Waterloo........ (Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Cedar Falls: crime, university, to live)

[ckhthankgod]

I was wondering about this city and does Waterloo have a bad reputation in Iowa? Is it a rough city or are just parts of the city rough? My dad had some friends from his hometown in Mississippi move there in the 50's and 60's to work up there. How is the relationship between the cities of Waterloo and Cedar Falls? Do they view each other differently?

[UNIFan]

Waterloo does have a bad reputation in Iowa and it is somewhat deserved. As far as Iowa is concerned there is a tad bit more crime than average, most notably on the east side of the Cedar River. The west side of Waterloo is your normal mid-sized Iowa city. Again this is all relative to Iowa, so Waterloo isn't a ghetto infested city, it's just more "urban" and diverse than other places in Iowa.

As for the relationship between Cedar Falls and Waterloo, I would say they view each other quite differently. Cedar Falls is a college town, with UNI on the west side of the city, and is much much much more suburban. Crime is much lower and in general Cedar Falls seems to go out of its way to separate itself from Waterloo. As a student at UNI, I much prefer Cedar Falls to Waterloo.

Hopefully that helps.

[Northern Traveler]

Cedar Falls has plenty of nice areas - Wateroo does too - but Waterloo has so many people who drag the image down because they are trashy and don't want to do anything with their lives.

Stick with Cedar Falls - I lived in Black Hawk County for a few years and probably wouldn't return, but if I did it would be in Cedar Falls, Hudson, or a rural area.

Grundy county is nice but is heavily agricultural - if you don't mind small farming towns with Waterloo commuters - check that out.

[galaga6846]

The difference?

Waterloo has black people. That's what their problem is.

Face it.

[zz4guy]

Waterloo is not Detroit as most people in this state try to make it out to be.

It's got a great manufacturing base with a lot of supporting services and industries. It also has a mix of service jobs and a major University.

Most of the town is not run down. Sure the east side of the river is not great, but what city doesn't have slums. Most of the town looks great.

If I had an opportunity to live there I wouldn't hesitate.

[Northern Traveler]

Originally Posted by zz4guy

Waterloo is not Detroit as most people in this state try to make it out to be.

It's got a great manufacturing base with a lot of supporting services and industries. It also has a mix of service jobs and a major University.

Most of the town is not run down. Sure the east side of the river is not great, but what city doesn't have slums. Most of the town looks great.

If I had an opportunity to live there I wouldn't hesitate.

No level headed person compares it with Detroit. Waterloo doesn't have the major university, CF does, and no Cedar Falls is not a suburb. And to be quite frank, Waterloo shouldn't have anything near a "slum," it's a town of 60,000 people this is no major metropolitan city.

I don't like to hate on a town, but I'm not going to lie to someone looking to move there, I've already lived there and it was depressing, good thing I did mostly everything in Cedar Falls.

[ehenningsen]

Originally Posted by galaga6846

The difference?

Waterloo has black people. That's what their problem is.

Face it.

Ummmmm..... WHAT?

[neanerbean]

Originally Posted by galaga6846

The difference?

Waterloo has black people. That's what their problem is.

Face it.

Is this even a legal post? It's very derogatory.

Cedar Rapids has black people, Iowa City has black people, Cedar Falls has black people, small town Iowa has black people sooooo?????? It's not what ( meaning race, creed etc) you are it's who ( meaning personality) you are.