Quad City Photo Thread (Davenport, Bettendorf: store, slum, activity)

[ElleTea]

I don't think such a thread to discuss the negativity here is appropriate. That is not the intent of this forum. Please take such discussions to DM or drop it.

[Patz0709]

One thing that may be holding the Quad Cities back (in comparison to Des Moines or Madison) is the fact that it is composed of several individual political units: four cities, I don't know how many counties, and two states, all of whom are competing against each other on come level for jobs and money and population. The Hampton roads area of Virginia, while larger and more cosmopolitan than the Quad Cities, has the same issues: Virginia Beach and Norfolk cannot agree on light rail funding so the system stops at the city limits, Newport News and Suffolk fuss over the connecting infrastructure, Chesapeake sucks shoppers from Hampton, etc. etc. Meanwhile, Madison and Des Moines are single entities and can pool their resources into one (sweeter) pot when it comes time to lobby. Do you feel this is a valid point?

[ElleTea]

The Des Moines metro is made up of several individual cities as well, and it spans two counties, so revenue is not pooled together for the greater good, really.

[Patz0709]

It is always good when neighbors can cooperate. That is not always the case.

[jrs1966]

The Quad Cities seems to suffer from two problems. One is the lack of coordination between multiple cities in two different states. The other is the region's stagnant economic outlook. It seems the Quad Cities is still very reliant on manufacturing to keep the place alive. I just don't think most local economies based on that plan work very well in the long run.

[atler8]

Yes, the lack of coordination has been problematic in the past & I think that the leaders in the Quad cities have recognized & learned from their past errors.
As a result, I have seen evidence of a major adjustment in attitudes. For example, they have worked together to protect the interest of the Rock Island Arsenal which is a huge employer & which they feared was threateneed when news of another round of base closings & realignments was announced.
Also, they have recently worked together to create a regional hub for innovation.
http://http://qctimes.com/business/w...5z5LWpIk.email

On the manufacturing front, the news has not been bad at all with the huge investment that Alcoa has made in their plant on the Iowa side of the river which has resulted in an increase in the employment levels there.
http://http://thegazette.com/2014/01...n-quad-cities/

[Dport7674]

There's some coordination..They're going to replace the I-74 bridge between Iowa and Illinois...It only took 20 yrs to get started.

(To be fair a lot of it was waiting on the feds to give them the green light.)

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

The Des Moines metro is made up of several individual cities as well, and it spans two counties, so revenue is not pooled together for the greater good, really.

According to Wiki, the 2008 MSA area for Des Moines is about 558,000 and for QC about 378,000, BUt IA only part of QC is 165,000. So Des Moines has advantages of being entirely within one state, being the State Capitol and having a larger population.

[funksoulbro]

Originally Posted by atler8

As a result, I have seen evidence of a major adjustment in attitudes. For example, they have worked together to protect the interest of the Rock Island Arsenal which is a huge employer & which they feared was threateneed when news of another round of base closings & realignments was announced

The Quad Cities keeps trying to postpone the inevitable with all this. The Arsenal is on the march to obsolescence no matter how much arm-twisting some congressional alliance can manage in the short term. Relying on third-world destruction to fuel your local economy is just begging for more trouble down the road. America doesn't have the money to keep starting wars it can't finish.

When the Arsenal finally does go away for good (and it will) what does the Quad Cities do then? There's no plan. They'll probably try to convert all those Arsenal buildings into another APAC call center, where people can make $9/hour fielding calls from angry Sirius satellite radio subscribers.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by funksoulbro

The Quad Cities keeps trying to postpone the inevitable with all this. The Arsenal is on the march to obsolescence no matter how much arm-twisting some congressional alliance can manage in the short term. Relying on third-world destruction to fuel your local economy is just begging for more trouble down the road. America doesn't have the money to keep starting wars it can't finish.

When the Arsenal finally does go away for good (and it will) what does the Quad Cities do then? There's no plan. They'll probably try to convert all those Arsenal buildings into another APAC call center, where people can make $9/hour fielding calls from angry Sirius satellite radio subscribers.

In my opinion, your negative "rants" don't belong in the photo thread. You had the "last word" in several other posts that you dredged up after long periods of inactivity. Please contribute in a more balanced manner, instead of using these forums to rant negatively in hyperbole strewn posts. Thank you.