Is there anything to do in Cedar Rapids? (Iowa City, Coralville: home, rent)

[BORGUSX]

Well, I'm living on campus at Mount Mercy in Cedar Rapids and to me, it seem like there isn't anything to do here! I guess that I'm looking at the wrong place just because I'm from a suburb of Minneapolis where I know there are a lot of things going on there! Esp. if you live in the Twin Cities metro area!

[pepe1]

Really? You're all of 150 miles from the Twin Cites and there is just magically nothing for you to do? Is the Twin Cites internationally renowned as the epicenter of entertainment?

You live on campus. Get involved. Play some intramural sports. Join some student clubs. Make some friends and go to some concerts, Hawkeye games, or check out local museums. Take a short trip to see the field of dreams, or the President Hoover Library, the lock and dams on the Mississippi...

[BORGUSX]

I meant that the Twin Cities have a lot of things going on, which I miss indeed! I'm on campus in Cedar Rapids, but CR seem like it doesn't have much to offer for me! Hiking, camping, watertubing, swimming, gun range, skydiving, museum, and etc... are things that I want to do, but it seem like CR doesn't offere any of these things! I only live here on campus for 28 days! What does Iowa City have to offer to me beside the U of I and the bars? P.S.I miss MN right now! Also, where I can find a decent job in CR since I already have little bit over a year in the fast food service job sector?!

[WoodwardGirl]

Well, you have discovered our little secret: there is absolutely nothing to do at any time in Cedar Rapids. The Community Calendar section of The Gazette (that's the newspaper in Cedar Rapids; it sounds as though you haven't run across it) had 6 pages of event listings in Thursday's Weekend section, but those are purely there to fool the ignorant. The calendar at iowa.com | Iowa Events Calendar: Search and Post Iowa Events is also just a front. The hiking trails and campsites listed at Cedar Rapids Convention&Visitors Bureau are just for show; no one actually uses them. The two area gun clubs, including http://www.ottercreeksc.com/, are deep undercover and it is impossible to find out information about them, as you can see. We do no skydiving at all in Iowa, as per Adventure Skydiving Iowa Cedar Rapids Museum of Art - Information, Home, National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library (NCSML) - Cedar Rapids, Iowa USA, Grant Wood Studio - 5 Turner Alley -- and those are just the facades put up in Cedar Rapids -- don't get me started on all the museums that Iowa City and Coralville and other surrounding towns CLAIM to have! Even the small, little-known towns in the corridor partake of all this hoodwinking... look at Amana Colonies and their alleged Oktoberfest next weekend...

Seriously... a little Google search was all it took to find this stuff... that might be a skill you'll want to practice for school, too? Good luck... a move can be hard, especially when you've known another area most of your life, but just get out there and do it -- happiness isn't about where you are, it's about who you are. If you're here, make it your own! If you're having trouble making friends, seeking out some of these areas where you have interest, expertise and experience is sure to help. And if there are other things you've always wanted to try but haven't had the chance, well, now is the time!

[esya]

I have a sister and brother in the area and visit. The best time we had was going to a winery near the Amish area one afternoon, checking out the admittedly average wine, and listening to good music while gazing over the hills and fields. I passed on the night out dancing with her and her boyfriend. I love the gardens, the rivers (canoing in the region is great), the moral hunting in the spring. Ethnic festivals are really really big if you go over the river to western Illinois. I spent several years in Champaign Illinois and if you are from the city it is a tough transition, but we (my Bronx NY husband and I) managed to find nice and very nice hiking spots--but don't ask the locals, find your local treehugger chapter to get the best info. State parks may be overrun with the beer and television crowd also. Also don't forget your bug repellent. You are a short drive from other states, also.

[Chicago60614]

well the Twin Cities area has 3,000,000 people. The Cedar Rapids / Iowa City area has 300,000. That's a pretty huge difference.

I grew up in Iowa City and always found stuff to do in town. I didn't do a lot in Cedar Rapids, but I went there from time to time and it seemed like a nice relaxing city. You just have to do a little more homework and find stuff in smaller areas. I live in Chicago now (9,500,000 people) and there's a TON to do, it's just a lot bigger...

[Minnehahapolitan]

I like Cedar Rapids for what it is, but I don't think you can use its size as an excuse for what I find to be the epitome of boringness. I have been to plenty of towns smaller than Cedar Rapids, and there is more to do in them. You end up in Iowa City alot. There is a nice museum, but it is small. Downtown was disappointing, as were the city neighborhoods. It seems to me the city was de facto abandoned for the Mall. I hope the city finds something to catch onto, establishes a entertainment district, et. cetera. It is a nice city otherwise. I feel bad dogging Iowa, but CR has to be one of my least favorite cities in the state.

[justsayit]

There is absolutely no good reason to live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

[WoodwardGirl]

Originally Posted by Minnehahapolitan

I like Cedar Rapids for what it is, but I don't think you can use its size as an excuse for what I find to be the epitome of boringness. I have been to plenty of towns smaller than Cedar Rapids, and there is more to do in them.

And I will say again that apparently you are looking for something specific to you and just because you are not finding it in Cedar Rapids it does not mean the city is boring. It means that it doesn't cater to whatever it is you need to be amused and entertained. Or it means that you are not willing to look around enough to find those things which may indeed be catered to, after all. You really need to be more specific in order to help others get a true picture of the place -- what was it you were wanting to do in Cedar Rapids that you couldn't do and had to go to Iowa City or a smaller town to do? Not everyone is looking for the same things you are looking for (don't end a sentence in a preposition). For example, I go to Iowa City for the downtown and Riverbank arts festivals, and for the big sewing/fabric store on the southwest side. Take those things away, and if I were forced to spend time in Iowa City, I might find it boring, but that doesn't make it a boring place, it just means it doesn't have what *I* find interesting. I grew up in a town of 1000 people that basically had no retail or restaurants and while it was often angst-provoking, frustrating, and sometimes downright funny to live there, it was never boring TO ME. But I recently spent four days at a conference in Kansas City and, while the conference was fascinating, the "free time" would have been incredibly boring if I hadn't taken several good books; I couldn't wait to get home; the only things open outside the conference hours were shopping, restaurants and bars and none of those held any interest for me. That doesn't make Kansas City a boring place.

[Minnehahapolitan]

First, It is kinda rude to correct peoples' grammer, especially on the internet. There will always be people who find the lining of the city and derive some sort of pleasure from it. People always find something to do, but Cedar Rapids doesn't make that very easy. Downtown was depressing, and most activity has moved out to the mall. I wasn't looking for new York City, but I think most of us would expect a city of 250,000 to have some pedestrian life, a few bars or patios, a place to stay the night downtown, a unique neighborhood. It just wasn't there. I think by most peoples' definition, that would constitute as a boring place. While boringness is subjective, you have to look at what a majority of people would likely feel. For the record, I had to go to Mt. Vernon's Lincoln Cafe to find a top-notch meal. It made me kinda sad.