what is like to live in Storm Lake, Iowa?? (Des Moines: homes, buy)

[exoticmystic]

Any info you may have would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

[Roy G. Biv]

I lived in a very small nearby town. What you would think about it really depends on where you live now. At the moment its a long ways from a four lane highway, but that is going to change someday when they continue highway 20 through the area. The town itself is surrounded by farms and some hog confinement lots (that does cause an oder sometimes depending on where you're at). The area around the lake is pretty, plus there are parks and a pool and such. There is also a college in town (Buena Vista) so it has a bit of a younger atmosphere than some of the surrounding towns. It is still a pretty small town but it does pretty well economically. There is a nice little downtown with stores, also a nice HyVee supermarket and a Super Walmart for the essentials. The surrounding towns know of Storm Lake as being a location where there are many hispanics because there is a Tysons plant there that processes poultry. So that is an issue of concern to some at least in terms of the strain on the school system there and things like that. Others in the area are just plain racist, but most people I ran into were very nice and down to earth. My wife and I basically just went there regularly for groceries, good Mexican food (and other good restaurants), and occasionally to enjoy the parks and the lake. So I don't know what it's like to actually live there. But if you're from a big town it would probably be culture shock. I also noticed that because the surrounding area is so flat, the lake area was always extremely windy, in fact there is a ridge along the entire county that is used a lot for wind energy. Not sure if that helps but let me know if there is any other info that would be helpful.

[exoticmystic]

Thankyou so much for responding! We are from Columbia,sc and my husband may be looking at a job in Storm Lake.. We don't want to leave Columbia,SC, but economically, there has not been much job opportunity here...Our children are homeschooled, but do you happen to know if Storm Lake has activities or entertainment for kids?

[JustAnotherIowan]

I've never been west of Des Moines so I can't say from experience but here is a little info from internet resources for activities and entertainment for kids (and adults!)

I would try checking this website out:
PHP Calendar (http://www.stormlake.org/index.php?dept=ccalendar&LinkID=547&AddLink1=546&A ddLink2=288&AddLink3=0&date=1216872000 - broken link)

It has just about everything that's going on in the town.

Don't know if you're religious but the churches in the area seem to have MANY activities for homeschooled children. I don't think you'll have a hard time fitting in out there - homeschooling is all the rage in western Iowa.

[neanerbean]

You might want to check out the public schools. Iowa is known as a state that has high standards for education. Last I new, I think we were either 2 or 3 in the nation. Homeschooling in Iowa is ok, but sometimes in small towns it doesn't always work that well, because they won't now anyone because they aren't in school.. In small town Iowa, the school is THE place to be for entertainment and activities.

[Roy G. Biv]

Thats true, the school is the hub of social activities, sports, and fine arts. I have taught in small town Iowa though in a place very close to Storm Lake. I can tell you that if I had kids there I would home school them and not necessarily because the schools or the teachers are bad (there are good and bad teachers everywhere), but mainly because of what the kids are like in a small town. With such small class sizes, social conformity is inescapable. In a big school you can just hang out with different people. But in a small school the most socially aggressive kids dominate and set the bar for behavioral norms. Drinking and drug use is far more widespread than it is in bigger schools in the cities. I recall children of pastors and very conservative Christians who by the age of 16-17 were practically alcoholics and their parents were beside themselves. Some people commonly attribute this to there being "nothing for kids to do" in a small town but really it has everything to do with pressures of smaller group conformity. Plus the German roots and the brain-drain effect results in a lot of parents who are okay with the idea of their kids drinking and will even buy the alcohol for them and get kegs for their graduation party and allow underage drinking. That being said, there were still many kids I had in this situation who did resist and were able to excel--some of my students even ended up going off to to ivy league schools. It really all depends on how involved you are in your kids life. The parents who have their gaurd down and let their kids do whatever they want end up regretting it.

[Senor Boogie Woogie]

Buddy Holly didn't think much of it.

[momof1]

I live near by Storm Lake. I just finished a temp job at the VA hospital in Columbia. Coming from Iowa, SC was a big culture shock for me so imagine you would experience that too coming here from there. Two very VERY VERY different places. I fell in love with SC and would much rather be there than here. I agree with the other poster who said that drinking and drug use is very wide spread here and social conformity is a big problem. So in my opinion I would not leave Columbia to move to Storm Lake.

[exoticmystic]

Thanks everyone for the replies. The more that my husband and I research Storm lake, we believe that it is not the place for us.. so, we will just keep praying that a good opportunity opens up in our city of Columbia,SC.

[Zeugitai]

People may give me crap for saying this but, having moved from the south to Sac County, Iowa, near Storm Lake, the hardest thing for us has been to get used to the cold, rude attitude of the people. In Arkansas, people were warm, friendly, courteous, charitable; in Iowa, people have been just the opposite. Of course this is a generalization and you'll find good people everywhere you go, depending upon the groups or churches you join, if you join; but generally, the Iowans are self-righteous and way too proud of themselves. This makes them act superior to people who come in from other places and disinclined to welcome or help. The hype and rhetoric about the "heartland of America" has gone to their heads. I miss Arkansas and the good people there. I highly recommend that all people who are considering moving to Iowa be aware of and prepared for this "culture." And while I'm at it, I should add that Iowa stinks to high heaven. Most anywhere you go in the state, you will be assailed by the stench of manure: turkey, chicken, pig, and cow manure. And there is a high tonnage of agricultural chemicals applied all over the state--chemical and manure fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides--applied by air and saturated in the soil and in the rivers, creeks, and streams. You must realize that you are moving into a highly toxic state when you consider moving here. The state DNR recently "relaxed" the regulations on the amount of runoff toxins permitted in the streams. In Iowa, agriculture rules. Look at the hard work being done by organizations such as Iowa CCI to defend the environment of the state against corporate and factory farms (heavy polluters and stench creators) and you'll begin to get an idea of the losing battle being fought to preserve some quality of life for people and animals in the state. Regrets? Oh, yes. I'd move out if I could.