relocating to black hawk county

[lauraq]

I realize that this is a little late but i was looking for history of waterloo for my paper in one of my classes @ uni and i found this page and just wanted to set some things straight. I've lived in waterloo for some time, i went to the schools that people call bad, i live in the neighborhood that people call gangster, i shop at wallmart, and the dollerstore and it breaks my heart everytime i go on campus and hear people talk about my town. Yes we are poor in east waterloo, but we all except eachother (at least the younger generations.) I know a little girl that goes to an elementary school in CF and she gets made fun of everyday for buying her clothes from wall-mart, because she doesn't have the money to buy them from the mall. (we do have a mall it's all overpriced stylish clothes which i'm sure everyone that can afford it loves, and it is growning, the whole cross roads area is, you can look it up on the web i think, if you don't believe me.) I don't know if you have kids or well i don't know much about you but i do know that i don't want my kid to be the one getting made fun of or the one making fun of her. I have yet to see a shooting, or a murder, and the only time that ever happens is if you buy or sell drugs, which trust me i went to highschool and CF has a rep. the highschool kids know it, the media just covers it up. Waterloo has sooo much history i live in a gorgeous house that is 90years old and is way cheaper than Cedar Falls, (trust me i'm a poor collge girl - i had no loyalties, i wanted the cheapest.) I drive a half hour so that i can afford to live in a house and even with the gas it's cheaper than living in Cedar Falls. CF is nice, i'm not gonna lie, and i have great friends that came from there. But you have to understand that nothings as bad as it looks and waterloo is a community, meaning that we all suck up our differences and forget about who makes more money, and go out to Fridayloo (it's a thing every other friday in the park) or cattle congress (kind of a fair) and have fun. Oh and the schools are good, way better than the news says, we have teachers that really care, and i learned more about other cultures and religons that i ever could, (i'm a white catholic from Texas originally.) any way if you have any questions or want pics or something let me know!

[Hawkeye48]

In Waterloo I'd stay away from anything east of the Cedar River. Anything in Cedar Falls should be fine. But property doesn't appreciate very fast compared to other parts of the country. On the other hand that usually means you can get a pretty good deal on a home. I really liked Cedar Falls, the schools are very good and it has a very low crime rate. It would be a nice place to retire to. It is a college town. It has about 35 to 40 thousand people with about a third of them college students.

[GeoMapster]

LOL @ Chien about stoplights on Interstate in Waterloo... Yeah much true as I first learned about this and later realized. However Interstate 380 ended before first stoplight or little after Marnan Boulevard exit if travel north. It will become US 218 again but US 218 and I-380 share together since Iowa City where I-380 starts along with US 218.

I agree with Hawkeye48 in the previous post. I was part time student at UNI from 2003 to 2005.