What’s the Driftless Area? Glad you asked! It’s a part of the country stretching across Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin – the parts around where those four states meet. Decorah’s the area pretty much directly in the middle. My partner and I recently traveled to Decorah, and here are some thoughts on that.
Hills, Breweries, Farmers Market, Museums
The entire area’s full of hills, as you might imagine. It’s not much like living in the rest of Iowa. Hills behind the school:
And some more hills by the river for good measure.
We picked up some great baked goods at the Winneshiek Farmers Market, and had a lovely dinner at the Rubaiyat restaurant. Toss in a live show and beers at Pulpit Rock brewery, and there’s plenty to do.
A couple of noteworthy things. One, Decorah has a very solid food co-op for a town of its size. With a lovely mural down the side.
And, two, the museum scene is solid. The Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum is the obvious highlight, and it’s probably what most visitors know about. Not without good reason. I particularly appreciated the work they’re looking to do around educating people on the differences between the experiences of white immigrants and non-white immigrants. There’s great potential for public education and mobilization around these issues.
But I’d also highly recommend visiting the Porter House. It’s a neat house museum with an eccentric subject. Among other things, the owner of the house collected butterflies and used them for his art. Check out this art deco print modified with (glowing) butterfly wings!
Driftless Area Politics
This blog’s mostly about politics. And so, let’s talk about political implications. The Driftless Area is full of rural areas and small towns. It has no major cities at all, and only a few minor cities (e.g., La Crosse, WI; Dubuque, IA; Rochester, MN). What do we know about the rural and small town Midwest? It votes overwhelmingly Republican! I mean, it always has. But especially since 2012 and especially since 2016. Trump cleaned house in these parts of the country. And while it’s important to keep in mind that these areas aren’t all farms, farming’s big business.
But the Driftless Area has long stood out as something of an exception. Obama did very well in the Driftless, and his margin of victory there probably accounted for much of his margin in Iowa and Wisconsin. Even since then, the Driftless Area has proven resilient to these broader trends. For example, I wrote in some detail earlier on Fred Hubbell’s defeat in Iowa. Despite the loss, he did OK in the Driftless. He won Dubuque, and lost much more narrowly in Decorah than he did in comparable communities further to the west.
Why? It’s unclear. The hilly region and resulting economy is probably a big factor. These areas seem far more resistant to corporate power, particularly corporate agriculture, than the rest of the Midwest. But beyond this, it’s unclear. And probably worth looking into further, given broader political trends in the region.
Municipal Power in Decorah
Here’s one manifestation of leftism in the Driftless Area. Recently, Decorah held an election to authorize the city to explore municipal power. Decorah Power organized the campaign. Sadly, it lost. By 3 votes. I’d give more by way of background, but Tabita Green did a far better job of that than I could. Go check out her article. While the campaign didn’t win, it did far better than you’d expect in a town of its size in the state of Iowa. And the city has vowed to continue exploring greater sustainability and renewable energy.
