# Iowa City - USA. Small urban jewel in the heartland of America



## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

*Iowa City-USA. Small urban jewel in the heartland of America-SAD NEW TORNADO PICTURES*

Hello,
I am posting some pictures of my hometown of Iowa City located in the state of Iowa in the USA. It has a population of around 63,000 with an urbanized area of around 135,000. By far the main employer in Iowa City is the University of Iowa. The city is very well known in Iowa for being a progressive, democratic, and educated city. It is quite a cosmopolitan city for being so small, and has had a very very healthy economy for decades now. This has given the city a well kept, clean, very safe, and optomistic mood. There is also quite good public transportation in the city. The downtown and near areas are served by the Cambus - a COMPLETELY FREE bus service with 15 lines running through all University areas ( basically the entire city center, as the downtown/dense residential/university areas are all blended together ). Combined with the 23 routes served by the cities own bus service Iowa City delivers 5,795,874 rides annually according to the most recent data I could find. Not too bad for such a small city.

I took these pictures very early on a Sunday morning during the few weeks of the year when there was no school in session. This was about a week after the spring semester ended, and the summer session was about a week from starting. Also being a college town with a very young median age - Sunday mornings are normally a quiet time in the city with many people still sleeping off the parties from the night before.

Note: you can see some of the damage from a fairly powerful tornado that tore right through the downtown area a few months ago. There are still many boarded up windows on the glass/metal condo building featured in many of the pictures.


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## fcarvall (Nov 6, 2004)

where did the people go in Iowa City? Was it Siesta time?


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

Early Sunday morning in a college town when class isn't in session...nuff said. It was actually relaxing not to have the 30,000 students running around, although obviously the people watching was at a minimum.


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## Zargyle (Jul 17, 2005)

That is a beautiful city!


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## edsg25 (Jul 30, 2004)

chicagoago, fabulous pictures of the ultimate college town. how great to see the dome of Old Capitol shining in its original glory. Your campus and pedmall pix were outstanding. i particularly loved the one looking west from the pentacrest down Iowa Avenue to the river and the west bank.

is that hotel vitro part of library plaza? is it affiliated with the sheraton?

I'd love to see more of your pictures, particularly of the west campus. did you ever take any of hancher, the art school/museum complex, kinnick, carver-hawkeye, field house, hospital...and even coralville? if you did and could post, they'd be great to see.

iowa city is an incredible gem. people who have never been there would be shocked to see what a fantastic college town it is and the beauty of both campus and city with the iowa river flowing between the hills.


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## globill (Dec 4, 2005)

thanks for a walk down memory lane, what a wonderful point on the map. It's changed quite a bit from when I lived there. And Chicagoago....I know you are a native, for you described Iowa City as optimistic. 

Iowa City (and Iowa for that matter) is more prepared for universal peace and brotherood than is any other place on Earth.

And btw, what up with the Cottage Bakery & Cafe???? Is that a second branch? Please tell me the original cottage is still standing and offering the world'd greatest sandwiches....please......


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## [email protected] (Jun 29, 2004)

not big but very good looking city


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

Actually that building with the clocktower and Cottage Bakery in it is a new parking ramp built by the city. There are now 5 city run ramps, as well as 7 university run ramps in the downtown area. They've tried to build the new city ramps to hide the fact that they are parking, making the area more pleasant when you're walking around. Hence how they put a Spa, Cottage Bakery, and a TV studio in the front of the parking ramp of which you are speaking. The one good thing about having 30,000 college students, the city's downtown area, and campus all together in one area is they don't have a lot of space they are willing to waste on surface parking.

I will try and get some more shots when I am back visiting some relatives this weekend of the west side of campus, some new city neighborhoods, and my actual hometown of Coralville ( a suburb ).


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## Davee (Oct 22, 2005)

What a beautiful place. I've been to Des Moines (which I really liked) and feel cheated by not seeing your beautiful city. Can't wait to see some more. Can't wait to go back!!


