I found a bunch of pictures online that do a pretty good job of expressing the essence of life in Iowa City.
The city has around 100,000 in the urban area (63,000 in the city), and is located in eastern Iowa.
The city was founded in 1839, and laid out to be the new capitol of the state of Iowa. Iowa City became the capitol when Iowa officially joined the United States, but the capitol was moved to Des Moines in 1857. To help Iowa City out for taking the capitol away, the state government let the new University of Iowa be placed in Iowa City. This is what the city has been known for ever since.
The city today has roughly 63,000 people, with 30% of the city having German background, followed by Irish with 15%. 5% of the city is
Black, 6% Asian, and 4% hispanic.
The urban area has 2 public high schools, a Catholic high school, 3 middle schools and 18 elementary schools. The school enrollment is roughly 11,500, while the University of Iowa has an enrollment of around 30,000. This makes for a very young average age in the city.
The urban area has grown from:
1900: 14,000
1930: 20,000
1950: 35,000
1970: 62,000
2006: 108,000
Iowa City has a rating of 146 as far as the number of gays/lesbians reported living in the city, with the national average being 100. This ranks Iowa City as having one of the most concentrated populations of gays/lesbians in the country.
Crime in Iowa City is relatively rare, with murders only happening once every 2-3 years.
A few pictures from the late 1800's and early 1900's:
One of the Iowa City high schools: City High
The city has numerous musical and art festivals during the summer. Most popular is the Jazz Fest. There is also live music every Friday night during the summer in a downtown plaza that normally draws a few thousand people.
Iowa City was the center of the hippie action in Iowa during the 60's. It still lives on today to a large degree. It's a very bohemian city.
Iowa City's favorite hobby is protesting. The city is around 70% democratic and 10% Republican. It's always been a very tolerant and open minded place, which is the main reason it has such a large gay population. Most people in Iowa City either love it, or hate it.
The city collected thousands of signatures in 1985 and issued an ordinance banning any and all nuclear weapons from the city. They were protesting the Cold War, nuclear weapons, and the United States government. The federal government use to ship nuclear materials across the country using Interstate 80, which passed through Iowa City. The city enacted the resolution to tell the government they are no longer welcome to ship any war materials on that route. It was just a form of protest, and the government never responded. The signs are still up on entrance points to the city.
Englert in 1915:
Englert today:
The theatre was torn in 2 back in the 50's to make a 2-screen movie theatre. A few years ago the city bought back the property and spent money to have it restored to one large auditorium where a very lively theatre production has begun putting on performances all year.
The county courthouse from the 1930's:
I had to go there when I was 16 and caught drinking.....
Typical bar:
There are around 25-30 bars in the center of town.
Manhole cover downtown:
There are many different sayings...
There are 3 different bus agencies in the area. Iowa City, Coralville, and Cambus. Together they deliver around 5,500,000 rides per year. Quite high for such a small area. Cambus delivers over 3,000,000 rides per year and is completely free to anyone and everyone who wants to use it. They have around 10 different routes that go everywhere in the central area.
Bye Iowa City!
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Thinking about Iowa City? Here are some pics if anyone's interested
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