Racism in Dubuque? (Scranton: violent crime, credit, neighborhoods)

[ScranBarre]

Hello forum!

After being disillusioned by life in Reston, Virginia I'm in the process now of trying to find a city more compatible with my interests. I was born and raised just outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania, a city noted for its close-knit neighborhoods, historic architecture, generally low violent crime, and beautiful surrounding scenery. Where I live now we have intense traffic congestion, even on the weekends, that puts a damper on being able to access regional points of interests, a very materialistic population, and a lack of SOUL in the area in general. I was thinking Dubuque may have been more along the lines of Scranton---a former declining city undergoing a revival with close-knit neighborhoods---but after reading so many RACIST comments on this forum from people who live in Dubuque in other threads I'm worried that as a homosexual I'd be subjected to bigotry by living there (even though IA has wisely legalized same-sex marriage).

Can anyone put my concerns to rest? Obviously having never been to Iowa I am just presuming that Dubuque is what I'm looking for---a wholesome small city where people have civic pride and look out for their neighbors while caring more about being good people instead of pushing others under the bus to get ahead financially. However, I will NOT move to a city that presents itself as backwards, socially-regressive, and "redneck"-ish. I've now seen three different posters on here post some very nasty remarks about Hispanics and blacks in regards to Dubuque. Is that indicative of the city as a whole? If so, then count me out.

[wdphll]

"I will NOT move to a city that presents itself as backwards, socially-regressive, and "redneck"-ish".

I can see that you are a pretty tolerant person yourself. Please stay where you are.

[Mercruiserdr]

I have a question , hopefully it will be answered before it is erased by an obviuosly biased mod with a censorship fetish.

What does sexual prefference have to do with racism ?

The very headline to this thread is insulting from the start !

[QuadCityImages]

Well, there have been a lot of borderline racist comments on several Iowa threads lately. Like the guy that wanted "to avoid diversity and any militant minorities" in his move to Iowa. I've kept quiet about it, but it isn't portraying us in the best light.

As far as the OP, the farther east and the bigger the city in Iowa the more progressive/liberal/whatever areas you'll find. You should definitely visit before making any big decisions, and I'd suggest checking out the QC area as well. I know you've mentioned in the past that it has some similarities to the Scranton area though, so maybe that's what you're trying to avoid.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by Senor Boogie Woogie

The town is 96% white. So, where is the danger, unless you are caught having sex with the farmer's daughter or out there selling, cooking or smoking meth on the backroads?

Originally Posted by Senor Boogie Woogie

Then please, by all means, import a bunch of Mexicans, Somolians and Laotians.

Some of us don't want "diversity". I would love to live in a city that is 96% white and less than 2% black. With that demographic, it is safe to walk down the street, anywhere.

Want to rank the safety of a city? Look up the city on Wikipedia, scroll down to demographics and see the percentages of whites and non whites. The more non whites, the more dangerous the city. You know that. Quit calling me ignorant for stating common facts that you choose to ignore at your peril.

Originally Posted by dubuquenewbie

Umm I am from Chicago and unless you lived in Naperville all those school districts were horrible.
You wont have overcrowded classes with spanish speaking kids here in Dubuque holding your kids back. So any school here is probably way better than Chitcagos crappy schools.

These are just three of several racially-/culturally-insensitive posts I found in regards to Dubuque on this forum. Then I had someone reply on here in a snarky tone saying "Move to San Francisco." I'm NOT tolerant of intolerance or people who feel they can hide behind the Bible to spread hate. I'm just trying to see if Dubuque should continue to be a contender on my list, but it looks like I'll be scratching it off. Thanks for clearing this up for me.

[Wingfoot]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Hello forum!

After being disillusioned by life in Reston, Virginia I'm in the process now of trying to find a city more compatible with my interests. I was born and raised just outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania, a city noted for its close-knit neighborhoods, historic architecture, generally low violent crime, and beautiful surrounding scenery. Where I live now we have intense traffic congestion, even on the weekends, that puts a damper on being able to access regional points of interests, a very materialistic population, and a lack of SOUL in the area in general. I was thinking Dubuque may have been more along the lines of Scranton---a former declining city undergoing a revival with close-knit neighborhoods---but after reading so many RACIST comments on this forum from people who live in Dubuque in other threads I'm worried that as a homosexual I'd be subjected to bigotry by living there (even though IA has wisely legalized same-sex marriage).

Can anyone put my concerns to rest? Obviously having never been to Iowa I am just presuming that Dubuque is what I'm looking for---a wholesome small city where people have civic pride and look out for their neighbors while caring more about being good people instead of pushing others under the bus to get ahead financially. However, I will NOT move to a city that presents itself as backwards, socially-regressive, and "redneck"-ish. I've now seen three different posters on here post some very nasty remarks about Hispanics and blacks in regards to Dubuque. Is that indicative of the city as a whole? If so, then count me out.

No,there are ignorant folk everywhere but online brings the wingnuts out of their little coffins.
Dubuque is a nice smaller city, one of the best in the US of its size and I've lived from coast to coast.
Mind your own buisness and most everyone will mind there's.Can't act like you're in the Castro, but you know that.
Dubuque is heavily Catholic, but as you know, re gays that more de jure than de facto- .

[JBoughton]

Dubuque has become much more tolerant in recent years.

One of our high schools has a gay-straight alliance which recently marched in the homecoming parade and their group seemed to be supported as well as any activity in the parade. I didn't observe a single incident of any other students saying any negative comments at all, let alone those that would be seen as harassment.

Ten years ago I doubt that something like this would have accepted so well. But it's amazing how things have changed since that time.

Check it out for yourself...I think you might be pleasantly surprised.

[Mercruiserdr]

Lets see , the starter of this thread begins with abusive epithets then feigns insult because he is answered with a "snarky" reply, what did you honestly expect ?

What should I expect if I were to start a thread with a remark like , I would like to find a place were no libs or their perverted brethern can be found ?

When you go looking for trouble your sure to find it.
Obviously you found it however are not adult enough to take the credit for creating it.

[El Rhino]

Ok, so due to insensitive posts we find that Dubuque isn't right for ScranBarre. Thread closed. Let's move along now, folks.