Lake City, Guthrie Center, Clarion, Humboldt, Manning (Des Moines, Ames: rent, house)

[Movingrightalong...]

Can anyone tell me about these communities? Trying to figure out which one would be the best one to take a job in.

[mofford]

If you want the closest access to a larger town for routine shopping (Fort Dodge), then pick Humboldt. If you need more than what Ft Dodge has to offer, pick Guthrie Center as it is closer to Des Moines than the others. Manning is the most isolated, Clarion and Lake City are still a pretty fair drive from Ft Dodge compared to Humboldt. Just speaking from a location point of view and not knowing much about the towns.

[Movingrightalong...]

Originally Posted by mofford

If you want the closest access to a larger town for routine shopping (Fort Dodge), then pick Humboldt. If you need more than what Ft Dodge has to offer, pick Guthrie Center as it is closer to Des Moines than the others. Manning is the most isolated, Clarion and Lake City are still a pretty fair drive from Ft Dodge compared to Humboldt. Just speaking from a location point of view and not knowing much about the towns.

Thanks. I've lived in the eastern half of Iowa before, but never been to anywhere on that list. As far as being isolated geographically, that doesn't really bother me as I'm not much of a big shopper. I'm more worried about ending up in a place that's so inward looking that after a decade or two you're still an outsider...

[hdinia]

Originally Posted by Movingrightalong...

Thanks. I've lived in the eastern half of Iowa before, but never been to anywhere on that list. As far as being isolated geographically, that doesn't really bother me as I'm not much of a big shopper. I'm more worried about ending up in a place that's so inward looking that after a decade or two you're still an outsider...

This is Manning with a lot of the residents. I don't think it is as bad as it used to be as more outsiders have moved in over the years. Not many job opportunities there either. A lot of residents work in Carroll, Audubon and Denison. It is a nice CLEAN town and very pretty. There really aren't any run down areas anywhere. Nearly all power, phone and cable lines are buried so you won't see the power poles and lines running everywhere.
Lake City is in the same area and I have known several people who have lived there and liked it as well.
In truth, I could probably live in any of them. I am not a big city person at all and prefer the small towns - even with the gossip and cliques that you always seem to find there.
I wish you the best in whatever choice you make.

[22crew]

I was raised in Lake City, from kindergarten all the way through high school. I consider it my hometown. I love it there. Not much to do but that's why i love it.

[mofford]

Just one little thing with Lake City, if you buy or rent a house there, it might be the one where that guy pulled an Amittyville and killed himself and his family a couple months ago.

About Clarion, although it is somewhat far from Ft Dodge like Lake City, it is close to I-35. Would be an easy drive to Mason City/Clear Lake area or to zip down to Ames/Des Moines.

[Movingrightalong...]

Originally Posted by mofford

Just one little thing with Lake City, if you buy or rent a house there, it might be the one where that guy pulled an Amittyville and killed himself and his family a couple months ago.

About Clarion, although it is somewhat far from Ft Dodge like Lake City, it is close to I-35. Would be an easy drive to Mason City/Clear Lake area or to zip down to Ames/Des Moines.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm guessing you're referring to this incident...

Bodies found in rural Iowa house identified | Des Moines Register Staff Blogs

Sad. At any rate, that house appears to be well out of town on the southern border of the county.

[kenneth.kahl]

I live near Manning and respect the community very much for its variety of retail and professional services (my doctor, CPA, and dentist are there), and for its striking pleasantness. It's very German and has a great school.

I've visited Lake City before and have a friend who used to live here, and it seems to have a similar variety of business and amenities, plus a bit more creativity.

Guthrie Center is near Lake Panorama, which is great. I haven't spent much time there either.

I apologize for not having more insight, but I'm happy to contribute my impressions.

[Movingrightalong...]

I'd posted this thread some months ago, and the situation has become clearer since then:

It's come down to Humboldt (on the original list) or Spencer (not on the original list) and figured I'd bump the thread to see if anyone else wanted to contribute.

Spencer is obviously bigger and further north...

[atler8]

Hi,
I just saw this thread almost a year after your last posting of 12/10 which was a question that remains unanswered.
I wonder how your situation turned out? Both communities are very clean from my memories & both experienced a lot of population growth in the post WW2 decades, as is evident if you look at population stats & the condition of their housing stock, as in having a lot of nice 1950-1970's era homes.
Both Humboldt & Spencer are near rivers, with the two forks of the Des Moines River converging near Humboldt thus giving that community some nice & scenic geographic variety in valley & lowland elevation range.
Spencer, of course, is near the Iowa Great Lakes Region which is a recreational plus for that community.
Spencer is somewhat over twice the size of Humboldt & the dominant market town for a large portion of northwest Iowa & the nearby portion of Minnesota.
Humboldt is 16 miles from Fort Dodge which has a small mall & many other retail options for occasions when you can't find something in Humboldt.
Before the farm bust of the 1980's, both towns were very vibrant in their own retail scenes but have been somewhat diminished in that regard since then. Also, they seem to have had the wind taken out of their sails for population growth though Humboldt did at least grow a little over 5% during the just-finished decade while Spencer lost around 2% during the same period.
Let us know how things have turned out for you please.
Cheers!