Does the QC "feel" like a big city? (Chicago: crime, neighborhoods)

[Gentleman of Leisure]

It is one continuous area. I currently live in the QCA and all of the amenities are shared no matter what side of the river you live. For example, The I Wireless Ctr is in Moline, IL; Niabi Zoo is in Coal Valley, IL; The District is in Rock Island; the Isle of Capri is in Davenport, IA; and most of the retail is in Davenport, IA and Bettendorf, IA; although Southpark in Moline has some of the same stuff on the IL side, the IA side still has much more retail and chain restaurants. So a person can not tell me that they never cross state lines, because if you have any type of life, you will have too. I live on the IL side and I go into IA at least twice a week. I know tons of people that live on one side of the river and work on the other side. Now if you are elderly and do not drive much chances are you are not making the trek across the river unless it is absolutely necessary. But all the amenities are shared.

[QuadCityImages]

Yeah... that's what I've been trying to say.

Bettendorf has very little retail, so obviously their residents cross borders freely to shop. Davenport doesn't have an airport, arena, or botanical center, so obviously we cross the river freely to use those. Rock Island doesn't have a mall, so their residents cross borders to use NorthPark and SouthPark in Davenport and Moline. There's almost no way to avoid it.

The only way to know you're crossing from one city to another is seeing the Mississippi go by outside the window, or a sign that says Welcome to (whichever city). If you're on a side street there'd be no way to tell when you cross between Bettendorf and Davenport or Moline and Rock Island.

[BigDogDave]

I've lived there. The river is by far the biggest divider. Iowa residents tend to stay in Davenport and Bettendorf Iowa, and Illinois residents tend to stay in Rock Island, Moline, And East Moline Illinois. Of course, there is occasional croosover due to cummuting to work and shopping. I'd say that the Iowa side feels like one urban area and Illinois feels like another. The Mississippi River isn't just a make believe border to cross. It's a river almost a mile wide. And there is only ONE main interstate bridge connecting downtown Davenport to Moline. So by the time you jockey around to get on the on ramp, cross the river, get off on the exit ramp, and head towards your location, can take between 10 minutes on a Sunday morning, to maybe 40 minutes at 5:00 pm on a Friday.

I lived on the Iowa side just north of Davenport and seldom found it neccessary to cross the river. The people in Iowa were friendlier anyway. And Iowa is much more business friendly with cheaper sales taxes, property taxes, and excise taxes.

[BigDogDave]

Also, the Iowa side seems cleaner and the roads better maintained. Of course, Illinois has a 11 Billion dollar budget deficit,....and Iowa has a balanced budget. Makes a difference, I guess.

[Scio42]

Originally Posted by Slice57

I may be looking for employment in the QC. I have visited several times but never really thought about moving there. Until now I've live in two 100,000 people college towns (Columbia, MO and Champaign, IL).

I like bigger cities and wouldn't want to live in a place smaller (in terms of population, amenities, entertainment, etc) then where I live now.

So my question is does the QC "feel" like a city of 377,000 (wiki number) or does it feel like like 4 distinct areas with no cohesion between them?

Thank you!

My 2 cents. Yes, the QC metro does feel bigger than Columbia & Champaign but no it does not feel like a big city (or even a city of 377,000 - roughly the population of St. Louis minus the StL Metro). It feels more like several smaller cities that spill into each other. However due to the cumulative number of people there are more amenities than each of the smaller cities would have on their own.

[Gentleman of Leisure]

Originally Posted by BigDogDave

I've lived there. The river is by far the biggest divider. Iowa residents tend to stay in Davenport and Bettendorf Iowa, and Illinois residents tend to stay in Rock Island, Moline, And East Moline Illinois. Of course, there is occasional croosover due to cummuting to work and shopping. I'd say that the Iowa side feels like one urban area and Illinois feels like another. The Mississippi River isn't just a make believe border to cross. It's a river almost a mile wide. And there is only ONE main interstate bridge connecting downtown Davenport to Moline. So by the time you jockey around to get on the on ramp, cross the river, get off on the exit ramp, and head towards your location, can take between 10 minutes on a Sunday morning, to maybe 40 minutes at 5:00 pm on a Friday.

I lived on the Iowa side just north of Davenport and seldom found it neccessary to cross the river. The people in Iowa were friendlier anyway. And Iowa is much more business friendly with cheaper sales taxes, property taxes, and excise taxes.

Well technically there are three bridges that connect Iowa to Illinois in the QCA: The Centennial US 67, The I-74 bridge, and The I-280 bridge. You mention commute times being between 10-40 minutes. I think with any descent sized metro you have the potential to have long commutes. It takes me 20 minutes to get to work everyday. I work in Rock Island and live in East Moline. I also think that there is more that just occassional trek across the pond that you suggest. Most of the retail is on the Iowa side; and sure the Illinois side has most of the same stores. But the Iowa side still has more. 50% of the people I know live on either side and commute to the other. This is truly one area. All the minor league sports teams use the "Quad City" as their city name. I Wireless is an Iowa based company that operates the I Wireless Center in Moline. Like I said in an earlier post the amenities the QCA offers are spread throughout the entire metro. If I make a call from Rock Island to Davenport I can call there without worrying about long distance charges and I can exclude dialing the area code.

