Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 8:30:54 GMT -5
Does anyone know anything about this area? DH is looking to apply for a really good job opportunity there. We did some preliminary research on the area and found that it's MUCH cheaper than where we currently live (NJ) - so much so that we'd be able to live off of just his salary quite nicely if he were to apply for and get this job. We also found that it's much less racially/ethnically diverse than what we're used to. If anyone lives around/in Cedar Rapids, can you let me know what the feel and attitude is? Are the surrounding towns better to live in than Cedar Rapids? Any information would be extremely helpful!
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Post by isabella on Feb 21, 2011 9:06:25 GMT -5
have you looked into the website .. www.city-data.com/ ... there is a forum for each state and larger cities. Scroll to the bottom of the homepage to click on the forums. I live in the midwest, not Iowa ... it will be a much slower pace than you are used to in NJ I would imagine. eta... good luck in your search.
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Urban Chicago
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Post by Urban Chicago on Feb 21, 2011 9:19:29 GMT -5
DH is from Cedar Rapids. Yes, it is super-white, but that is slowly changing. Big industries are food production and engineering. Great schools if you have kids. There was a flood 2 years ago that wiped out a good chunk of the downtown area, but that is being rebuilt, not just abandoned. It is a real city, not a trumped up suburb as some mid-western cities can be. Lots of higher ed, and Iowa City (with University of Iowa) is only about 20 minutes away. They have a very large Czeck population and a cool Czeck museum.
They also win the contest for the lamest city motto I've ever heard. It's the City of 5 seasons, the usual 4, plus one for "enjoying all the others".
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gooddecisions
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Post by gooddecisions on Feb 21, 2011 9:57:59 GMT -5
I've never been there, but there is a new movie opening this week called Cedar Rapids. It looks like it takes place there: www.imdb.com/title/tt1477837/
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Feb 21, 2011 10:00:35 GMT -5
I don't live in Cedar Rapids personally but from people who have lived there I hear it is absolutely beautiful and it's within driving distance of a lot of the major cities in that part of Iowa.
That being said I agree with Isabella that Iowa is going to be a much slower place than NJ.
I don't think Iowa isn't as ethnically diverse because we hate ethnic people, it's just that large chunks of Iowa are still family owned farm country. When you get into the bigger cities there is a lot more diversity because there are a lot more people living there.
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MN-Investor
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Post by MN-Investor on Feb 21, 2011 10:48:12 GMT -5
I lived in Iowa from age 13 thru college. We were about an hour away from Cedar Rapids, so didn't go there often. But Cedar Rapids had a good reputation within Iowa at that time, and the nearby University of Iowa certainly is a good college. With the election coming up, the presidential hopefuls have their eye on Iowa, so I know that that can get a little tiring. Check out the Cedar Rapids Gazette - thegazette.com/ - to get a flavor of what the city is like.
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keepinthefaith
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Post by keepinthefaith on Feb 21, 2011 11:02:57 GMT -5
I went to college in CR and loved it. I can't compare it to NJ because I've never been there, but I was happy having moved there from a small town. It's not incredibly diverse, but it could surprise you. You do have your good and bad parts of town just like anywhere else. I would recommend against buying a place until you've lived there long enough to know what areas are "good" and "bad." One of the things I liked the most is that it's easy to navigate. It's split one way by the interstate and in the other direction by the river. All of the addresses are specified as NW, NE, SW and SE so it's super-easy to find places. CR has lots of fun yearly events and other neat things to do nearby. The Amana Colonies are a short drive away, as well. You have Cedar Falls/Waterloo to the North and Iowa City to the South. Des Moines is also just over two hours to the West. Two very popular nearby towns to live in are Marion and Solon.
By the way, the joke in CR is that the 5th season is Construction Season! There's a lot of that.
One warning is that it does smell funny sometimes because of the General Mills factory. We used to stand outside and joke that we could tell what kind of cereal they were making that day.
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phil5185
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Post by phil5185 on Feb 21, 2011 11:21:57 GMT -5
We also found that it's much less racially/ethnically diverse than what we're used to. If anyone lives around/in Cedar Rapids, can you let me know what the feel and attitude is? Are the surrounding towns better to live in than Cedar Rapids? Coe College in CR is well respected. (I went to Iowa U, about 20 miles south). CR is about 85% european - german, norwegian, czech - europeans settled there for the farming (excellent heavy soil, if you are a gardener). Nice surrounding towns, Vinton, Marion, Swisher - for those of us that prefer villages to cities. You probably know - don't buy/live near the River.
