Life in Cedar Rapids area?

[ceeboe]

As my job search continues, it looks like the likely hood of having to move out of Des Moines seems evident. I've gotten an unofficial job offer for a company that is based out of Cedar Rapids. Some members on here have been awesome for answering some quick questions, but I thought I would ask the mass member base as well.

What are the bad parts of town / good parts of town? Good complexes for renting, townhouse or apartment? Should I consider Coralville or is it too much a college town that I may risk renting next to partiers? I've heard SW Cedar Rapids is good, but isn't that next or by the smoke stack factories. We liked Marion when we visted a number of years ago, but that seems to be almost 50 mins away from Iowa City.

I'm open ears on knowing anything I need to know. I will have a 6 year old needing to find a school and probably child care as well befor and after school. We like the residential feel of what Ankeny, Urbandale, Altoona gives.

 

[4429 mcc]

Dont do it man....I know there are alot of people from the CR here but central iowa is worlds away from the eastern side. Lived there for 2 year couldnt wait to leave.

Sorry if I've offended anyone...JMHO

 

[Flag Guy]

Hmmm you will drown in Hawkeye **** there, but otherwise a decent town for a 6 year old I guess...

Don't do the SW, I'd hate to have your kid become a Washington Warrior one day... (North East represent yo Kennedy Cougars!)

As for very specific advice, sorry I pretty much only spend the holidays there anymore... and never owned / rented myself.

I lived in Robins, though thats the north side of town (next to Marion and Hiawatha), decent up there but if you're looking to go to Iowa City that adds a few minutes to your drive. Just a few minutes from 380 though... and decent schools

Shopping is probally better on the North East side of town, entertainment / services / hospitals are on the south side.

You've heard right about the smells... Cedar Rapids calls itself the City of Five Seasons, but residents tend to call it the City of Five Smells. Being on the South Side you'd certainly catch the smell of the corn sweatener plant or whatever... as well as the cereal plant. You may be safe from the Dump... (I forget what the other 2 smells are)

It's a bit of a dull place if you're in high school / college, but a decent place for younger kids. Lots of parks, you've got minor leauge baseball, hockey and i think maybe even basketball now??? number of parks and pools, and there are sometimes concerts in the park in both CR and Marion. Hiawatha has it's annual fair (Hog Wild Days), there is the CR Freedom Festivle and the like

Watch out for the Traffic on Blairs Ferry and Collins road though

 

[erikbj]

Not sure if your job is in CR or I.C. - but if you are going to work in IC, live in IC or Coralville - the quality restuarants and entertainment will make up for the higher cost of living over what CR has to offer.

If you are going to be in CR, I live in Hiawatha (north part of town), there are some good quiet areas for raising kids. I would recommend getting on the NE side of CR (by Viola elementary school) or get into Marion or Hiawatha. Coralville or North Liberty could be alternatives if your job is on the southside of town - but the commute would get old if you work on the northside. Stay out of town town or the southside.

It really depends on how much you want to spend too.

 

[Mr Janny]

Stay away from the Coe College area.

 

[keepngoal]

SW = Jefferson not Washington :skeptical:

-keep

 

[clonomaniac]

What are the bad parts of town / good parts of town?

Bad areas: South East Side, South West Side
Good areas: North East Side, Marion, Hiwatha, North West Side

Bad parts: Ignorant Hawk fans, Flood affected areas, dying or dead downtown, no clubbing for younger crowd
Good parts: Fewer but smart Cyclone fans, close to Iowa City for college crowd

Good complexes for renting, townhouse or apartment?

Buy a house on the North East side right away, don't even look at townhouses!

Should I consider Coralville or is it too much a college town that I may risk renting next to partiers?

Buy a house in the North East part of Cedar Rapids, trust me - you won't regret it.. Cedar Rapids will grow towards North.

I've heard SW Cedar Rapids is good, but isn't that next or by the smoke stack factories.

That's BS, South West is living in a dump. Its the dead part of the town.

We liked Marion when we visted a number of years ago, but that seems to be almost 50 mins away from Iowa City.

Marion is not bad, Hiawatha is better IMO

I'm open ears on knowing anything I need to know. I will have a 6 year old needing to find a school and probably child care as well befor and after school. We like the residential feel of what Ankeny, Urbandale, Altoona gives.

Once again, living in North East Cedar Rapids would be ideal for you with kids.


