Growth in Iowa City is high, but why? (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: home, universities)

[TootsieWootsie]

If you look at this from Sperlings bestplaces, you see that the future economic growth rate of Iowa City is fantastic!
Can someone give me an answer as to why exactly there is assumed phenomenal growth in Iowa City (not that it's not a great city)?

[SharpHawkeye]

You didn't include the link.

[TootsieWootsie]

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed
If you read the future economic growth it's very, very high. Anything 30% and over is super fast growing, and Iowa City is 37%!
What's going on there?

[Deep77]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed
If you read the future economic growth it's very, very high. Anything 30% and over is super fast growing, and Iowa City is 37%!
What's going on there?

Iowa City is home to the University of Iowa, the city figured how to harness the talent that comes out of the University of Iowa. We have an information based economy, the best place to generate information and knowledge is in a major college. Knowledge can be accessed from anywhere, but those who are closest to the source access it first. That's why in the coming decades college towns are going to be the fast growing cities of the country. Look at Austin, Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Area, they have major research institutions and growing. Even smaller towns like Iowa City, Madison, WI, and Athens, GA are growing.

It is also why cities like Detroit are unable to rebound. Detroit does not have a major university for foster growth. Detroit has a ton of problems, but this a partial reason.

[DBQer]

Iowa City is fast-growing, no doubt.

However... I don't have much faith in the stats from the website given. The same site claims that Clinton and Mason City (two places that are rarely called "super fast growing") will add jobs at a FASTER rate than Des Moines?!?! Sioux City is supposed to add jobs at a faster rate than Iowa City?!?! I don't think so.

Des Moines: 29.10%
Cedar Rapids: 36.70%
Davenport: 32.30%
Sioux City: 37.90%
Iowa City: 33.90%
Waterloo: 31.20%
Council Bluffs: 31.00%
Dubuque: 26.90%
.....
Mason City: 31.60%
Clinton: 30.90%

[TootsieWootsie]

Well, if nothing else it looks like Iowa is going to do just fine in the near future. Good for Iowa!

Look under Sperlings bestplaces/Iowa/Economy: Iowa City's future growth is higher at 37.6%.

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed

Deep77 looks like has the answer to the question:

http://www.news-releases.uiowa.edu/2...y-economy.html

[Hoarfrost]

Originally Posted by Deep77

Iowa City is home to the University of Iowa, the city figured how to harness the talent that comes out of the University of Iowa. We have an information based economy, the best place to generate information and knowledge is in a major college. Knowledge can be accessed from anywhere, but those who are closest to the source access it first. That's why in the coming decades college towns are going to be the fast growing cities of the country. Look at Austin, Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Area, they have major research institutions and growing. Even smaller towns like Iowa City, Madison, WI, and Athens, GA are growing.

It is also why cities like Detroit are unable to rebound. Detroit does not have a major university for foster growth. Detroit has a ton of problems, but this a partial reason.

Detroit has plenty of large universities. Why it isn't growing is completely unrelated to that.

[DBQer]

I see where the numbers discrepancy lies... the site reports job-growth rates for both metro areas and the individual cities within those areas. That's where the 33.9 vs. 37.6 difference is. The 37.6 number is Iowa City proper, 33.9 is the IC metro area.

[SharpHawkeye]

I, too am a bit skeptical about these numbers.

That said, I think Iowa City is going to see good future economic growth based in large part on the UI and UIHC drawing jobs to the area. Biotech in particular is going to be a big growth area with the hospital here drawing talented scientists and generating new research. I think there are also going to be growth in business and finance as companies open branches here to take advantage of the UI's highly rated biz grads.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Deep77

Iowa City is home to the University of Iowa, the city figured how to harness the talent that comes out of the University of Iowa. We have an information based economy, the best place to generate information and knowledge is in a major college. Knowledge can be accessed from anywhere, but those who are closest to the source access it first. That's why in the coming decades college towns are going to be the fast growing cities of the country. Look at Austin, Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Area, they have major research institutions and growing. Even smaller towns like Iowa City, Madison, WI, and Athens, GA are growing.

It is also why cities like Detroit are unable to rebound. Detroit does not have a major university for foster growth. Detroit has a ton of problems, but this a partial reason.

I hope i'm not nitpicking on your very good and insightful post here, but 'Madison as smaller town': you've got to be kidding. Madison is large enough and decidedly urban. IMHO I see Iowa City as the ideal small city as a college town and Maidson as an ideal mid-sized one.