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## edsg25 (Jul 30, 2004)

chicagoago, could you answer that previous question of mine: it that new hotel part of library plaza and is it associated with the sheraton (i thought that was the original intent).

also, what happened to c'ville's grandiose plan to build something like a rain forest...is it still considered?

one more queston: the new building with the curved, barn like roof in downtown IC: is that a university owned building or privately owned? it appears to be in that section of the campus that goes east from the pentacrest on the south side of Iowa Ave, near bio...am i right on that one?

also, any thoughts from you about why such a great restaurant as the Lark couldn't make in IC after the fire? that place was a classic.


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

Sorry, crazy day at work....mind isn't functioning. Think I need some beer.

1)The new hotel and the new public library across from it are two independent projects. The new hotel is actually only partially a hotel, and mostly high-end condos. It has nothing to do with the Sheraton, but was built by the Moen Group because they saw a need for a grocery store, high end hotel, and high end condos downtown. They were right because the thing sold out almost immediately.

Here are the three recently completed projects by the Mohn Group in downtown. I hope there are more to come! I think they're quite classy for what we usually see going up in a smaller city in Iowa. All private development.

A)


















B)









C)









Was that second building the one you were talking about? The first two are apartments on top and retail in the bottom. The third one as I said is retail on bottom, and condo/hotel on the top.

2) The City of Coralville killed the rainforest deal with whoever it was developing it because they got extremely angry with the run-around and constant delays on the issue. The city council finally got mad at spending money on a project that couldn't get solid funding. The area it was to built on was 150 acres between the river, the main artery in town, and I-80. The city razed the entire industrial park and whatever else was on that plot of land ( thank god, it was so old and run down ), and have recently completed a new 10 story Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. They're landscaping the entire area and creating the Iowa River Landing, a new park, restaurants, shops, and have reserved the main parcels of land for future development after they get all the infrastructure and landscaping finished.

3) I didn't even know the Lark in Iowa City closed down. I know it was more of a thrown up box of a restuarant than the unique old building it replaced in Tiffin.


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## edsg25 (Jul 30, 2004)

Chicagoago said:


> Sorry, crazy day at work....mind isn't functioning. Think I need some beer.
> 
> 1)The new hotel and the new public library across from it are two independent projects. The new hotel is actually only partially a hotel, and mostly high-end condos. It has nothing to do with the Sheraton, but was built by the Moen Group because they saw a need for a grocery store, high end hotel, and high end condos downtown. They were right because the thing sold out almost immediately.
> 
> ...


yes, that was the pictue i had in mind.

looks like coralville will have to contend itself on coral ridge and all those motels and restaurants for $$$$ makers. i believe the mall is the biggest in eastern Iowa and draws people even from DM and the Quad Cities.


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## jaxhawk06 (Jun 13, 2006)

Iowa City is an incredible city. 

I too can't wait for your photos on the west side of the river!


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## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

iowa city looks nice. it looks like there are some decent-sized buildings for a smaller city like that. do many have tie-ins to the college kids?

the downtown area looks nice. it looks ver dense. (maybe too dense for someone looking at iowa city for the first time; it's hard to get a good mental picture of the city.)

i also found that sunday morning is a good time to take pictures of a college campus, or any city in general. i took pictures of the university of delaware (my alma mater, in the town of newark) mostly on sunday mornings. it was nice for me during my junior and senior years (only a couple years ago but feels like forever), because i don't really get hangovers. i would be able to drink to excess every saturday night but would have no trouble waking up at 8 the next morning and going to church on campus. i would usually go for a quiet walk around campus just to clear my head and give me some personal time away from my roommates.

the iowa campus looks nice. the old granite buildings look great. that newer building looks nice, with the exception of that roof made of cubes.

that plaque of a map of iowa in the sidewalk is interesing. why is that one county in northwest iowa bronzed?


