This is a great place to live (with a few caveats)
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9/13/2018
I have lived around and worked in Marshalltown for nearly 15 years now, and I have lived in and around the area and the state for half my life.
Marshalltown is incredibly diverse, as the other reviews have said (negatively mostly, but I digress). The community college here brings in people from all over the world, and the low pay/hard work labor brings in the legal and "illegal" immigrants from south of the US Border and other areas too. The "white" folk in the area resent this despite the truth of the matter that without the immigrants in this town, it would literally withered away long ago along with the rest of the rural areas around it.
The cost of living here is quite low and reasonable. Real estate prices are affordable and there are options for low income. There is a support system for the homeless and food-insecure here that you don't see in most of the other rural areas outside of the larger cities. The shopping options and diverse food choices make this a very enjoyable place to live.
Now for the down side - the racial and cultural division.
I am saddened but not shocked by the racial tension here, as it is alive and well (and encouraged by many). The police force is largely white and enforces this ideal, although I will say in the last 5 or so years that has begun to change. The racist faction is bold and open here, and you should be prepared for it if you come here and you are not white, or if you have a mixed household. They are unashamed and openly hostile, and will be typically supported by the people around them. It has been the hardest thing to adjust to here after moving from Iowa City and other more diverse and accepting places.
There ARE a large number (and growing) of "hispanic" and "asian" business owners, and they are friendly, well spoken, and their stores are well stocked and friendly. But they are still the exception, not the rule (although it IS changing slowly over the last 5 years or so).
If you are an artist, LGBTQ, or other more open minded individual, you will find this place slightly hostile but beautiful and filled with promise. Things ARE changing for the better despite the current climate politically.
The school system here for children is not so hot, with challenges typical with rural and poor communities - underfunded, large class sizes, and racial tensions. You'll hear some of the angry white folks grumbling about high taxes but if you've lived -literally- anywhere else you know this is not true.
All in all, despite the negatives, this is a great place to live and I can easily recommend it, just with a caveat for the tensions. If you come prepared, you shouldn't really be bothered by it. The detractors and naysayers are gradually dying off, running off, or literally becoming outnumbered by sensible, honest, hard-working, open-minded people. :)
Jaz | Montour, IA