Waterloo statements and facts about this city. (Davenport, Iowa City: best town, employment)

[srtguy04]

I've lived in Waterloo for the past 23 years. There is a lot of diversity for the size of the town is it, and very blue collar. Big John Deere plant that really is the big money maker for the town. Entertainment wise, you get what get with a town that only has 68,000 people. It's not that bad, just like every city it has it's hot spots, are things getting better..don't think so, are things getting worse...don't think so, everything just kind of stays the same and it seems like people are content with that.

[tornadoalleylover]

Originally Posted by srtguy04

I've lived in Waterloo for the past 23 years. There is a lot of diversity for the size of the town is it, and very blue collar. Big John Deere plant that really is the big money maker for the town. Entertainment wise, you get what get with a town that only has 68,000 people. It's not that bad, just like every city it has it's hot spots, are things getting better..don't think so, are things getting worse...don't think so, everything just kind of stays the same and it seems like people are content with that.

Diverse for sure - blacks and bosnians to be exact. Most of the blacks live on the East side. As for hot spots in the loo - I'm not aware of these, there really is no entertainment areas I recollect.

It's really not that bad of an area as many like to exaggerate, however - if I were to ever move back I would HAVE to live in a surrounding community or rural area. The town is too dirty for me!!!!!! Why can't they clean it up!?

[RockyZ]

My thoughts on Waterloo is for the most part positive. The cost of living is very low and so is the crime rate. You say Des Moines had 5 Murders and Waterloo had 1. For those that are not from Iowa that is incredibly low. I lived in Rockford, IL and I had 9 murders within 4 block of me in the summer I lived there. Keep in mind though even if it's only 1 murder if it's you that gets murdered that's to many. Iowa is a wonderful state and so are all the towns. The only thing bad about Waterloo is it does look run down. But it maybe where I retire. It has one thing like the rest of Iowa has. A slower pace of life, a very low cost of living and the people are wonderful.

[jjpoper]

can someone tell me if there was someone who was murdered in the year of 1999, and if it ws an old man? If it was, please tell me his name!!

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by RockyZ

My thoughts on Waterloo is for the most part positive. The cost of living is very low and so is the crime rate. You say Des Moines had 5 Murders and Waterloo had 1. For those that are not from Iowa that is incredibly low. I lived in Rockford, IL and I had 9 murders within 4 block of me in the summer I lived there. Keep in mind though even if it's only 1 murder if it's you that gets murdered that's to many. Iowa is a wonderful state and so are all the towns. The only thing bad about Waterloo is it does look run down. But it maybe where I retire. It has one thing like the rest of Iowa has. A slower pace of life, a very low cost of living and the people are wonderful.

That might be true, but how to convince others in another matter. Many people like to hate on Waterloo for some reason.

[babycakes82188]

Anyone from Waterloo know how safe the Dawson st. part is?

[sequoias]

Dawson St. area is sort of a mix of bad and good. It's still part of Northeast area which is generally higher crime.

[NDak15]

I have heard various stories on Waterloo regarding crime as well. I do have relatives there. From what I have gathered it is a pretty blue collar town. I think John Deere or some major company there (I can't remember the name) closed its doors and a lot of people are unemployed. I have heard some bad things about the high schools.

[green_mariner]

I have a family member working in Waterloo right now. I learned from him this: The biggest problem he has isn't crime, but boredom. According to him, outside of Waterloo, there is nothing else. He hasn't had any issues working in the Waterloo area.

[orthosophy]

keep in mind that cedar falls is a college town, and reputation aside, the neighborhood to which I just moved in Waterloo is (in general) about 10 time as aesthetically pleasing. In CF you have the landlords who legitimately do no want to spend more than they have to, and college kids who don't really care what their housing looks like, and thus about every 5th house (especially around the college) looks a tad rough.

As a younger guy, I lived on the corner of independence and Nevada, which was not FIRMLY in the ghetto, but it was close enough. As someone else said, if you go looking for trouble, you will find it. I minded my own business, and people generally left me alone. Where im at now (right by west high) actually seems to be a more personable neighborhood than the one in which i lived in CF (right by CFH).

Its my opinion that factional violence has more to do with our bad reputation...we have a lot of black, serbian/boz, hispanic, and increasing numbers of Laotian/thai/indian/other minorities. Whenever you have different cultures colliding you have violence, and it seems that much of the crime is intra-factional (mexican on hatian, for example).

I could be wrong.

I do miss small town Iowa, but thats me, not waterloo.