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gobermitcheese
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Post by gobermitcheese on Feb 21, 2011 12:52:10 GMT -5
I live in CR! Most people my age say that this is a very boring city but Iowa City is close and an interesting college town. We tend to have low taxes but the mayor likes to spend money on insane projects like the following. $300 million flood protection riverside ampetheater New world class library and the list goes on.......
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gobermitcheese
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Post by gobermitcheese on Feb 21, 2011 12:59:00 GMT -5
[Coe College in CR is well respected. ] Sorry Phil I can't agree with you on this one. I went to Cornell and we have a long rivalry with Coe. This is what I heard on campus "If you can't go to college go to Coe".
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MN-Investor
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Post by MN-Investor on Feb 21, 2011 13:18:53 GMT -5
"We tend to have low taxes but the mayor likes to spend money on insane projects like the following.
$300 million flood protection" I saw the flood pictures. Cedar Rapids, along with many other cities in Iowa, took a major financial hit from the floods of 2008. I would think this is a good thing to spend money on.
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gobermitcheese
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Post by gobermitcheese on Feb 21, 2011 13:44:21 GMT -5
I saw the flood pictures. Cedar Rapids, along with many other cities in Iowa, took a major financial hit from the floods of 2008. I would think this is a good thing to spend money on. Read more: notmsnmoney.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=finance&action=post&thread=3678&page=1#ixzz1EcUiyQQtI was there and I saw the same pictures you did. The floods nearly destroyed Downtown CR. However the army corp of engineers recommended a flood protection plan that for whatever reason only protected half the city. This plan would only cost I think $100 million and that is what the city could get federal funding for. FYI Cedar Rapids lives on FEMA money, god forbid we ever pay for anything with local money. The rest would be paid for by extending the local option sales tax or "LOST", funny they call the money lost, for 20 more years. We passed the LOST after the flood to pay for flood recovery and the city has done nothing but mismanage the money.
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gobermitcheese
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Post by gobermitcheese on Feb 21, 2011 13:47:27 GMT -5
I forgot to add the most wasteful project. The mayor wants us to buy a convention center downtown to revitalize downtown. The city is spending millions of dollars to buy and renovate a hotel no private company wanted. It is a sure thing, no way the city will lose money.......
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Feb 21, 2011 13:48:59 GMT -5
I live in Iowa. If you do move there, make sure you are not in a flood plain.
The Czeck Village took a major hit from the floods. Cedar Rapids is still recovering from the flooding of 2008.
Iowa is not a diverse population. I grew up here and then moved to the Denver area. Came back about 18 months ago. Life is so much slower here, but I have adapted and love. I actually dislike the traffic in CR now!
I have cousins living there and they love it. Of course, they moved from small town Iowa to the big city.
Not sure houses in places like Marion or Hiawatha would be cheaper but they might be newer than the places you would find in CR itself.
I don't know what property taxes are like in NJ, but compared to CO, they are high in Iowa.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Feb 21, 2011 13:56:52 GMT -5
ROFLMAO - that is lame.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2011 8:27:44 GMT -5
thanks for your feedback everyone. To the person who said compared to CO that property taxes in IA are high, property taxes in our area average $5-6k/year (average home prices in our area are around $400k) so anything that's even half that is good to us! DH would welcome the slow pace of IA, and I grew up in sleepy PA suburbia so I'd be able to deal. DH and I talked about it at length, and we agreed that we'd be working our asses off just to get a measly 2-3 bed 1.5-2 bath house with practically no property. We both want a yard for our kid(s) to play in and I'd love to have a vegetable garden, but we'd have to shell out at least half a million dollars to get that here. That's just not going to happen. He says he's going to apply for the job.
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runewell
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Post by runewell on Feb 22, 2011 9:16:37 GMT -5
Nothing wrong with Iowa, I'm in the western suburbs of Des Moines and I can't speak to Cedar Rapids as I've only popped by there once or twice. But the people are friendly and the cost of living is low. You'll be close to Iowa City and within a couple hours from DM and 3-4 hours west of Chicago, if that does anything for you.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Feb 22, 2011 13:12:24 GMT -5
Be prepared for very cold winter and hot summers. I love spring and fall here.
The house I bought in Iowa cost $148K. In CO, it would easily have cost $500K.
I'm sure Cedar Rapids costs a bit more than I paid because I live in a small town. You should be able to get the house you want in CR or an outlying area.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2011 17:44:25 GMT -5
Update: DH "chickened out". He really wants to be a librarian at a research library/university, not an IT manager. He was also advised by an academic librarian that he should really just focus on librarian jobs if that's what he ultimately wants. So we're staying put for now.
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