[Gentleman of Leisure]

Originally Posted by Scio42

My 2 cents. Yes, the QC metro does feel bigger than Columbia & Champaign but no it does not feel like a big city (or even a city of 377,000 - roughly the population of St. Louis minus the StL Metro). It feels more like several smaller cities that spill into each other. However due to the cumulative number of people there are more amenities than each of the smaller cities would have on their own.

Not to start an argument and I respect your opinion. I am just a bit confused by your post. Obviously it would not feel like STL. Because STL has a metro population of 3 million people and the independent city of STL is set up to accommodate 3 million people; and at one time in history I believe STL had over 500,000 residents in the city alone. whereas the QCA is a cumulation of 4 small cities that spill over into each which is what makes the QCA a metro of approximately 400,000 people. What confuses me about your post is if a cluster of small cities spill into each other and has the amenities and everything else the QCA has going for it how does it not feel like one area; you mean to tell that if I live in East Moline because I delve across the imaginary line into Silvis their lifestlye will be different over there than it is here in East Moline. Is that what you are saying? Also, I am confused by the QCA not feeling like a city of 377,000. Because I would assume any city that has that many people has a metro of atleast twice that size. For example, Colorado Springs, Tulsa, Honolulu all cities with a city population of around 377,000. I see you live in the Peoria area which is roughly the same size in terms of population to the QCA. So are you telling me that Peoria feels larger than the QCA?

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

So let me get this straight. The Quad Cities actual four city populations combine to be about 135,000. And included with the Quad Cities population is all of the towns in four counties totaling around 377,291 at a total density of 163.19 /sq. mi. in 2,314 sq. mi.? Making it 133 population wise (for a metro area) in the country and people honestly believe this area feels like a big city?

Indianapolis does not even feel like a big or large city and its (1.7 million) metro population is 5 times that of the Quad Cities.

I am not stating the Quad Cities area is bad and no offense to those towns, but where is the rotfl emoticon?

In all serious, if you have lived in college towns of 100k, I highly doubt the Quad Cities area is going to seem much different at all from the towns you have lived in.

You might like the Quad Cities. I am not trying to dissuade you from moving there. But if you truly want a "big" small city try Madison, Wisconsin.

I think you hit a "1" instaed of a "2". The central cities of the QC area that are smashed together have around 235,000, not 135,000. Most of the remaining population actually lives pretty close to the built up urban area, they're just in unincorporated areas.

You're talking about this from a Chicago stance, especially since you state that Indianapolis is not a large city. Most people in the Midwest would put Indy in the "big city" category. It's not the biggest in the country by any means, but it's not some random city out in a cornfield.

The Quad Cities certainly feels like a decent sized area. Obviously it's not some huge metropolis, but the fact it matured and acheived its current population in the 1970's or before means it does tend to "feel" like a larger area than it actually is. It doesn't have the crazy sprawl in every direction. The 375K population tends to live in a smaller area.

The square milage you gave is for all those counties, most of which are just farmland and have small towns. That's not really adding much to the urban area of the QC's to make it biased.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by linicx

The facts are. Iowa and Illinis are the #! and #2 corn producers in America. Iowa and Illnois are as different as Columbia and Champaign - and I have lived there. .

You've stated that on multiple posts in the Iowa and Illinois forum.

I guess I don't get what the fact that those states are the #1 and #2 corn producing states means as far as urban areas and lifestyle? Just curious. Texas is the top meat producer, California is the top dairy producer, Georgia with cotton.


I grew up in Iowa, and the stats are that around 5% of the state's population lives and works on a farm. So 95% don't. Well over half lived in metro areas, and two-thirds lived in urban areas. For an average person living in the state, being surrounded by corn really means nothing in their personal lives other than driving down the interstate, they see......corn.

Illinois is obviously even more so - with around 85% living in urban areas.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

I think you hit a "1" instaed of a "2". The central cities of the QC area that are smashed together have around 235,000, not 135,000. Most of the remaining population actually lives pretty close to the built up urban area, they're just in unincorporated areas...

...You're talking about this from a Chicago stance, especially since you state that Indianapolis is not a large city...

No I did not. I just used the census numbers. If those towns want to count the unincorporated areas around them in their city populations they can annex those areas.

You do not have to be from Chicago, New York,L.A., Dallas, or any other large city to recognize Indianapolis is not a large city.(Btw- I like Indianapolis a lot) It is a fact that anyone would be able to see that has traveled to many cities in this country. It is not a "Chicago stance."

I was on a bus traveling last week and some woman from Minneapolis was like "wow Chicago is pretty big-I never realized how big it is."

Again, a 377,291 "metro" population ranking 132 or 133 out of metro areas in the country spread out over a huge area is not very impressive. Although it may be large to rural Iowans,rural Illinoisans,and others, to anyone that has experience with large and medium cities the Quad Cities are a speck...

I am not trying to belittle the Quad cities, but one has to be reasonable with claims...