Travel Log: Shenandoah Iowa
Last Thursday morning (May 10th) my friend Rich and I pulled into the small town of Shenandoah Iowa after spending the night at a motel near Nebraska City, just off the highway (I-29) between St. Joseph Missouri (see previous post) and Omaha Nebraska. At the time I wasn’t sure if we’d spent the night in Iowa or Nebraska — turns out it was Iowa but not by much.
Driving the 2-lane roads to get to Shenandoah we could see flood waters all around us in numerous spots. The road was dirty where water had recently covered the road. One road near the town was still closed due to high water. Later I’d spot a local paper indicating the waters had receeded.
On the edge of town was the customary Wal-Mart store, a Hy-Vee grocery store and a McDonald’s. I didn’t notice but I assume the Wal-Mart was not a “super center” as the grocery store next door would likely not survive. In town, less than a half mile away, I noticed a local store competing quite well with the Wal-Mart. The Dollar store downtown was also doing a good business.
Crossing the train tracks and heading to the town center it was clear this was a rural farm community. See Google Maps.
Above is a good overview of the main drag, Sheridan Ave. The typical building was 2-floors. None were newer buildings although some had received newer facades (unfortunately). The older buildings were nicely detailed, some quite elaborate. The street had received a make-over at some point, I am guessing in the 1990s.
As part of the streetscape the ends of the blocks were “bulbed” with planters. These areas also include frequent benches and bike parking. Yes, they included numerous bike racks along the street. The large paving squares you see along the sidewalk is their Walk of Fame, which includes people from all over Iowa. The most famous locals seem to be the Everly Brothers.
Former St. Louis RAMS Quarterback Kurt Warner has a place on the Walk of Fame.
For those that don’t think ADA access is all that important think again. Even in this small town, population 5,546 as of the 2000 census, I saw two people in a matter of an hour using motorized scooters to get around. The town is very compact (aka dense) with many people walking from adjacent neighborhoods to Sheridan Ave to do their shopping.
I stopped into the Jay Drug Co and thought I stepped back in time. Here as a small town drug store with the pharmacist in the back, all sorts of goods, a card shop and a geniune lunch counter. As a child I’d go with my mom to just such a drug store. All the stools at the counter were full of locals eating and chatting.
City Hall, just off the main drag, was impressive.
The town even had a tattoo studio in the basement of a building that looked to contain a Christian radio station. What a combination!
The old theatre in town is being used as a theatre, how clever. I’m sure it looked more interesting a few decades ago…
The side streets that intersect with Sheridan Ave have not seen as much interest. This is a great building which looks to be partially used. Note the “urban” alley in this small town.
One of the tallest buildings in town, other than grain silos, was this ugly senior home. However ugly, it was near the main street a park and the other residential areas so those living here are still very much a part of the town rather than being isolated.
Above is an example of one of the fine homes located within blocks of the main street, Sheridan Ave. While I’d personally get bored in a small town such as Shenandoah it certainly has a very comfortable feel about it. The town is far more urban in layout than much of the sprawl in the St. Louis area from the last 50 years. To view the rest of my 236 photos of Shenandoah, click here.
Great photos. Feels like I’m right there with you (oh wait, I was….). It was really a pleasure to be in a small town like Shenandoah that has managed to hang on to its soul.
Does Shenandoah seem different from the other towns you have been visiting in terms of having the businesses centralized in an active downtown and keeping sprawl to a minimum? If so, do you know how they managed this even with the presence of a Wal-mart on the edge of town?
Small-town America across the plains is pretty predictable – the “old” “downtown” contains the quality architecture and walkable urban scale, but is only populated by government offices, “gift” shops, service providers and maybe one or two “old-timers” struggling to hang on. The bulk of all business occurs outside of downtown at the mini-mart, supermarket, farm-implement dealer, farmers co-op, GM/Ford/Chrysler dealerships, the unified school district complex and a few franchised fast-food chains. Small-town life is auto-centric because there aren’t really any other options. Even if you live in the “urban core”, the bulk of the local retail is in the mini-big-boxes on the fringes, surrounded by the obligatory parking lots. And if your small town doesn’t have a Wal·Mart, you need a car to drive over to the nearest one, along with getting to specialized medical care, a commercial airport, the community college, most entertainment beyond the DVD/videtape rental place, etc., etc., etc. The only reason the “good” 50-150 year old architecture survives is a combination of irrational sentimentality and benign neglect – it would simply cost more to tear it down, both financially and emotionally, than it does to let it stand and to find, at best, a marginal use to maybe put in it!
Rural folks are, for the most part, pretty pragmatic. They know they have to be both frugal and smart to survive as a business person in a small market, and their lowest-cost architectural choices reflect this. I don’t like it, but it’s a financial reality. Many are leery of using a “big-city” architect unless they absolutely have to, and many of us big-city architects aren’t all that interested in pursuing business in rural areas, hours away each way. That leaves using the “pre-engineered” metal building sold by the local sales rep. or recreating a stock chain prototype – it gets the job done, and without a lot of pressure for higher standards, any new structure is celebrated as a symbol that “Yeah, we’re still able to hang in there!” They also know that pedestrians and cyclists make up less than 2% of their sales, and public transit generates none, so, duh, the 98%+ that show up by car, pick-up and SUV are the ones that get accomodated!
For better or worse, it’s the current rural paradigm, one that’s evolved over the years as the best solution to local circumstances. It’s easy to criticize from our womb of urban choices, but until something better comes along (and is actually proven to be an improvement), what you see is what you’ll continue to get. The best we can hope for, short term, is that the good old stuff survives until “our” new paradigm takes root. In the meantime, we walk a fine line in trying to redirect rural thinking versus being perceived as slightly-clueless, big-city, know-it-alls . . .
Interesting note- Modernist architect Le Corbusier was inspired by grain silos. Granted the ones he spoke of were in Buffalo or something.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier
I was looking for pictures like these to show some friends about where I live and came on your travelogue. Seems to sum Shenandoah up fairly well, I’m sharing this with my friends, thanks! Have yet to look through the excess photos but I am planning to do so.
How do I access the 236 extra photos of Shenandoah. When I click it says it is a private site.