Is Waterloo in better shape than Davenport? (Cedar Rapids, Iowa City: crime, restaurants)

[Kraftask]

Haven't been out that way in decades but i remember Waterloo being pretty rough back in the day. So i was wondering how does it compare to Davenport?

[Shhon]

No,


Davenport is better!

[jeffs]

Davenport/Bettendorf area especially up north by I 80 is really booming commercially. Downtown Davenport has seen a lot of new restaurants and bars and commercial establishments open up. A little higher crime than average, but overall the area isn't doing too badly.

[mustang84]

Population-wise, both are kind of stagnant. They are still blue collar rust-belt cities that never fully recovered from the farm crisis, and that stigma still carries on to this day even though they've been trying to diversify. Davenport is in a different category than Waterloo though, being part of a much bigger metro area. No idea on crime, but I've never felt unsafe in either downtown area.

I have been to both somewhat recently and while I think Davenport still has the edge in being more vibrant, downtown Waterloo is starting to turn around, especially on the west side of the river. Lots of new housing developments such as Art Bloc have been going up, along with SingleSpeed Brewing in the old Wonder Bread bakery, and entertainment venues such as Cedar Valley Sportsplex. They're both still a far cry from Iowa City or Cedar Rapids, though...both of which have bigger population growth and more development occurring.