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## Amit (Apr 30, 2005)

Thanks for the pictures. I am from India, and did MS in Mechanical engineering from University of Iowa at Iowa City a few years back. I spent 2 1/2 years in the pretty town and have fond memories from there. A walk along the river flowing through campus, the changing colors of leaves in Fall, the snow in winter, the apartments and houses.. they are really beautiful.

I made some wonderful friends with graduate students from various countries. The Diwali cultural show organized every year by Indian students is really popular and attended by some 1000 people. International day organized by the university in which students from various countries showcase their culture is another memorable event. It is amazing how despite being a small town, Iowa City has such an international atmosphere.


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

Yeah, I was always surprised at the amount of international students who went to Iowa. I think they really stuck out because instead of being immigrants who came here from other countries and were starting lives - we had a few thousand people from other countries (including the students families) who had literally just arrived here from Europe/Africa/Asia. My mom started teaching at an elementery school in Iowa City a few years ago that was made up of many of these university students own children, because it included the married student housing areas. Her school was 49% minority, and a majority of these were international students who didn't speak a WORD of english when they first arrived. She found it very interesting, but at times very frustrating. They would always do a project where they would study all the countries everyone in her class was from. One year they had 11 countries represented out of her 28 students.

**also - I see someone pointed out that bronze county in northern Iowa in one of the pictures. That's really weird, I didn't pay any attention to it when I first looked. That county in reality is actually one large county that fills the area of the bronze, and then it extends all the way to the northern state line. I'm not sure why they have that split into two counties on that map with the southern one being highlighted like that. I actually never figured out why this county (Kossuth) was twice as large as any of the other counties. Given that they're all almost the same size and square, this county should have been divided into two different counties to be uniform. We also have 99 counties in Iowa...so I always assumed maybe they didn't wanna reach 100 for some reason. Who knows...but I wish I could read what the names of those two counties are - since in real life it's just one.


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## softee (Mar 6, 2003)

Looks like a fantastic university town. I could live there.


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

A tornado hit Iowa City in April of 2006, here are some pictures of the destruction. The tornado was in the top 15% of tornadoes as far as how powerful it was - and it tore directly through the center of the city. The most amazing thing of all is NO ONE died during the tornado in Iowa City. There were 7 tornadoes that night in Johnson County, where Iowa City is located.

"The Bush administration has denied Gov. Tom Vilsack's request for federal aid for Iowa's counties affected by severe weather in April.

Vilsack had asked for Johnson, Jones and Muscatine counties to receive Presidential Disaster Declarations after a series of tornadoes swept across Eastern Iowa, killing one and causing millions of dollars in damage. The declaration would have made federal money available for housing assistance and repairs.

Vilsack on Friday said he was "extremely disappointed" in Bush and would consider appealing the decision."


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## thryve (Mar 5, 2005)

Aww what a shame about the tornado... looks like it really mucked about some nice residential areas.

Gorgeous little town!

-thryve


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## HawkiRod (Jun 29, 2006)

The plaque you're talking about on Iowa Avenue is Kossuth county split in half. I agree--I wish they would have made us 100 counties instead of making them the BIGGEST...darn it all to heck! I believe it's split to make a fictional county that takes place in a book. I'm now going to have to go down there and look cuz it will drive me crazy. A little trivia about the 99 counties: The reason there are 99 and not just 10 or so is because back when the state was founded, the requirement when founding a county and establishing a "county seat" was that it had to be accessible by farmers so they could make the trip to the courthouse and back home with a horse and wagon in a single day. Thus, 99 counties. There's a few people calling for us to get rid of about 90 of them since everything is done on the web--but I don't ever see it happening as it would kill those tiny towns that have the courthouse...


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## HawkiRod (Jun 29, 2006)

OH, and I lived in one of the Moen towers (the one with the diagonal roof) for about a year. They're as cool on the inside as they are on the outside--lots of concrete and glass!


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## wuhan600 (Jul 10, 2007)

COOL


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## wuhan600 (Jul 10, 2007)

peaceful


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