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Old 10-15-2014, 03:52 PM
 
2 posts, read 5,669 times
Reputation: 10

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Hello all, I'm an African American single mother of two boys. I am a RN and have been for the past five years. I am thinking of relocating to somewhere a bit more peaceful. I have a nice home in a decent area however theres still way too many sirens going off for me. I'm originally from Tacoma, Wa and would to find a place similiar to live that is still rather close to WI. Any ideas?
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Old 10-15-2014, 08:10 PM
 
459 posts, read 469,735 times
Reputation: 592
All kinds of small towns along southwestern Wisconsin and Northeastern Iowa. Dubuque is somewhere around 58,253 according to the estimate on wikipedia in 2013. Dubuque has a couple up and coming suburbs called Asbury and another one called Peosta. Dubuque development is occurring on the west end of town. If you want to live in Wisconsin you could live in southwestern Wisconsin and work in Dubuque. If Dubuque is too small you could head west on highway 20 and try Waterloo, Iowa. I'd really recommend a suburb of Madison, Wisconsin, if you want to stay within state. Dubuque is decent. Take a road trip someday and see for yourself! Lots of hills in and by Dubuque. Dubuque has multiple Universities they are the University of Dubuque, Loras College, Clarke University, Capri College which is hair, skin, massage, and nails college, and Emmaus Bible College. Dubuque has quite a few colleges for a town that size. Overall it's a nice town.
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Old 10-16-2014, 09:14 AM
 
3,490 posts, read 6,066,009 times
Reputation: 5421
Hey lyk,
Dubuque is a very pretty city, in my opinion, because I like the older brick buildings. Iowa has a bit of a bad rep for racism, but I don't know if Dubuque had that problem. I left Iowa years ago and doubt I will set foot it the state again, but I do try to warn other people about what lies ahead Since Dubuque is kind of its own area, it may have an entirely different culture. Hopefully one that is as beautiful as the old buildings.

I have to agree with ipkl07 in regards to looking at the suburbs around Madison, Wisconsin as an option worth considering for anyone that wants to stay close to WI. In my opinion, Madison appears to be one of the best cities in the that section of the country. While I have spent years learning geography and cities as a hobby, I have not actually visited Madison and I do occasionally make mistakes when assessing cities I have not personally walked through.

In my opinion both Dubuque and Madison are likely to qualify as "peaceful" (in the suburbs, no place is peaceful in the inner city, ever), though each person has a different definition. If you don't like brick buildings, you wouldn't find Dubuque to be pretty at all, so I suggest a google image search.
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Old 10-16-2014, 02:28 PM
 
Location: Jonesboro
3,874 posts, read 4,658,020 times
Reputation: 5363
Default Moving to Dubuque form Milwaukee

lurtsman
I must respond to your post here & most strongly express my complete disagreement with a fundamental claim you have made in it; one that you have made in previous threads on the Iowa forum. Iowa does NOT have a reputation for racism, or as you wrote another time, "A well-deserved reputation for racism." Quite the contrary, a look at facts reveals that Iowa has been far ahead of the curve in several ways on the issues both of racial equality & reform & gender equality & reform. A study of the history of Iowa, in particular it's social & legislative efforts for reform, would reveal that it was a leader in the midwest & the nation on both fronts. Are you aware of the history & the motivations that led to those efforts in Iowa? If not, it would be a wise move to learn something of it before expressing such a broad critical opinion here.
From living abroad, & in 3 other states, I find that the amount of overt racism that Iowans express and the amount of time they spend consumed with fretting about racial matters to be insignificant as compared to the comparative situations in Illinois for example, the only neighbor of Iowa that I have lived in, and as compared to Georgia where I live now.
My Iowa-raised cousin who lived in a mixed marriage until her death, returned with her spouse to Iowa after living in two other states & repeatedly expressed her thankfulness for having made the move to return to her roots & for having been able to finish raising her child in an Iowa school system.
Recalling your history of criticism of Iowa on this front, on one Iowa thread you described your visit to a mall near Iowa City where you interpreted the locals to be racist if they looked at or seemed curious toward minorities or mixed couples. The fact that you were able to know for a fact what was in the hearts of the mall patrons astounded me at that time.
Feedback you received on this topic at that time on the forum from members of mixed race Iowa marriages & relationships also rebutted your Iowa racism claims. Nevertheless you still choose to write & make the same racist charges against Iowans.
I strongly reject your characterization of Iowans on this issue given that in my view you have been & still are incorrect & sadly judgmental.
That being said, there is never a guarantee of complete racial harmony in any location in these United States and a relocation to Dubuque by the op could be a great move or it could be a mistake. There are so many other factors and variables that weave together to make a living situation good or bad for an individual.
I do know that Milwaukee has been statistically & anecdotally cited as being one of the most segregated cities in the country & that it fought tooth and nail against the concept of open housing for minorities. Additionally, I also have spent considerable time in southeast Wisconsin & know the city proper of Milwaukee be a very violent place, especially as compared to anywhere in Iowa.
I wish the op well in making a good move away from that city.
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Old 10-18-2014, 08:58 AM
 
3,490 posts, read 6,066,009 times
Reputation: 5421
Cool story.

