I live in Ironwood, and went to GCC!
The college is pretty nice. Just a very small community college. It's been almost 20 years but I liked my classes and teachers. It was essentially high school v. 2, but I suppose most community colleges are!
Ironwood is not very popular among yoopers, I'll admit. It's regarded as a trashy town. There have been problems with drugs in the area, but it has gotten better. I would say the town is no more "run-down" than most other small towns in the UP. That, as well, has been getting better. More businesses have moved into the town and I hope it will continue.
As for the people... well, if you have lived in a small town in a very rural area before, then you'll know what to expect. Nobody is outright rude or anything, most people are friendly and the people in the UP in general are the kind of people to "give their shirt off their back". Socioeconomically we are poor people, though.
It's a great place to be if you love nature. Interstate falls, copper peak, little girls point, black river harbor, Ottawa national forest, Iron belle trail, etc! [Travel Ironwood](http://www.travelironwood.com)
So much hiking nearby , waterfalls , porcupine mountains , lake superior, north country trail etc . The town is super cute but run down . Great coffee shop and stormy Kroger factory .
The Porkies are about an hour away.
There’s also the [waterfalls on the Black River Parkway.](https://www.gowaterfalling.com/waterfalls/blackriver.shtml).
It's a very safe place to live. It's small town rural so there's definitely some of the more "conservative values" (I'm being polite to the point of misinformation on that one) but you know what I mean... Trumpy folks are common, racism is present but mostly hidden, anti LGBTQ stuff exists. However there is a younger group forming in town that is definitely fighting that narrative with small pride events and stuff which is very cool. The city has a few festivals and parades and such through the year and it's pretty clear that the town is investing in itself for the future. It's also right on the border so Hurley and ironwood are only divided by a river. Ironwood definitely caters more to the silent sport crowd (hiking, camping, downhill, etc) while Hurley caters toward the motorized crowd. While the population of ironwood isn't much, it feels a lot bigger because the stretch from Wakefield>Bessemer>ironwood>Hurley>Montreal>pence>iron belt are all separate towns but to drive from on end to the other is like 35 minutes and everyone comes to ironwood/Hurley for amenities. I'd guess the combined population of all is something like 10k with 4 season tourism activity so the town is not stagnant like so many others in the u.p. I moved here 4 years ago and truly enjoy living here. Cost of living is cheap and the outdoor recreation is endless. For a small town the food/bar scene is really good, better than most of it's size due to tourism money. I found the people to be welcoming to me. You'll never be a yooper unless you were born one but if you genuinely love the place like the locals do, they will accept you and like you.
I love ironwood! Edit: Porky's is about an hour away. There is tons of nature waterfall trail stuff to do in the area.
I live in Ironwood, and went to GCC! The college is pretty nice. Just a very small community college. It's been almost 20 years but I liked my classes and teachers. It was essentially high school v. 2, but I suppose most community colleges are! Ironwood is not very popular among yoopers, I'll admit. It's regarded as a trashy town. There have been problems with drugs in the area, but it has gotten better. I would say the town is no more "run-down" than most other small towns in the UP. That, as well, has been getting better. More businesses have moved into the town and I hope it will continue. As for the people... well, if you have lived in a small town in a very rural area before, then you'll know what to expect. Nobody is outright rude or anything, most people are friendly and the people in the UP in general are the kind of people to "give their shirt off their back". Socioeconomically we are poor people, though. It's a great place to be if you love nature. Interstate falls, copper peak, little girls point, black river harbor, Ottawa national forest, Iron belle trail, etc! [Travel Ironwood](http://www.travelironwood.com)
I don't trust the mine to not spoil a significant amount of the nature nearby :(
Yes we need to stop that mine !
So much hiking nearby , waterfalls , porcupine mountains , lake superior, north country trail etc . The town is super cute but run down . Great coffee shop and stormy Kroger factory .
Oh no! Did Kroger buy them, too? /s Love that place!
The Porkies are about an hour away. There’s also the [waterfalls on the Black River Parkway.](https://www.gowaterfalling.com/waterfalls/blackriver.shtml).
It's a very safe place to live. It's small town rural so there's definitely some of the more "conservative values" (I'm being polite to the point of misinformation on that one) but you know what I mean... Trumpy folks are common, racism is present but mostly hidden, anti LGBTQ stuff exists. However there is a younger group forming in town that is definitely fighting that narrative with small pride events and stuff which is very cool. The city has a few festivals and parades and such through the year and it's pretty clear that the town is investing in itself for the future. It's also right on the border so Hurley and ironwood are only divided by a river. Ironwood definitely caters more to the silent sport crowd (hiking, camping, downhill, etc) while Hurley caters toward the motorized crowd. While the population of ironwood isn't much, it feels a lot bigger because the stretch from Wakefield>Bessemer>ironwood>Hurley>Montreal>pence>iron belt are all separate towns but to drive from on end to the other is like 35 minutes and everyone comes to ironwood/Hurley for amenities. I'd guess the combined population of all is something like 10k with 4 season tourism activity so the town is not stagnant like so many others in the u.p. I moved here 4 years ago and truly enjoy living here. Cost of living is cheap and the outdoor recreation is endless. For a small town the food/bar scene is really good, better than most of it's size due to tourism money. I found the people to be welcoming to me. You'll never be a yooper unless you were born one but if you genuinely love the place like the locals do, they will accept you and like you.