Iowa city with the best urban feel?

[lurtsman]

Originally Posted by capitalcityguy

People in these circumstances often choose...

I'm not sure this should even be an arguable point....unless a person simply misunderstands the concept of urban vitality.

Capital, I know we disagree about absolutely everything on the planet.

Ironically here, we disagree about the meaning of choose.

The post I quoted indicated either the choosing or the inability to afford. I was referencing specifically the inclusion of the inability to afford, and you have opted to completely ignore that "inability", by definition, is not a choice.

People choosing not to have cars is very different from people being unable to have cars. Further, in many cities, having a car may be financially prudent. Making payments on a car is pretty much never financially prudent, so don't assume bad financial planning into the statement. When I lived in Portland, the cost of insuring, driving, and storing an old fuel efficient car was less than the premium paid to purchase groceries for two adults at the store that was within walking distance. By driving out to the grocery store in the suburbs, I saved more each month than I was paying in car-related costs.

One of the problems with the concept of establishing yourself through making sacrifices is that any career related sacrifices you make may haunt you long after you leave. For people that are in a small college town, their connections there are unlikely to be of much help if they relocate across the country. They will simply have their education and job titles to rely on during that move.

It was correct to state that I am bashing upon (almost) all college towns with this point, rather than just Iowa City. Yes, there is a more urban feel by having more people walk. Having those people be broke isn't part of vitality, in my opinion. If it was, then adding homeless people would add vitality to the city. If it does, then the meaning of vitality in the term "urban vitality" is precisely the opposite of the term "vitality" in the "English language as represented by the oxford dictionary".

[one is lonely]

Originally Posted by lurtsman

For people that are in a small college town, their connections there are unlikely to be of much help if they relocate across the country. They will simply have their education and job titles to rely on during that move.

Yeah, but what are those students supposed to do? Drive to bigger cities all the time to make connections? I'm imagining a student at UNI driving over 2 hours to Des Moines constantly, and honestly, that just sounds like a wasteful, hellish way to live your life. If that's your aim, transfer to Drake.

I also don't know when the barest minimum of sacrifice in American became such a taboo subject. Most people in America that truly can't afford a car under any circumstances have most likely made some very poor life decisions (though I'm sure there are exceptions). The rest, I think, have chosen to take the car out of their budget so they can afford other wants, not needs.

It is true that in a country built around the car, you may get squeezed if you don't own one. That's not because the car is more efficient, but because of all the tax dollars and private developer money that goes toward subsidizing the automobile experience.

[atler8]

There is a very basic & fatal flaw in the theme of logic being put forth here that college students are broke and thus unable to spend &/or contribute to urban vitality in districts near their campuses. I pass through a large urban campus district every business day & see little evidence to support the notion of the poverty stricken student. Such a concept seems almost Dickensian & conjures up unrealistic imagery, most notably for me of waif-like "walkers" from "The Walking Dead". LOL!
Yes, grad level or residency students with accumulations of student debt would be considered to be comparatively weighted down & to have spending patterns that differ in focus & priority markedly from undergrads but that would be for a host of reasons.
But as for the huge majority of undergraduate students, they are not broke. I would judge the failure to recognize that difference in status as being a major error.

lurtsman
Your more recently written entry here includes, "..I am bashing upon almost all college towns with this point, rather than just Iowa City." That is a line that gives pause for me to consider a couple of points.
I don't really believe that "bashing" gives quite the appropriate connotation called for in the exchange of ideas here or is really the degree of response needed for the topic. Frankly, you might reconsider that word choice.
Secondly, in view of the op's original topic here & the fact that the vitality of cities in Iowa still interests you enough for you to be drawn to contribute to this thread & in view of the fact that you have written so very regularly on the Iowa threads about your life out where you live now & used that as the basis for comparative criticism, we might be interested to learn some facts about the quality of urban vitality, the relative urban density or even student poverty or the general poverty rate found right there in your current town of residence.
It seems only fair to specifically ask about the contrast between there & say Iowa City or Des Moines as that would add more of a true give & take sense of contribution to the ongoing conversation in this thread. And you have often been very willing to share in such contrasts. I certainly am curious & could compare & contrast your views with those of a family friend that I have known since 1967 who specifically lives right there. Failing that, as an alternative, you could point us to such pre-existing threads there so that we may have the option to read or contribute to them too & thus learn.
My home city forum is extremely busy & regularly features numerous such threads & my personal interest in history, urban studies, design & the arts draws me to them & to similar threads that I discover elsewhere across the country. Those specific interests are but part of the reasons why I have visited in at least 30-35 different state forums in the last 12 months & made written contributions in at least 12-15 of them.
The op & I earlier offered our own examples & brief thoughts on dense &/or vitality-filled cities or districts found in regions at some distance from Iowa, i.e. Richmond, Savannah, Atlanta, St. Louis, etc., so what I have asked of you just now about your town could lead to a very germane contribution on your part in terms of the front range west.