I just accepted a job at Grinnell College. Anyone have personal knowledge of the town they want to share? (My wife and I did go down there and thought it was a very nice little town, and if you just turned the Walmart into a SuperTarget, everything we wanted.)
I’ve only been to Grinnell once, about 18 years ago, just passed through on a road trip, but it made a positive impression. I stopped to eat, and stopped again at a park. It might have been part of the college campus. The parts I saw looked nicely aged and comfortable, and there were lots of Canada geese.
There are only two towns I’ve driven through where I thought “I could live here”. One was Grinnell and the other was Cody, Wyoming.
I’m actually moving FROM Cody, Wyoming.
Not really, but it would be funny if I was, wouldn’t it?
Say Hi to the volleyball coach for me. 
We spent a (very hot) summer day with him when my daughter was considering the school. It really did look like a nice little town, with typical small town not-much-to-do kind of stuff.
I stopped there travelling across country. It’s one of the many places where my trailer got a flat.
It was a nice little town, with its college giving it more of a draw than the nearby towns. A little small and isolated for my taste. But they had a movie theater that rotated films ever couple of days. I have no idea if that’s still there.
I’ve spent some time in Grinnell. I think of it as a place I might retire, though some mornings the smell of alfalfa is a little much for me. I don’t know what current real estate prices are there, but my friends seemed to spend much less of their pay on housing than I did. Town itself is small and walkable. There’s at least one good restaurant. The college itself is solid and I’ve had interesting conversations with people there. Good college bookstore. What program or unit will you be in, or do you not want to be that specific?
Check out Raging Cow at the college. It’s a workshop where you learn to knap flint, and to make an atlatl…and then to spear mastadon silhouettes! How cool is that?
If you have dogs, one of the best dog trainers in the country lives in Grinnell. She has had some health problems, but if you can go to any of her seminars, she’s fabulous.
Cafe Pheonix is quite good. I also got an excellent pizza somewhere, but I can’t remember the name of the place.
You remember when Horace Greeley told an advice seeker, “Go west, young man?” The young man he told that to took him up on it, went out and founded Grinnell.
Enjoy!
We can hang out, because I am a student at Grinnell College.
Ask your questions, and I will answer them as best I can. I obviously know more about the college than the town, though.
Small world wide web…
I’ve heard good things about it - I considered it for my undergrad, but then ended up in Maine instead.
A friend in grad school interviewed for a job in their library (this would have been several years ago). She took a position elsewhere, but spoke well of the people there, but since you took a job there, I guess you liked it. 
Did you end up at Bowdoin, Bates, or Colby?
In Grinnell, no one can hear you scream.
Actually, I live right near there. So when the wind is blowing from the east I can hear the tormented screams of anguish quite clearly. It’s like it was screamed by angels.
Wait,…maybe that is Newton.
Psst… it’s YOU.
I almost went to Grinnell. There is some cool/interesting stuff in the relatively nearby vicinity. Check out the Amana Colony a formerly communal religious group that now brings together yummy German restaurants, a thriving Cuckoo clock business, and an interesting history.
Colby. Loved it.