies.

Great post and suggestions. The virtual learning has been a disaster for us as well. I work nights and my wife has had to absorb that extra burden. It's been incredibly stressful for her, especially with our special needs kids who require professional assistance and teaching. Thanks so much for your input.

[Tyryztoll]

Has anyone ever been to Decorah, Iowa? We've always loved that karst/river bluff region for its natural beauty and it looks like they have a medical center there that's part of the Mayo Health System (plus another one that's part of Gunderson in La Crosse, WI). Only 2.5 hrs from St. Paul. That would be very ideal for us.

[Star691]

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

Has anyone ever been to Decorah, Iowa? We've always loved that karst/river bluff region for its natural beauty and it looks like they have a medical center there that's part of the Mayo Health System (plus another one that's part of Gunderson in La Crosse, WI). Only 2.5 hrs from St. Paul. That would be very ideal for us.

Decorah is nice. I recall seeing it ranked high on a list of best small to medium sized cities for living.

[riffle]

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

Hope I don't come off as sharp or rude with that reply.....just trying to paint our picture. Appreciate the input and suggestions very much.

You don't come across as sharp or rude, but I think your general philosophy and approach to relocation are very different than my own so that makes me hesitant to offer advice.

Are you confident that your health insurance from a new job in Iowa would cover your daughter's care in St. Paul?

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

Has anyone ever been to Decorah, Iowa? We've always loved that karst/river bluff region for its natural beauty and it looks like they have a medical center there that's part of the Mayo Health System (plus another one that's part of Gunderson in La Crosse, WI). Only 2.5 hrs from St. Paul. That would be very ideal for us.

Decorah is a scenic small college town. I don't think it would be the best fit for your political ideology, but I guess crossing the state line may be enough if you are really going to move based on what you think MN state government will do in the next 6-12 months.

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by riffle

You don't come across as sharp or rude, but I think your general philosophy and approach to relocation are very different than my own so that makes me hesitant to offer advice.

Are you confident that your health insurance from a new job in Iowa would cover your daughter's care in St. Paul?

Decorah is a scenic small college town. I don't think it would be the best fit for your political ideology, but I guess crossing the state line may be enough if you are really going to move based on what you think MN state government will do in the next 6-12 months.

I agree with this. The Decorah area is by far the most scenic part of that state. The high hills along the river look like they don't belong to the rest of the state. The eastern sliver of Iowa however, is very very blue in their political leanings. Probably not quite as much in the NE corner (excluding Waterloo/Cedar Falls city limits) as what you'll find in the east-central and the southeast corner.

[smpliving]

Eastern Iowa use to be considered blue but is now leaning much more red with new republican house representatives, Ashley Hinson #IA01 and Miller-Meeks #IA02.

I would strongly recommend looking into the Special Ed program of the school district you end up in. Having known several individuals at the University of Iowa Center for Development and Disabilities, which serves the entire state, cutbacks in funding places Iowa at the bottom of states in the US.

[IowanFarmer]

The county Decorah is in voted for Trump fairly comfortably. Luther College is very liberal, and as a town it's more liberal than most of Iowa, but it's a far cry from Minneapolis.

I live in the area and consider myself left of center (albeit right of what I'm guessing you think of liberals). If the political vibe in Decorah is too liberal for anyone, that tells me that person is excessively sensitive to differing political view points. Being as the state level politics are completely controlled by the right, it's more of a local culture thing than it is any laws or regulations that will actually affect you.

Decorah is absolutely beautiful, and really the whole surrounding Driftless Area is as well. If you absolutely have to live in a community that had more Republican voters, there are towns surrounding Decorah like Cresco, Calmar, and Waukon that are well kept and more conservative (and a little cheaper to live in). Decorah has a ton to offer for a town of it's size, and if you're into outdoor stuff it's tough to beat.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by IowanFarmer

The county Decorah is in voted for Trump fairly comfortably. Luther College is very liberal, and as a town it's more liberal than most of Iowa, but it's a far cry from Minneapolis.

I live in the area and consider myself left of center (albeit right of what I'm guessing you think of liberals). If the political vibe in Decorah is too liberal for anyone, that tells me that person is excessively sensitive to differing political view points. Being as the state level politics are completely controlled by the right, it's more of a local culture thing than it is any laws or regulations that will actually affect you.

Decorah is absolutely beautiful, and really the whole surrounding Driftless Area is as well. If you absolutely have to live in a community that had more Republican voters, there are towns surrounding Decorah like Cresco, Calmar, and Waukon that are well kept and more conservative (and a little cheaper to live in). Decorah has a ton to offer for a town of it's size, and if you're into outdoor stuff it's tough to beat.

Sounds lovely.....and similar to Northfield, MN, which is also a beautiful town with liberal arts colleges. As I said, I have no problem living next door to folks who might be on the other side of the political aisle. It’s dumb to even think you can find a personal political utopia in this day. I mean, c’mon...I moved to Minnesota from Texas. Who would do that if they were a right wing extremist of any sort? It’s the defund the police, pro Antifa, burn it all down, shut down society forever crowd I need to get away from....because those are the people actually running this state and that’s beyond scary. This is becoming a scary place and I don’t want to raise my family in a scary place. It’s really as simple as that.

[Yosh01]

Originally Posted by jmgg

Now for those that want to point at Covid-19 in the state, it's dropping and California's is going through the roof. So much for draconian shutdowns. There are stats all over the place pointing to one direction or the other in the U.S. and these can be argued ad nauseum. I'll take what we did here for the overall good of our citizens versus most any other state.

Are you aware that SD is sending its overflow of Covid patients to Minnesota because the hospitals are full?

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by Yosh01

Are you aware that SD is sending its overflow of Covid patients to Minnesota because the hospitals are full?

Links?