QUality of Life in Cedar Rapids
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11/16/2009
I have lived in Iowa all of my life (60years). I was born and raised in Des Moines and moved here to Cedar Rapids in 1986 with my wife and two daughters after living in Guthrie Center, Iowa, Marshalltown, Iowa, and Sterling, Colorado....so I have lived in various sized towns and cities. Cedar Rapids is without a doubt the best of all the places we have lived. The oak woods are very pretty and there are lots of parks in the area. I like to trout fish and am within 2 hours of some very good trout streams up in Northeast Iowa. I enjoy the change in the seasons and do a lot of gardening as I enjoy being out of doors as much as I can. I am retired and a widower now and feel there are lots of things one can do for recreation in this area. There is the City Symphony Orchestra, local theater for plays, baseball and hockey teams to watch, and Iowa City and the Hawkeye's are only 30 minutes away. It's been a great place to raise a family.
I worked here for 20 years and a commute to work took me 15 minutes. "RUsh Hour" is 15 minutes in duration. The streets need some work (potholes are plentiful) but traffic is well under control. Navigating took some time to get used to due to the diagonal nature of the street layouts here and the 4 quadrants (NE, SE, SW, NW). However, once you get that 4 quadrant concept in your brain then its easier to get around.
Past problems with city odors have been pretty much taken care of once the meat packing plant shut down in the downtown area some years ago and the famous "MT Trashmore" (former county landfill) has been closed down and its odors have also pretty much disappeared from the city. So the air quality is much improved over past years.
Water quality here is very good as far as I am concerned. No iron taste or algae taste in it. The city presoftens the water before it goes to homes so "hard water" is not a problem in Cedar Rapids. CIty services for water, sewer, trash and recycling are reasonably priced ($40.00/mo) and my electric and gas bills average $147.00/mo for my 2,200 sq ft home. Housing prices are very reasonable in most areas of the city (caution: stay out of the flood plain).
I have no regrets. ITs been a good place to live and work and raise a family.
chris | Cedar Rapids, IA