Would love to hear your views on Council Bluffs (Iowa City: fit in, apartment)

[DSMGuy]

I was in downtown Omaha and was trying to find I80 and somehow took a wrong turn and ended up in a seedy part of Council Bluffs. I was not impressed. That will probably change with Google and the spillover growth from Omaha, but I was much more impressed with Omaha.

[El Rhino]

There's a good record store in downtown Council Bluffs, but I forgot what it was called.

I haven't been out in a while, but I used to go to the Omaha area a couple times a year to go to the record stores. Antiquarium (probably the coolest store ever), Drastic Plastic, Homer's, Dirt Cheap and that one in Council Bluffs. I need to do that again sometime soon, always a great way to spend the afternoon, flipping through records in Omaha.

[Chris19]

Council Bluffs does not seem as attractive as Omaha west of 72nd Street, but I think that the city has potential and I have noticed improvement in the past five years of driving through. It would be nice to see 29 and 80 get fixed. I do not like how the 29 North and 80 interchange is configured and despise it when going to Kansas City from South Dakota.

[Steve_W]

Originally Posted by Chris19

Council Bluffs does not seem as attractive as Omaha west of 72nd Street, but I think that the city has potential and I have noticed improvement in the past five years of driving through. It would be nice to see 29 and 80 get fixed. I do not like how the 29 North and 80 interchange is configured and despise it when going to Kansas City from South Dakota.

They are currently or will be soon adding lanes and bypasses to correct some of that.

[EastCB]

I have been in seedy areas of Des Moines, Omaha , etc. That does not make the whole town seedy. Give us a break and please visit the whole town before you make a judgement!!!!

[DSMGuy]

I didn't say the whole town was like that, but it totally took me by surprise as I just passed Qwest Center and all the cool stuff in DT O, and was immediately in a pretty rough area of CB.

[tamitrail]

Back to me, the OP. How about living in Omaha and commuting to Council Bluffs. Is that feasible? I know the taxes seem to be higher in Omaha. Your thoughts?

[metro223]

I think the reason you ended up in a seedy area of Council Bluffs immidiately is because downtown Council Bluffs isn't right on the river, you have to go inland a little bit before you reach the commercial district with the Mid-America Center and what-not. Could be wrong there...

Personally, I think Council Bluffs is a really good alternative for those who live in/are moving to Omaha but don't want to actually live in Omaha. It's cool because the Eastern side of the city is in the Loess Hills... nice and scenic.

[Chris19]

I think that Council Bluffs is underrated due to the growth that West Omaha is experiencing. I think that over time, Council Bluffs will hold its own and grow. An advantage that I see is that the commute from Council Bluffs to a job in downtown/central Omaha would be much shorter than driving in West Omaha (in the 168th and Dodge area or the like).

It will be nice to see the improvements being made to the interstates in Council Bluffs. I am not a fan of the older infrastructure (which is not set up for the traffic that is on there in the current age and would have been fine in the 1960s). Getting onto 80 from 29 either going north or south, I sometimes grit my teeth, due to it being hard at times to merge with traffic. The improvements will make driving through the area more enjoyable and easier.

Sometime, when I am in the Omaha area, I will have to see more of Council Bluffs. Usually, I go through Council Bluffs when I am in a hurry to get somewhere else. Every city has its good and bad.

[cheese_procedure]

My fiancee and I just moved to CB about a year ago. It looks a bit different after you lived here for awhile. It is overshadowed by Omaha, and it sounds like a lot of people in CB don't care for Omaha. But then again, I've heard a lot of people in Omaha not care for people in CB. Also, CB could do a lot better in keeping the city cleaner.

We moved from a small town to here (we've also lived in Iowa City) We moved to get away from rednecks and ignorant people. We wanted art and social culture...we didn't find much at all. We found that there are a lot of wonderful, smart people here, but there is a large redneck population.

I really don't want to step on any toes, we are hippie types and rednecks tend to really not like us. There is a lot of white trash here too, but we grew up around that, so we are kind of used to that. There doesn't seem to be much of a housing market here, and rent for apartments seems high. It is also hard to find a place to live if you have pets as well.

Overall, we have decided to move from here, but this town could really be a great fit for some people. Seems like a lot of people are really happy here.