I'm relocating to Dubuque, Iowa (Des Moines, Rockford: fit in, college, gym)

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by mayhem_223

Thats las vegas. Thats different kind of town. We don't compare apples to oranges.

Psssttt :::whispers::: I was being silly. It was a joke.

[Get to Know Dubuque]

Let’s be honest: what people have learned from this thread is that not every community is right for everyone. Life is full of choices and that is a good thing! If you live in a community, regardless of where, and you do not like it then perhaps you should look for another community that better suits your needs. Quality of life outside of work is important. I also suggest you thoroughly research a potential community before you accept a role and relocate. It's important to like your community as well as your new career opportunity. I have lived in major metros and small towns and both have their advantages and disadvantages. Going on for pages about what's right and wrong with a city (Dubuque, Vegas or Galena) doesn’t really help anyone. Many people choose to call Dubuque home and enjoy it. There is nothing wrong with that.

[SurferGal]

After hearing all the negative comments about Dubuque I might stay there on my way back down to the South. I love small hick towns. I can walk around later at night with my family and not have to worry about being carjacked, robbed or killed. I can't say that about Chicago (which I refuse to drive through ever again), NYC or Los Angeles.

Having lived all over the country and been in 33 states, I can honestly say give me hick rural towns any day. The people are more genuine, it's far quieter and safer for young children.

[mayhem_223]

Originally Posted by SurferGal

After hearing all the negative comments about Dubuque I might stay there on my way back down to the South. I love small hick towns. I can walk around later at night with my family and not have to worry about being carjacked, robbed or killed. I can't say that about Chicago (which I refuse to drive through ever again), NYC or Los Angeles.

Having lived all over the country and been in 33 states, I can honestly say give me hick rural towns any day. The people are more genuine, it's far quieter and safer for young children.

small town fan boy's bias - Dubuque is quite safe but it's not that safe especially at eagle point park area, I wouldn't say you wouldn't have to worry there about being carjacked at all. Every large city has good and bad neighborhood and general rule apply when walking in the city especially at night - don't walk alone, walk only in busy streets and don't look like a tourist. And saying only people from small towns are genuine is a stupid generalization.

[mayhem_223]

Originally Posted by Get to Know Dubuque

Let’s be honest: what people have learned from this thread is that not every community is right for everyone. Life is full of choices and that is a good thing! If you live in a community, regardless of where, and you do not like it then perhaps you should look for another community that better suits your needs. Quality of life outside of work is important. I also suggest you thoroughly research a potential community before you accept a role and relocate. It's important to like your community as well as your new career opportunity. I have lived in major metros and small towns and both have their advantages and disadvantages. Going on for pages about what's right and wrong with a city (Dubuque, Vegas or Galena) doesn’t really help anyone. Many people choose to call Dubuque home and enjoy it. There is nothing wrong with that.

your're right - for me personally Iowa isn't bad, I enjoyed some visits to Iowa City, even Davenport just not living in Dubuque. As for job decision, relocation, not everyone has that luxury, especially when unemployed and out of college. And from standalone research on the Internet, you can't determine what is life like at Dubuque, yes there are forums including this that provide both positive and negative views but you cannot get the whole picture from there until you live there for a while. I have lived before in small town in America before living in Chicagoland - western Massachussets, Springfield-Hartford area and while you won't find there big city or suburban life, the quality of life there is much higher than in Dubuque. And believe me, its cheap there except east from Worcester. Once you're closer to Boston it gets very expensive.
But I think the biggest issue is not whats in Dubuque, but how far it is isolated from other population centres but not big enough to substitute on its own. It takes at least 1.5 h to drive to Madison or 1 hour to Davenport, 4 hours to Chicago. It doesn't help the road between Galena and Freeport is inconvenient and has no bypasses around small towns but its more of Illinois's fault than Iowa. The state highways around Dubuque in Iowa and Wisconsin are decent all way to the towns (I dunno about 52 to Minneapolis), cannot be said the same for Illinois once you leave East Dubuque-Galena section until you pass Freeport.

[tfbns]

well as to race dubuque went from less than 1% black in 1990 to over 4% in 2010,
while the city population went from 57,538 in 1990 to 57,637 in 2010

diamond jo casino pic below

[SurferGal]

Originally Posted by mayhem_223

small town fan boy's bias - Dubuque is quite safe but it's not that safe especially at eagle point park area, I wouldn't say you wouldn't have to worry there about being carjacked at all. Every large city has good and bad neighborhood and general rule apply when walking in the city especially at night - don't walk alone, walk only in busy streets and don't look like a tourist. And saying only people from small towns are genuine is a stupid generalization.

Well Mayhem - let's see, I've lived all over the country. NYC, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle so I guess that gives me a good grasp of what cities are good and what areas are bad for me.

Stupid generalization? Sounds like you are making a stupid statement.

I didn't say all people in the rural towns are genuine but more than often they are. I've met more socially inept, rude, ill-mannered, mentally ill suckups in big cities than in small rural towns.

[mayhem_223]

Originally Posted by SurferGal

Well Mayhem - let's see, I've lived all over the country. NYC, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle so I guess that gives me a good grasp of what cities are good and what areas are bad for me.

Stupid generalization? Sounds like you are making a stupid statement.

I didn't say all people in the rural towns are genuine but more than often they are. I've met more socially inept, rude, ill-mannered, mentally ill suckups in big cities than in small rural towns.

You've met more rude people because you've been in bigger population areas. The same could go for meeting more nice people since more people = more opportunities.

It not uncommon to meet a lot of people in hurry or busy who come off as rude to small town folk. And you could have lived all over the country, in NYC, LA but if you only stayed in a hole, in one place in all of those places then being all over the country does not make you an expert or experienced.

And lets have here an example. Rio Di Janeiro in Brazil. its mix urban area of poor and rich, bad desperate and good laid back. Youre statement is like you would never go there for a visit, because there is a lot of thugs steeling purses from tourist on streets, despite safe resorts, beautiful beaches and skyline. And we could say Americans are "more often better mannered, more well educated, nicer" compared to Brazilians because crime incident in the USA is lower than in Brazil, just like in your analogy between small hick towns and large cities. Its very backward, ignorant view on life.

[Robeaux]

Originally Posted by tfbns

well as to race dubuque went from less than 1% black in 1990 to over 4% in 2010,
while the city population went from 57,538 in 1990 to 57,637 in 2010

diamond jo casino pic below

Not to split hairs, but that's the aquarium...the casino is to the right in that picture.

As for DBQ, I moved here from ATL 2 years ago for a job at IBM. I haven't regretted the move once. My family (wife & four kids) are fitting in nicely. They do miss their friends back in GA, but they've all met new friends here.

The consensus among the family is that the two things we miss the most are Chick-fil-a and Golden Corral. They have both in Cedar Rapids and we take a trip out there every now & then to get our fix.

[Robeaux]

Originally Posted by SurferGal

Well Mayhem - let's see, I've lived all over the country. NYC, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle so I guess that gives me a good grasp of what cities are good and what areas are bad for me.

Stupid generalization? Sounds like you are making a stupid statement.

I didn't say all people in the rural towns are genuine but more than often they are. I've met more socially inept, rude, ill-mannered, mentally ill suckups in big cities than in small rural towns.

Amen!

Rep for you!