Where to move in Cedar Rapids? (Hiawatha: where to stay, sales, homes)

[mamalee01]

Want to know your thoughts on where to live around the Cedar Rapids Iowa city area. Surfing the web, I like Hiawatha area. We're looking for 4 bd 2.5 bath newer homes very close to good schools and (newer) shopping such as WalMart and Target as well as Kohls and JcPenny etc... $285,000 would be at the very top of the budget. Of course the neighbors and neighborhood need to fun and friendly too. Currently we live in a masterplanned neighborhood called Lantana in Arygle, TX. Its active and homes range from $180,000 to $1,000,000. The population is 3700 and we have 5 pools, 2 gyms, trails, and parks. All this is nice and all but it is hard to make friends when the place is so big, it becomes clickish. Anywho, we have other states of interest as well such as O'Fallon, MO and Oswego, IL. If you have any input as to a neighborhood suggestion or where to stay away from that would be appreciated. We would like to move this summer before my 5 yr old starts kindergarten. First my husband needs to find a great sales job in the POP display and fixtures field .

[crrockergirl]

The Hiawatha area is very nice. It's a nice quiet community and is basically an extension of Cedar Rapids. You're right next to the east side of CR and there's tons of restaurants, shopping, etc. I myself have thought a time or two about moving to Hiawatha, and I live in CR, only a few minutes away from Hiawatha. : )