Any questions, don't hesitate to PM me.

Oh, if I were you I wouldn't move from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids (assuming you live in Des Moines now). I moved away from Cedar Rapids. My only problem was the flood and not-so-diverse community. Des Moines, IMO, is a lot more diverse but if that's not what you are looking for than Cedar Rapids might actually be better for you.

 

[OWLCITYCYFAN]

When we were moving back ten years ago, we looked in Cedar Rapids but just couldn't pull the trigger and ended up in Iowa City, primarily for the school district (my eldest is a freshman at City High). My observation is that NW Cedar Rapids, around 42nd Street west of Edgewood is a decent neighborhood full of young families. That area eventually feeds into Kennedy HS, which I see as preferable to Jeff or Wash. JMHO, and I don't live there...

If you'd like your children to attend a smaller school district with quality facilities, maybe check out Tiffin (Clear Creek) or Solon. There's not much in either town, but they're fast growing and close to both IC & CR. Again JMO, but I'm not a fan of Coralville and I HATE North Liberty; however both feed into the fine Iowa City West High School. It's nearly a certainty that a new HS will be constructed in NL within the next five years (still ICCSD) to go along with new elementaries (Van Allen) and middle (North Central).

 

[cytech]

marion(and linn-mar) and the SW side (college community school district) are the areas with the highest property taxes.

Never rented here in the area. Of course if you are going to rent then the taxes don't matter to much. I would suggest Hiawatha robins, or the NE side of Cedar Rapids then marion after that.

As has been stated unless you get a downtown condo or apartment avoid the downtown area for housing.

 

[Flag Guy]

SW = Jefferson not Washington :skeptical:

-keep

I thought he said SE but either way... Jeff sucks too, just in a different way :wink:

Washington = Rich snobs
Jeff = bit more ghetto...

Stereotyping maybe but... some truth to it

 

[benjay]

Cedar Rapids is divided into quadrants, NE, NW, SW, SE. Downtown is considered in the SE quadrant, although it's fairly accessible from anywhere in CR and its suburbs (except Marion, which is a pain to get to from anywhere in CR). The two major shopping hubs in CR are in the NE quadrant (i.e. Lindale mall) and the SW quadrant (i.e. Westdale mall). Downtown has ma and pa type of shops, as well as some good restaurants and several bars within walking distance of eachother.

I'm partial to the Northeast side. Very convenient for restaurants and shopping, good schools, and easy access to downtown (via I-380). I would classify Hiawatha and Robyns as fringe NE towns.

I've also lived in the SE and SW sides. There's some really nice neighborhoods in both, so don't rule them out. The simple fact is that CR is not that big. The longest commute you're looking at is probably about 20 mins, and that's only if you work in one extreme corner and commute to the opposite corner. (unless you are working in IC, in which case, you will be best off in a southern quadrant or near I-380 if you choose a northern quadrant)

And the smells. When the wind's right, and they're making cereal, you'll just have to deal with it. What it is.

 

[ICCLONEGAL]

I lived in one of the housing developments just west of Solon near Coralville and Lake Macbride Lakes. Wonderful recreation area and family freindly. Solon itself is a small town with an EXCELLENT school system. (And yes there were several of us Cyclone fans there). My 3 kids graduated from there and were part of State Championships in football, basketball and softball. Good arts programs, too. Wonderful church families. Basically a bedroom community but great oportunities both north and south (CR & IC)

Living in Coralville and comuting to CR could be a pain. During "rush hour" traffic is VERY heavy.

I live in Iowa City now. (And, yes, Cyclone fans can exist here)

 

[CRcyclone6]

all sides of town have good/bad parts. SE is my fave part from about 30th st out East. I live on NE in Kenwood, FRanklin, Wash district. Kenwood is not a very good elementary school. trying to open enroll to Pierce, Harding, Kennedy. I went to Jeff and grew up on SW side. from what I've heard Jeff is much rougher than what it used to be in the 80's. definately better shopping / food on NE side.

 

[CRLCy]

Born and Raised in CR --->
I'm biased since I lived in the Northeast Part of Town all of my life.

Great Elementary School - Pierce, Northeast Side, off of 42nd Street, near Kennedy. Both of my girls went there.

Kennedy is a great school, my oldest goes there as a sophmore, I went there as well. Harding is a good middle school.

Hiawatha is another area, and the middle school and high school is Kennedy which is good.

