6 ms·

Here in rural Iowa, Dollar General also has claimed the niche of "less stuff, but also nearby". You can either drive 5 minutes into town and go to the Dollar Ge

Here in rural Iowa, Dollar General also has claimed the niche of "less stuff, but also nearby". You can either drive 5 minutes into town and go to the Dollar General for most of your basic needs, or you can drive a half hour to the nearest city with a Walmart / Target / etc. I really quite like stopping by to grab a quick thing or two. Around here, there tends to be a local grocery chain in the same vicinity, so generally I'd pick there for more traditional grocery foods. But ran out of toothpaste or need a pack of diapers? Dollar General is the place to go.

brad0 8y ago
I’m curious, what do you do for work in Iowa?
- i_am_nomad 8y ago
  I’m curious too, and a bit jealous.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- war1025 8y ago
  I live in what would be considered more urban Iowa. I work in the ISU Research Park [1] for a company doing software development. My brother lives in our hometown and works as an industrial engineer at a plant that makes bio fertilizer and pesticide products [2]. We also have a sock factory in town, which I think is pretty neat [3]. Iowa really has a pretty diverse and thriving economy. It's a good place. [1] http://www.isupark.org/tenant-directory/ http://www.isupark.org/tenant-directory/ [2] https://www.valentbiosciences.com/about/osage-plant/ https://www.valentbiosciences.com/about/osage-plant/ [3] https://www.foxsox.com/ https://www.foxsox.com/
  - froindt 8y ago
    That research park has really grown in the last 5 years! I'm finishing up my masters degree online, but it was always interesting to see how it grew while I was on campus. I networked with people from Workiva, Vermeer, and Proplanner over the years. John Deere is in the mix too now (which was natural with how much research they fund on campus).
- war1025 8y ago
  Also potentially of interest to the HN crowd, my hometown has municipal broadband [1]. Where I live, I actually have municipal broadband as well, though it looks like perhaps OMU beats us on speed [2]. My mom lives out in the country and gets her internet from an antenna pointed at the water tower, which seems to work pretty well [3]. [1] https://osage.net/telecom/internet-services/high-speed-internet/ https://osage.net/telecom/internet-services/high-speed-inter... [2] http://centraliowabroadband.org/ http://centraliowabroadband.org/ [3] https://osage.net/telecom/internet-services/rural-wireless/ https://osage.net/telecom/internet-services/rural-wireless/
harlanji 8y ago
This is why I prefer being homeless in the Bay Area to going anywhere else to live for cheap, as people invite me. I spent like 4 days in a nice place in GA, in a downtown without baguettes, and came right back. I can shop at organic markets and coops everywhere. The high rent is a better cost than gas when housed.
- analognoise 8y ago
  Wait...what? You're homeless and chose to leave a nice place because it had a downtown without baguettes? I mean we've all got our priorities but that sounds like perhaps you should examine your "needs" column more strongly.
  - mehwoot 8y ago
    Some people really like baguettes. Life is just about priorities
  - 171243 8y ago
    Cliff notes: * He is homeless by choice in the Bay Area * He lives off the generosity of others * He prefers this life style opposed to not have baguettes * A Nice place in Georgia is shit compared to shit in San Fransisco Not my opinions, just restating the original points
- Fins 8y ago
  Umm, Bay Area has decent baguettes somewhere?!
- jstewartmobile 8y ago
  You just need to be homeless by a Sam's Club. They make wonderful baguettes! https://www.samsclub.com/locator https://www.samsclub.com/locator They even sell decent enough brie to put on them.
thaumasiotes 8y ago
> You can either drive 5 minutes into town and go to the Dollar General for most of your basic needs, or you can drive a half hour to the nearest city with a Walmart / Target / etc. I'm intrigued by these time estimates. Living in a suburb of Santa Cruz (just south of the Bay Area), the choices are similar. Completely inadequate corner store (much worse than DG) locally, or drive to a location with real stores. That drive is a minimum of 15 minutes depending on the store you want. But I feel like people in beach communities around the Bay Area would struggle with the idea that they're just as remote as hicks in rural Iowa.
- likeclockwork 8y ago
  The Iowans probably drive everywhere at 80mph.
  - thaumasiotes 8y ago
    The Californians are more likely to be driving 75. That doesn't make much difference over a 20-minute trip.
    - mholt 8y ago
      It does when you aren't stuck in traffic at the start and end of your trip.
    - mattnewton 8y ago
      Santa cruzian here: I don’t, the views and the weather are too nice to rush and put yourself in danger. Besides you’d probably just be rushing into traffic most days.
      - dcow 8y ago
        Speed limit is between 55 and 80 depending on the type of road anywhere that isn’t a town in Iowa. It’s perfectly safe.
        8y ago
fencepost 8y ago
This also covers a case that I don't see discussed much, the cost of going shopping. Even ignoring wear and tear, if you have a truck or an older car that gets maybe 20 mpg, a 10 mile 20 mile round trip costs you a gallon of gas or $2-4 right now and sometimes more. That's not much as part of a weekly shopping trip, but if you just need a gallon of milk it's a low-visibility jacking up of the price.
- lotsofpulp 8y ago
  It’s safe to assume any travel by personal vehicle costs $0.50 cents per mile (or minute in urban areas since stop and go causes more wear and tear), including fuel and maintenance/saving for new vehicle. Driving 5 miles or minutes to get one item from the grocery list can cost an additional $5.
dcow 8y ago
You’re not the only one. My girlfriend worked for half a year at the local dollar general. She had great coworkers and it paid the bills. She could do all her shopping there and I was surprised how well the DG covered just about everything you wouldn’t want to wait for a weekend trip into a bigger urban area to take care of anyway.

