moving from WI to Cedar Falls-need info (Davenport, Waterloo: relocation, property taxes)

[brennna]

My husband will be starting at John Deere in about 2 mos.-need info on living conditions,housing,expenses,community,etc. Thanks

[TVJon]

Funny. I'm living in Cedar Falls, moving to Wisconsin for work-related reasons. My neighborhood (a newer development) has lots of Deere engineers in it. Very nice people. I'm not sure where to start, but I can give you some comparisons:

Housing - less expensive than Madison. Older, well-kept housing near the downtown. New developments are mostly on the south side, off Greenhill Road. Most of these houses run from 180,000 to 275,000. You can go much bigger if you want.
Property taxes - less expensive than Madison. Less expensive than Waterloo (the bigger neighboring city.)
Utilities - the city-owned utility (CFU) provides everything - natural gas, electricity, water, sewer, cable, internet. Prices for internet and cable are less than the competitor, Mediacom. CFU seems to be run well.
University - the University of Northern Iowa is here but the students do not overrun the town. Locals follow the Panthers - particularly football (indoor stadium) and basketball (2 year old arena).
Recreation - massive concrete bike trail system. Very nice.
New aquatic center - expanded in this, its second year, because of its success.
Schools - good. Better than nearby Waterloo.
Overall cost of living - about 10% less than Madison.
Downtown - Main street retail/restaurant/bar area is small, but very well done. It was not impacted by the floods this summer.
Favorite restaurant - Montage on main street. I have NEVER had anything but a great meal there. Eat there the first chance you get.

How am I doing so far?

[brennna]

How about renting prices? We are considering renting a house to start with? Thanks

[TVJon]

That question, I can't answer precisely because I haven't been in that market. As you might expect there is a substantial rental market for UNI students, mostly near campus. Based on weather events this summer (tornado in nearby Parkersburg) and flood damage to a residential area north of downtown Cedar Falls (North Cedar neighborhood), I would guess the demand for rental housing is fairly high.

Does Deere have a relocation assistance program? I'm sure the question has come up before. Otherwise, I would suggest contacting a local realtor to get a sense of the market. Oakridge is probably the biggest realtor in the area.

[galaga6846]

Originally Posted by brennna

How about renting prices? We are considering renting a house to start with? Thanks

Because it is a college town, the rentals are very much inflated in Cedar Falls. Don't listen to the Cedar Falls SNOBS when they bad mouth Waterloo, and say never to live there. You could save hundreds of dollars a month by renting in nearby Waterloo (the two towns actually join together, seamlessly). Sure, there are areas of Waterloo that aren't the best, but you can easily tell which areas those are, just by looking around you. The crime rate here is so ridiculously low, compared to almost any metropolitan area, it's laughable to me that so many people try to direct people away from Waterloo.

You can get a much nicer home to rent in Waterloo, than in Cedar Falls, especially near the college. People try to direct people near the college, but those rentals are more run down than most of the places in the good areas of Waterloo, and the rents are hundreds of dollars more. Why? Because college kids' parents are willing to pay it, because of the close proximity to the school.

Waterloo is a great place to live! Consider it. And, I bet if you come here, you'll drive right into Waterloo without realizing it for quite a while.

[TVJon]

galaga may be right about the cost of renting. You'll need to do some homework. If you choose Waterloo, look for something on the southwest side near the mall. Stay away from the east side, where Waterloo's crime is concentrated. Police are now dealing with a rash of gang-related shootings in this economically disadvantaged part of town.

The fact that I like Cedar Falls over Waterloo as a place to live isn't about snobbery. You CAN find a nice place to rent or buy a house in Waterloo. But Cedar Falls does have some very quantifiable benefits:

Waterloo's property taxes are higher than what you pay in Cedar Falls.
Waterloo's utilities are higher than what you pay in Cedar Falls.
Cedar Falls schools are statistically much better than Waterloo's.
Cedar Falls downtown is much nicer than Waterloo's - but Waterloo is working to improve theirs and there are signs (some nice restaurants) of progress there.

You may pay more for housing in Cedar Falls than in Waterloo - it's supply and demand.

[zack123]

Hello Brenan,

I assume you guys have not moved yet. Did you have any information or your husband about working at John Deere and moving to Davenport or Bettendorf?