We disagree.

That doesn't make you right, and your desire for me to be wrong doesn't make me wrong. We are talking about a subjective issue, since obviously less than 99% of the people will have the same opinion.

It isn't right for someone who is considering uprooting their life to only see the positive posts. That's like wondering if you should go see a movie and only reading the positive reviews. However, in this case instead of wasting a few bucks on admission it is tens of thousands and years of their lives.

Honestly, your personal attacks are becoming a bit too much. Please just set your system to ignore posts from me and be done with it. I won't change, because what I'm doing is a moral obligation.

Yes, it is a sign of racism when locals are curious about mixed couples. Who gives a [bleep] that they are a mixed couple? Go to San Fran and ask someone if they saw a mixed couple that morning. They won't have a clue because it does not register as an event in their mind. You can blather on about "knowing whats in their heart", but I heard a few too many people make comments like "It's all those people from Chicago. They're ruining the city." The term "people from Chicago" was heavily racist. It was used in place of the N word. I had other people confide in me that they were scared to take the bus because of the black people. That is racism. It doesn't have to be a violent crime to be morally wrong.

I wish the OP well also. I hope her and her family are able to live in peace without the violence you describe or the racism I witnessed. Lyk, I moved to Colorado to get away from all of this. If you ever felt like being farther from the Midwest, Colorado is a wonderful place that is very accepting. The same could be said of much of the west coast.

It is your decision to make. I'm glad I could have this exchange with Atler, despite his disrespect towards me, it provides prospective residents with an opportunity to examine both sides before making a decision.
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Old 10-18-2014, 03:05 PM
 
459 posts, read 469,735 times
Reputation: 592
Quote:
Originally Posted by atler8 View Post
lurtsman
I must respond to your post here & most strongly express my complete disagreement with a fundamental claim you have made in it; one that you have made in previous threads on the Iowa forum. Iowa does NOT have a reputation for racism, or as you wrote another time, "A well-deserved reputation for racism." Quite the contrary, a look at facts reveals that Iowa has been far ahead of the curve in several ways on the issues both of racial equality & reform & gender equality & reform. A study of the history of Iowa, in particular it's social & legislative efforts for reform, would reveal that it was a leader in the midwest & the nation on both fronts. Are you aware of the history & the motivations that led to those efforts in Iowa? If not, it would be a wise move to learn something of it before expressing such a broad critical opinion here.
From living abroad, & in 3 other states, I find that the amount of overt racism that Iowans express and the amount of time they spend consumed with fretting about racial matters to be insignificant as compared to the comparative situations in Illinois for example, the only neighbor of Iowa that I have lived in, and as compared to Georgia where I live now.
My Iowa-raised cousin who lived in a mixed marriage until her death, returned with her spouse to Iowa after living in two other states & repeatedly expressed her thankfulness for having made the move to return to her roots & for having been able to finish raising her child in an Iowa school system.
Recalling your history of criticism of Iowa on this front, on one Iowa thread you described your visit to a mall near Iowa City where you interpreted the locals to be racist if they looked at or seemed curious toward minorities or mixed couples. The fact that you were able to know for a fact what was in the hearts of the mall patrons astounded me at that time.
Feedback you received on this topic at that time on the forum from members of mixed race Iowa marriages & relationships also rebutted your Iowa racism claims. Nevertheless you still choose to write & make the same racist charges against Iowans.
I strongly reject your characterization of Iowans on this issue given that in my view you have been & still are incorrect & sadly judgmental.
That being said, there is never a guarantee of complete racial harmony in any location in these United States and a relocation to Dubuque by the op could be a great move or it could be a mistake. There are so many other factors and variables that weave together to make a living situation good or bad for an individual.
I do know that Milwaukee has been statistically & anecdotally cited as being one of the most segregated cities in the country & that it fought tooth and nail against the concept of open housing for minorities. Additionally, I also have spent considerable time in southeast Wisconsin & know the city proper of Milwaukee be a very violent place, especially as compared to anywhere in Iowa.
I wish the op well in making a good move away from that city.
I have personally seen the racial issues first hand in Dubuque. I didn't want to say anything about it because I haven't lived in Dubuque lately. I have only gone through Dubuque lately as I have no reason to stop in Dubuque after I moved from it. lurtsman can say his opinion whether you agree with it or not atler8. You should NOT bash him for it; after, all he had the balls to mention it while I did not. There is a Geraldo episode on TV where Geraldo got into a fight with ku klux klan memebers from DUBUQUE, IOWA. If you want to be honest about it anybody who relocates their family to a location based on what someone on the Internet says about it is not too smart anyway. Nothing wrong with getting ideas on the internet, but need to spend time touring the area, talking to the people who live there, and seeing if that area would fit your personality and has what you want and or need in an area. lurtsman doesn't have to like Iowa or Iowans if he doesn't want to atler8 and quite frankly my time in Iowa has been crap for the most part and for a number of reasons atler8 which is why I have recently made the decision to leave. Yeah, of course Dubuque is safer it only has a population of 58,253 and Milwaukee is 599,164. In the end everybody has to do what's right for them and what makes them happy.
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Old 12-17-2014, 05:35 AM
 
