Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Iowa
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
 
Old 03-18-2009, 11:35 PM
 
2,167 posts, read 3,385,304 times
Reputation: 2653

Advertisements

I live in the NW side of Cedar Rapids. There are some decent middle-income neighborhoods the further northwest you move away from the flood zone and Time Check neighborhood. Even Time Check had some nice housing stock before the flood, but now that part of town is basically abandoned. Ellis Park and the riverfront areas provide plenty of green space. Traffic also is pretty light in this part of town, except on Edgewood. Across the river even further NW are newer neighborhoods, and there are also some nice houses set in hilly terrain along Glass Rd.

The NE side is pretty decent from what I know. Be prepared for traffic on Collins, Blairs Ferry, and Boyson though...those areas have grown fast and the roads can barely handle the level of traffic, even on Sunday afternoons. It gets really bad around Lindale Mall on Collins Rd. The four-way stop at Boyson and Robins can be a nightmare at times.

The SW side is the cheaper side of town, depending on where you live. Avoid Raintree Apartments and that general area; I have a cousin who lives there and is getting out. They have had stabbings and home invasions in that complex. Most of the apartment stock around this area is fairly new, but cheap and poorly built...especially along 16th Ave. and some units right off Highway 30 by Williams Blvd. This side of town also has ADM (smelly corn processing plant), General Mills, and other industrial facilities. You start seeing better housing the closer you move toward Fairfax (suburb on Highway 151).

The income disparity on the SE side is very visible; some of the nicest and poorest neighborhoods in the city are in this quadrant. Generally the neighborhoods that directly ring the East and SE side of downtown are the ones you want to avoid, but as you head further out on Mt. Vernon Road and over by East Post Rd. the area becomes more wooded and the housing stock is much nicer.

Marion and Hiawatha are two suburbs that also have good neighborhoods.
Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-12-2010, 03:36 PM
 
1 posts, read 6,028 times
Reputation: 10
In CR, its great. You have Lindale Mall which has many stores. Noelridge park has a very kid friendly water park. Waterloo 45 minute drive, has Lost Island, absolutly great. Best in Iowa. The closest amusment park would be in Des Moines's Adventure Land. Fun City in Burlington (1 hour 45 minutes) is very good. Very interactive. For schools, you can't go wrong with Linn-Mar. I go to school there and it is great. A new highschool should be built by 2016. It's alittle overcrowded but great. The teachers are great. Skiing, 45 minutes in Debuque. Pretty nice place. Tornados arent to bad. More than you would get in Idaho or Nebraska. It's nice in Iowa. Winters aren't terrible. Summers are pretty nice. You should love Cedar Rapids. (Live in the NE is you can, the best part) Good Luck with the relcation!
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-14-2016, 03:45 PM
 
2 posts, read 3,523 times
Reputation: 10
Any suggestions on which part of Cedar Rapids is going to be less affected by all the factory pollution? I've read online that there is loads of air pollution/particulate in the city, mostly from the ADM Ethanol factory. Really dangerous levels that are not obvious. Where would be a good area, upper middle class, to live in that would be the farthest away from those plants? My son has asthma and I want to make sure we live in a relatively clean area.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-14-2016, 09:33 PM
 
Location: Sun City West, AZ
576 posts, read 831,016 times
Reputation: 1061
Given your concerns, you are best off to localize your search to the northern parts of the CR metro area. This would include Marion and Hiawatha. In all 3 of these cities, you will find a wide variety of home values. If you are looking at upper middle class (I'm assuming a housing budget of $250-400k), you should have no problem finding a really nice neighborhood within any of these areas. Northern / northeastern CR and northern Marion are part of the LinnMar school district, which is very good. As of right now, there are no major sources of air pollution in all of this part of the metro, but be aware that there is persistent talk of a garbage incinerator in the SE quadrant of Marion.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2016, 10:10 PM
 
1 posts, read 1,606 times
Reputation: 15
I just left Maryland about a week now to Cedar Rapids IOWA. I'm beginning to like it here. I hope and pray that thing goes
well with me, and hope to find some good friends.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-27-2016, 06:27 PM
 
Location: Iowa
16 posts, read 22,635 times
Reputation: 35
The best part of Cedar Rapids is Hiawatha. Stay away from Marion, as the ticket happy cops jump with joy over writing tickets. Mine was a $50 fine which cost a total of $127.50 for not wearing a seat belt, which is a primary offense in Iowa. Needless to say I will never spend any more money in Marion.
And if you rent, beware of the scumbag slumlords in CR. I've met some real estate crooks in California but nothing like these hayseed dirtbags.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-28-2016, 07:22 AM
 
49 posts, read 57,215 times
Reputation: 45
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpat View Post
The best part of Cedar Rapids is Hiawatha. Stay away from Marion, as the ticket happy cops jump with joy over writing tickets. Mine was a $50 fine which cost a total of $127.50 for not wearing a seat belt, which is a primary offense in Iowa. Needless to say I will never spend any more money in Marion.
And if you rent, beware of the scumbag slumlords in CR. I've met some real estate crooks in California but nothing like these hayseed dirtbags.
Or you could move to Marion, not speed, and wear a seat belt.

"Cops enforce laws" sounds like a stupid reason to not move somewhere.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-28-2016, 09:00 AM
 
Location: Iowa
16 posts, read 22,635 times
Reputation: 35
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vitae View Post
Or you could move to Marion, not speed, and wear a seat belt.

"Cops enforce laws" sounds like a stupid reason to not move somewhere.
I have dealt with crooked cops and corrupt law enforcement in California, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

And after 9 years I'm still waiting on a crooked Federal Judge in North Carolina.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-28-2016, 02:11 PM
 
Location: Sun City West, AZ
576 posts, read 831,016 times
Reputation: 1061
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpat View Post
I have dealt with crooked cops and corrupt law enforcement in California, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

And after 9 years I'm still waiting on a crooked Federal Judge in North Carolina.
LOL! I'm seeing a trend here.... Those darn cops and judges should just leave you alone and let you break the laws, because obviously, none of the laws apply to you! Time for a long hard look in the mirror.

One of the things I loved in Marion when I lived there was that the cops were strict. Stricter cops leads to less crime which makes for a better place for law abiding citizens to live. Many times when they pulled someone over for speeding, seat belts, etc., they found other offenses like OWI, drugs, fugitives, etc. So I was all for their efforts.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-30-2016, 09:25 AM
 
49 posts, read 57,215 times
Reputation: 45
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpat View Post
I have dealt with crooked cops and corrupt law enforcement in California, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

And after 9 years I'm still waiting on a crooked Federal Judge in North Carolina.
What do "crooked" cops have to do with a post in which you said you got a fine for speeding and not having a seat belt on?
Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


 
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Iowa

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top