brad0 8y ago

I’m curious, what do you do for work in Iowa?

i_am_nomad 8y ago
I’m curious too, and a bit jealous.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
war1025 8y ago
I live in what would be considered more urban Iowa. I work in the ISU Research Park [1] for a company doing software development. My brother lives in our hometown and works as an industrial engineer at a plant that makes bio fertilizer and pesticide products [2]. We also have a sock factory in town, which I think is pretty neat [3]. Iowa really has a pretty diverse and thriving economy. It's a good place. [1] http://www.isupark.org/tenant-directory/ http://www.isupark.org/tenant-directory/ [2] https://www.valentbiosciences.com/about/osage-plant/ https://www.valentbiosciences.com/about/osage-plant/ [3] https://www.foxsox.com/ https://www.foxsox.com/
- froindt 8y ago
  That research park has really grown in the last 5 years! I'm finishing up my masters degree online, but it was always interesting to see how it grew while I was on campus. I networked with people from Workiva, Vermeer, and Proplanner over the years. John Deere is in the mix too now (which was natural with how much research they fund on campus).
war1025 8y ago
Also potentially of interest to the HN crowd, my hometown has municipal broadband [1]. Where I live, I actually have municipal broadband as well, though it looks like perhaps OMU beats us on speed [2]. My mom lives out in the country and gets her internet from an antenna pointed at the water tower, which seems to work pretty well [3]. [1] https://osage.net/telecom/internet-services/high-speed-internet/ https://osage.net/telecom/internet-services/high-speed-inter... [2] http://centraliowabroadband.org/ http://centraliowabroadband.org/ [3] https://osage.net/telecom/internet-services/rural-wireless/ https://osage.net/telecom/internet-services/rural-wireless/

harlanji 8y ago

This is why I prefer being homeless in the Bay Area to going anywhere else to live for cheap, as people invite me. I spent like 4 days in a nice place in GA, in a downtown without baguettes, and came right back. I can shop at organic markets and coops everywhere. The high rent is a better cost than gas when housed.

analognoise 8y ago
Wait...what? You're homeless and chose to leave a nice place because it had a downtown without baguettes? I mean we've all got our priorities but that sounds like perhaps you should examine your "needs" column more strongly.
- mehwoot 8y ago
  Some people really like baguettes. Life is just about priorities
- 171243 8y ago
  Cliff notes: * He is homeless by choice in the Bay Area * He lives off the generosity of others * He prefers this life style opposed to not have baguettes * A Nice place in Georgia is shit compared to shit in San Fransisco Not my opinions, just restating the original points
Fins 8y ago
Umm, Bay Area has decent baguettes somewhere?!
jstewartmobile 8y ago
You just need to be homeless by a Sam's Club. They make wonderful baguettes! https://www.samsclub.com/locator https://www.samsclub.com/locator They even sell decent enough brie to put on them.

thaumasiotes 8y ago

> You can either drive 5 minutes into town and go to the Dollar General for most of your basic needs, or you can drive a half hour to the nearest city with a Walmart / Target / etc. I'm intrigued by these time estimates. Living in a suburb of Santa Cruz (just south of the Bay Area), the choices are similar. Completely inadequate corner store (much worse than DG) locally, or drive to a location with real stores. That drive is a minimum of 15 minutes depending on the store you want. But I feel like people in beach communities around the Bay Area would struggle with the idea that they're just as remote as hicks in rural Iowa.

likeclockwork 8y ago
The Iowans probably drive everywhere at 80mph.
- thaumasiotes 8y ago
  The Californians are more likely to be driving 75. That doesn't make much difference over a 20-minute trip.
  - mholt 8y ago
    It does when you aren't stuck in traffic at the start and end of your trip.
  - mattnewton 8y ago
    Santa cruzian here: I don’t, the views and the weather are too nice to rush and put yourself in danger. Besides you’d probably just be rushing into traffic most days.
    - dcow 8y ago
      Speed limit is between 55 and 80 depending on the type of road anywhere that isn’t a town in Iowa. It’s perfectly safe.
      - 8y ago

fencepost 8y ago

This also covers a case that I don't see discussed much, the cost of going shopping. Even ignoring wear and tear, if you have a truck or an older car that gets maybe 20 mpg, a 10 mile 20 mile round trip costs you a gallon of gas or $2-4 right now and sometimes more. That's not much as part of a weekly shopping trip, but if you just need a gallon of milk it's a low-visibility jacking up of the price.

lotsofpulp 8y ago
It’s safe to assume any travel by personal vehicle costs $0.50 cents per mile (or minute in urban areas since stop and go causes more wear and tear), including fuel and maintenance/saving for new vehicle. Driving 5 miles or minutes to get one item from the grocery list can cost an additional $5.

dcow 8y ago

You’re not the only one. My girlfriend worked for half a year at the local dollar general. She had great coworkers and it paid the bills. She could do all her shopping there and I was surprised how well the DG covered just about everything you wouldn’t want to wait for a weekend trip into a bigger urban area to take care of anyway.