Quad Cities: Is it just me?

[TootsieWootsie]

So, it isn't just me? OK..well, one thing I have definitely noticed over and over is that the older women (not the men) will act like going from Rock Island to Davenport is an enormously huge burden and (may I quote) repeated I've been told "no, I never go over the bridge. I try and stay away from that side of the river." It's ridiculous.
QuadCityImages is right: each city has something spectacular to offer. So, why do they each act like an entity unto themselves? And, I have to say as I'm a geezer woman myself, it's the old ladies here. I just cannot get over it, frankly.
Houston is 50 miles across either way (from North to South, East to West) and you never hear such stupid remarks from people there--except people who live in the Clear Lake area, which is 20-25 miles from Houston, and they act just the same as the people in the individual towns in the Quad Cities: it's just too much to have to go into town to buy Xmas gifts or whatever.
Personally, I think these Quad City natives and others in areas like this miss out on the wonderful opportunities afforded them if they would just get off their duffs and go see. They're the losers, but I'm not going to be. Nuff said?
And, by the way, even I have heard about the divide in Kansas City. Was there once for 2 weeks and what a beautiful area that one is!

...and if a bridge keeps me from going to see the sights close by, I'll hang myself. How dumb I think.

[linicx]

TW, I would guess, being another old geezer that has to "cross a river", there are several different issues going on. And every one is a polite excuse.
1- I don't like to drive in heavy traffic. (Four cars on the same street is "heavy traffic" to some.)
2- Gas costs too much; I don't want to wear my car out.
3. I can find everything I want in Illinois; I don't need to go there.
4. I don't like it over there; I never did.
5. Dad told me never to cross the bridge; bad things will happen. (Dad said that 65 years ago).
6. I am afraid of water (my mother was terrified of bridges until the day she died).
7. I really cannot afford to spend the extra money.
8. I don't drive fast enough; I'll get killed.
9. I don't know how to drive around that town. I don't know where anything is.
0. There are too many drunker drivers on the roads today. I'll stay home. .

1. I have to stay home, I can't leave my ______________ .
2. I can't. I have to ___________________________ .
3. My grandkids are coming after school for the wedkend.
4. I have ______________ appointment.
5. I don't know how to merge into traffic.
6. I don't drive in rush hour.

The creative excuses people use to say "No" are endless. The bottom line is you are going to Iowa alone. Your water pals will not leave their personal 'comfort zone.'

The best excuse I ever heard to not leave town is: "I don't know how to drive around curves." (50 year old woman with 6 children. Every road leading out of town has a curve. Only her husband is capable of doing that! Her dh taught her how to drive, too.)

[djmidwest]

Think about why school districts seldom merge together. They only do so when forced by declining enrollment, tax base, etc. People tend to cling to the past when their future is uncertain. Few people embrace change especially the incumbent participants whose livelihood depends upon staying with the status quo. Blame it on ethnocentrism, egotism, or vested interest. Real change that is profound like consolidating government bodies unfortunately comes from the consensus of economic desperation, rather than cultural permission.
Too many people are making too much money with what we have. Political will is like the wind; it changes too often to make real change until someone goes bankrupt. The fiscal insolvency that is gripping many cities in Michigan is accelerating real change, albeit painfully. Just like the exodus of business and population shifts to the South and West created the rust belt, so to will consolidation of political entities accelerate when government debt is unsustainable. Only when local governments cannot raise taxes to cover shortfalls of state and federal spending will the joining of communities take place.

[linicx]

Of course we know Michigan's problems with the rust belt and population shift has nothing to do with the Quad Cities. As Q C is physically located in two states, it is very unlikely these schools systems will ever merge. Additionally the school districts on the Illinois side are much smaller; they could conceivably merge into one consolidated district, but it is most unlikely at this point. Considering what I know about the area, I doubt very much that school has anything to do with the original question.