42 posts, read 62,629 times
Reputation: 21
Default Ditto on the racism

I grew up in DBQ but have not lived there since 1993. Before I moved, DBQ was trying desperately to create a more diverse population by providing job incentives to bring in people to create a more diverse population. I think this created some hostility because a minority would often get a job with equal or less skills than the white residents and I've heard a lot of people complaining about it.
Growing up in DBQ, I heard a lot of racists remarks even though the black population was very, very small. Before leaving, the black population was much higher due to the efforts made by the city to bring in others.
I think a diverse population is good but DBQ has some deep rooted racism and they are well behind other cities of the same size in dealing with that.
There was a cross burning while I lived there in the 90's. As a minority, I would look for a community more accepting and I think the Madison area would be a better fit.
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Old 12-17-2014, 12:16 PM
 
Location: Jonesboro
3,874 posts, read 4,658,020 times
Reputation: 5363
That's interesting input here today from you wonderin_y that bumped an old thread.
I'm glad for your input which highlighted, among other things, how the leadership of Dubuque took it upon themselves to bring about more racial diversity in their city. That is not a particularly commonly found strategy in these United States. I knew of that effort but did not return to the thread to discuss it and other facts back in October because of the direction the thread tenor took.
At the same time of the 1990's era cross-burning in Dubuque, there was similar klan agitation in other northern cities which had undergone recent, major economic stress during & after the farm crisis/rust belt downturn of the 1980's.
For example, in Janesville, Wi, 70 miles east of Dubuque, Geraldo Rivera and a klansman were both arrested during a violent altercation during which Rivera suffered a badly bitten thumb.
But that should be no surpise as it is the mode of operation for the klan... find a situation, input front men/organizers into the situation & exploit it for their gain & for the sake of publicity & power. The klan operates & feeds much as do cancer cells.
Interestingly enough, at the time of the highly publicized Dubuque incidents, I was verbally attacked by a co-worker here in Atlanta because she knew I was originally from Iowa. It took me by surprise to such a degree that I'm surprised that my slack jaw ever moved back into place that day.
Given that she was from Selma, Al of all places... look up it's 1960's era violent racial history if you don't know what I'm talking about.... I later realized that she was speaking at me with a major dose of disconnect.
Curiously, I have also been attacked or criticized by native white southerners because of my own origins, as in being from one of "..those states...", as in from Yankeeland... i.e. the home of racially progressive agitators.
Painting me in with a broad brush & blaming me for the incident from either side of the racial perspective was unjustified then & still is unjustified. Given my experiences living in Iowa, Illinois, Germany & here in Georgia (& away from Iowa for the last 35 years), I know that similarly doing the same broad painting & labeling Iowans in general as has been done here does not work either.
Before I am called a "homer" or "cheerleader" for Iowa because of that assertion, I will mention that l speak from the experience of having lived in metro Atlanta for 35 years. The reality on the ground here in Georgia of how comparatively speaking, race still permeates nearly every major public & social issue is astounding! Wounds & resentments from the various perspectives die hard here & are just under the skin festering & waiting to be reactivated. I've NEVER, repeat NEVER lived in a comparable situation elsewhere where race mattered to such a degree & it's one reason why I hope to leave Georgia after retirement. From my perspective in 2014, it is just incomprehensible.
On a final note, I have long been a sort of news junkie & paid attention to the news & current events opinions in various countries, cities & states where I have lived, visited or in which I have friends or relatives living and is one reason I am found visiting & dropping in all over the place on the City-Data Forum. Consistent with that, I have also conversed at length with those family members, friends & acquaintances about news & social issues in their locales so I can safely say that I am probably fairly informed about where racism raises it's ugly head. Frankly, it's everywhere, despite assertions here & elsewhere to the contrary. I can & will make evidenciary citations to support that statement if necessary.
A careful reading of my earlier post here reveals that I never denied that racism exists in Iowa nor that I ever suggested that it or Dubuque are a perfect place for a minority person. Note the word "careful" & also note as for example my line, "...it could be a great move or it could be a mistake." There's no denying that that is written there nor denying it's implications.
I was a history major & did study Iowa history thouroughly & am aware of it's historical & more current realities. As such, I am aware of it's limitations & failings as well as fronts in which Iowa was a trailblazer in racial & suffrage issues. I would suggest that better study & awareness of that history might be interesting, surprising & even perhaps eye-opening & I would highly recommend it.
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Old 09-28-2016, 07:09 PM
 
23 posts, read 42,034 times
Reputation: 32
Well the posters here have ruined this forum. Those of us that want opinions of a town no way benefit from this nonsense.
I gained nothing reading this crap while trying to find information about Dubuque.
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