You do need to prepare yourself for "hawks" everywhere. Some are nice, others not so nice, all of them love hating on the cyclones. Gets a bit tiring.

I left for the twin cities for 8 years, and came back to raise a family in CR, so - I love it.

for schools, i'd say NE / Hiawatha, then LinnMar (Marion) areas. Then NW..
Good Luck - let me know if you need any help with job searches, as my fiance has great recruiter contacts.

P.S. there are many more cyclones than people think in CR -- The ISU band came into a band competion in the 5 seasons center, and they started playing the fight song, and about 1/5 of the crowd stood up..

 

[benjay]

all sides of town have good/bad parts.

very true

Probably my last choice would be Marion, to be honest. I find it inconvenient. The rest of the city is fine - just find a neighborhood and school that you like.

 

[ISUAlum05]

I live on the NE side of CR and work in Coralville - 30 minute commute. We are building a house on the far SW side, which will get me about 10 min. closer. The outer edge of CR, considered to be SW, is not a dump - it's all new developments. Best school districts are Linn-Mar (in Marion/Robins) or College Community (far SW/Ely/Fairfax). These are also more expensive. IC is a horrible city and I would never advise anyone to live there. North Liberty/Coralville - maybe, but they're significantly more expensive than CR. Personally, I would live in Marion if I didn't work in Coralville. Overall, CR is a great place to raise a family. Only other place I'd rather live is Ames.

 

[JHudd]

marion(and linn-mar) and the SW side (college community school district) are the areas with the highest property taxes.

Never rented here in the area. Of course if you are going to rent then the taxes don't matter to much. I would suggest Hiawatha robins, or the NE side of Cedar Rapids then marion after that.

As has been stated unless you get a downtown condo or apartment avoid the downtown area for housing.

Those are the only school districts I would look into in the area. I am also a tad biased since I graduated from Prairie HS but still have the majority of my family in the area and most others I know that went to the other schools in the area would say the same thing. College Community Schools has a great advantage being tied in with Kirkwood and also being just outside of town, IMO. SW still has its good areas but if you need to be close to a mall NE is where you want to be since Westdale is basically just a big building to hold a Chick-fil-a. The new apartments/condos/homes on the edge of CR and Fairfax are very nice and a nice area that is continuing to grow.

 

[ceeboe]

Wow, thanks all for the turn out.

Based off what I've heard, the best bet is looking NE if I stick with CR. My job would be in the southern part of CR right off 30 and Bowling St., but my fiance's job is yet unknow, and could be unknown. I may be in IC, or it may be in CR, that's yet to be determined. I would say that a 40 min commute would be too bad, but anything above that might not be worth it. We are going to look in Coralville as well, but wanted to be sure I don't get stuck around with college kids that disturb us.

It seems in CR the Kennedy, Pierce and the NE side have better schools? If I remember right I think City High and Iowa City West are good ones as well in the IC area too right?

CRLCy, and others, and connections to good recruiters would be helpful. I've got my job lined up if I end up taking it, but my fiance would not. I will say I'm not moving to CR my choice, it just so happens to be the only job I can find. Everything in Des Moines is too inflated and not hiring. Plus the company has an office in Ankeny, so if an if something opens up in there, then there is the chance of moving back.

 

[ISUAlum05]

For the best schools, try to get in the Linn-Mar district, which parts of the NE side fall in to.

 

[ICCLONEGAL]

Wow, thanks all for the turn out.

Based off what I've heard, the best bet is looking NE if I stick with CR. My job would be in the southern part of CR right off 30 and Bowling St., but my fiance's job is yet unknow, and could be unknown. I may be in IC, or it may be in CR, that's yet to be determined. I would say that a 40 min commute would be too bad, but anything above that might not be worth it. We are going to look in Coralville as well, but wanted to be sure I don't get stuck around with college kids that disturb us.

It seems in CR the Kennedy, Pierce and the NE side have better schools? If I remember right I think City High and Iowa City West are good ones as well in the IC area too right?

CRLCy, and others, and connections to good recruiters would be helpful. I've got my job lined up if I end up taking it, but my fiance would not. I will say I'm not moving to CR my choice, it just so happens to be the only job I can find. Everything in Des Moines is too inflated and not hiring. Plus the company has an office in Ankeny, so if an if something opens up in there, then there is the chance of moving back.

I would again recomend Solon area or Swisher/Shueyville area.