Mississippi River city, low cost living with lots - 8/23/2014

Davenport is part of a larger metropolitan area, called the Quad Cities, which includes Illinois river cities just across the Mississippi. River related recreation,, including multiple bike trails along the river, the nation's top minor league baseball park, and a variety of large and small performance venues, many local theatre groups, 2 liberal arts colleges, exceptional symphony, and diverse musical offerings of the River Music Experience (RME). And the downtown is undergoing historical renovation to provide move lofts and apartment living , along with more restaurants and shops to re-energize the city center.

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Best place I ever lived - 7/28/2014

Lived in 12 SE cities before moving to Davenport. Quality of life is much better; ease of moving around with little to no interstate traffic. Grid layout makes it simple to find everything. Convenient, 10 mins to anything. Great old homes and buildings with interesting architecture and quality. 60 plus year old home is better than new ones. Shady streets with sidewalks. Ally parking garage set up is great. Whitey's Ice Cream and local restaurants are terrific. Home prices low. The river view is awesome - never tire of it. Winter is easy to get used to and driving on powder snow is no problem. People are friendly and polite but not while driving. Hate the traffic lite cams. Inexpensive, easy to adjust to. Doesn't get better than this.

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colleges - 1/16/2014

Great local colleges and schools!

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Don't think it's any better in the Midwest. - 12/31/2012

No jobs or minimum wage flipping burgers, crime is so high there's a fight for more police when there's no money to pay than Go ahead call 911 it might take 45 minutes to get help on a Saturday night. Food is so high it's stupid, we live in the breadbasket. We are trapped by one food chain called hyvee they set the price by demographically how much your area makes. So if you think it's better here think again. The Super 8 is full of people trapped here because they thought leaving Michigan and coming here would be a better life. We have 3 casinos, 2 in Iowa, davenport and a mile away Bettendorf and one right over the bridge in Rock Island, I'll , Illinois is much worse, several people I know are moving, businesses are closing. I hate to break your bubble, but the Midwest got ruined in the 80's the last big push to the "clean" Midwest ......no more. So sounds like everyone wants better. Trust me don't pick Iowa !!!!!!

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sfae neighborhood - 6/23/2012

may be moving to town and want to know where reasonable rent and safe neighborhoods are in Davenport.thanks Steph

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No place like home ... Not - 1/12/2010

We moved here in August of 2009 and fell in love with the QCA right off the bat. Moving to Davenport makes our 8th city of residence in fourteen years. All of the cities we have lived in have been in the mid-west. We have never met a nicer group of people who have been so willing to help me and my wife with our transition. The city is not too big and not to small and it has a taste of all the cultural venues my wife and I are interested in. This is so much NOT like home that I think I am going to love it.

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Four Seasons - 11/14/2008

Great place to enjoy all four seasons at their best!

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Great Midwestern City - 11/9/2008

Can't wait to move back to Davenport

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Community - 6/17/2008

Davenport has a great sense of community. There is always some activity that you can choose to be involved with, or not. But if you like to be involved then this is your kind of place! And the people are very friendly and helpful, you won't be dissapointed.

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Quality of Life - 3/3/2008

There is much to do in the Quad Cities area regardless of your interests be they fishing, culture, music, outdoors, etc. It's a great place to live.

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Davenport - Pros/Cons - 2/10/2008

Pros: 1. Low cost of living and housing 2. Affordable place to live 3. Headquarters for John Deere are across the river in Moline, IL Cons: 1. High crime rate 2. Very poor school system 3. Not very much to do 4. The economy is dominated by John Deere

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cold in winter, humid in summer - 2/4/2008

In my 60's and lived in the Midwest all my life. You would think I would be used to it. Spring is nice although short, and fall can be beautiful, but winters generally are pretty rough, and deep into summer, high humidity, high temps. Last week (end of Jan) it was 48 one morning, and -2 the next: hard to believe but true.

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Moving back was a good decision - 2/28/2007

I was born in Davenport thirty-six years ago, moved away from Iowa-- to NY-- about ten years ago and recently made the move back to Davenport. I made this decision because I needed a taste of home again, want to start my family in a place where I am confortable doing so-- in a place where the quality of formal education far surpasses what the rest of the nation has to offer-- and I simply could not stand NY. NYC is a fabulous place to visit and is, in fact, a whole different world to itself; very romantic in every aspect of that notion, but the rest of the state is a rural wasteland populated by poorly educated, unworldly, narrow-minded, generally belligerent people who are the worst drivers in the US. I had to get out. I hesitated considering moving back to Iowa for the same reasons I left this place; there really is a lot to do-- if you compare available activity options to places like NYC, Chicago, Austin, San Francisco, L.A., Portland, etc., but one really is as happy as one makes oneself. If you are bored, you are probably just boring. There is an art(s) and cultural scene here-- although the ebb and flow of its development can be dramatically erratic. Music is great, theatre is pretty good, the bar scene is rather cute, the gay scene is growing/ becoming more acceptable-- this is happening at about the same rate as is so throughout the rest of the nation in cities the size of Davenport, so nothing out-of-the-ordinary. Housing is relatively inexpensive and property values are actually increasing at a slightly higher rate than sites such as this one tend to publish, the towns are clean (some more so than others) and people are generally VERY nice-- this is so compared to what I had grown used to in NY. There is trust, faith, good-nature/ generosity and care/ appreciation here. The education system is tops and I recommend it to every family. People know better how to drive here! After living through the hell of driving in Upstate NY, my god, I am in driving heaven out here! I now feel like a NY driver when I am on the road in Iowa and it's rather embarrassing.

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Quad Cities blues - 9/15/2006

The area is often described as,"not that bad". Probably a true statement as true as,"not that good either." Affordable housing, descent job market(blue collar), good quality schools ( k-12 and college) but nothing to do. If you can make the 2.5 hour drive to Chicago on the weekends you will be happy. The only reason I would relocate there if it was with John Deere, otherwise consider somewhere else.

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wow - 8/24/2006

I moved here 7 years ago from San Francisco. I have never met nicer people. There is lots of midwest culture. A healthy art scene. The river. A ton of food, although a good burrito is hard to find. I have made wonderful friends here and living here will make you a better person. Everyones really nice and it takes a while to get used to it. Then your like, gee, i guess i'll have another pop. It is one of the best kept secrets in the country, the quad, try it, you will love it.

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QuadCities Pros and Cons - 3/3/2006

I grew up here, and have just come back after forty years. I am moving to another State after my family obligations are over, but, I have to say, the people here are shockingly kind and nice. A real small town feel, but over 400K people in all. Four seasons is nice. Housing is super cheap. It is heartbreaking that so much manufacturing has left this area. The people here are actually naive and the kind you expect to find in a church on Sunday. Not my cup of tea for close friends as they are almost goody goody, but they ARE definitely some of the nicest people in America. If I got stuck here forever, I could tolerate it. Prices all over this area are dirt cheap. The area has definitely gone down since the manufacturing has left, but the gambling boats are helping bring some action here. And they do bring many national acts here for entertainment which you can see for about half or less than you would see the same act in one of the major cities. There are plusses here. And, if you get really bored, drive to Chicago as it is only three hours away.

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cute homes in downtown area--Bettendorf also nice - 12/18/2005

very cute town--alot of cute cottages in downtown area--alot different than in the deep south--the people are extremely nice. Considered moving here for a change of season --wished we would have. Larger community with hometown feel about it.

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