I remember a geography class, and its the urban decay, and sprawl. The downtowns in those river towns are awesome. Problem is, back in the late 1890s and into the 60s, people built homes around those economic areas. Now they are crap. The homes around a downtown sometimes go with it.
What Mississippi River town in Iowa has the best downtown?
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I remember a geography class, and its the urban decay, and sprawl. The downtowns in those river towns are awesome. Problem is, back in the late 1890s and into the 60s, people built homes around those economic areas. Now they are crap. The homes around a downtown sometimes go with it.
That's when you buy those old homes cheap, tear them down, and put up a nice craft brewery with a view of the river...
For some reason, apparently these communities aren't bringing in very much new money or development options.
It would be great for the state if those areas could grow into places worth traveling for.
For some reason, apparently these communities aren't bringing in very much new money or development options.
It would be great for the state if those areas could grow into places worth traveling for.
Davenport is still the best Mississippi River city in
Iowa. It has a spectacular view of the river and the
best minor league baseball park on its banks. The
downtown offers some culture with the outstanding
Figge Art Museum and the Adler Theater and the
musical festivals at LeClaire Park
Iowa. It has a spectacular view of the river and the
best minor league baseball park on its banks. The
downtown offers some culture with the outstanding
Figge Art Museum and the Adler Theater and the
musical festivals at LeClaire Park
Unfortunately for this discussion, Galena is not on the Mississippi, it's on the Galena River. Lots of Chicago money comes to town for eating and drinking and recreating.
Clinton is like a lot of other towns in our region. They were prosperous until the 80's or so when all the decent working class jobs left. Its also way sprawled out. The inner core rots while they build new stuff on their outer roads. They had beautiful homes there that they allowed to be cut up into crappy apartments. Its sad really. Some people there give a crap, others just care about their own profit, and in the end it goes nowhere. It would take come radical thinking and action to change.
Most Mississippi River towns are among the oldest in the state and developed rather haphazardly in the pioneering days. They were often where dirty ( but necessary ) industries set up shop. The river provided the cheapest way to move goods ( still does for a lot of commodities ) till the railroad and then the interstates came along. Newer towns along the the way were centrally located in each new county. (one day's ride away. ) Courthouses were usually planned out in a city square.
The options aren't great but I would say Davenport would win with Dubuque as a close second. D'port has the most to do along with one of the best minor league ballparks in the country. Dubuque has gotten a lot better in recent years. They have a River Museum, an indoor waterpark, and casinos which help.
For small towns, Guttenberg and McGregor are both really nice. Clinton is probably the worst.
For small towns, Guttenberg and McGregor are both really nice. Clinton is probably the worst.
Define bougie? I'm thinking you're using slang for bourgeiosie. That was an early gig in my child carney days. TugFest (it was a tug-of-war across the river between Iowa and Illinois, not a jerk-off party). We set up our climbing wall there approximately '99-'02. I don't remember anything upscale about LeClaire. It was a piss ant river town with some obscure museum.
My wife and I drove to the John Deere classic last year. Took some back roads. I wanted to go to Sabula. Quite a let down.
That walk from Bill's to The Litehouse can be pretty crazy! Some are even crazy enough to do it multiple times a night.
That was tried in McGregor by a local chiropractor. Even sent his brewer to Germany to learn how to brew beer.
Restaurant went well for a couple yrs in the summer but good chefs & brewers are hard to keep employed on low wages. It's been closed now for 2-3 yrs. Twisted chicken lasted 2-3 yrs & is closed also.
McGregor is a nice town but everything closes in the fall as it's a tourist/summer destination.
This is the main reason.
Floods are devastating. If you have never lived in a Mississippi River town during one of theses great floods, you wouldn’t understand. It absolutely doesn’t make sense to spend big bucks developing the area next to the river when it will just get destroyed every few years. That’s why so many of these towns have a large park along the shore.
As for the OP question, Davenport is the easy winner with the ballpark, the bandshell at LeClaire Park, the riverboat, and a fairly lively business district a couple blocks away from the river.
I just hope they do something with the casino space other than more "green space". Moline is already in the midst of doing the same damn thing to replace the open space of the old 74 bridge whenever its done. QUIT DOING THAT! Put restaurants/shopping/entertainment on the river.. not more green space that will sit idle 8 months out of the year.This is the main reason.
Floods are devastating. If you have never lived in a Mississippi River town during one of theses great floods, you wouldn’t understand. It absolutely doesn’t make sense to spend big bucks developing the area next to the river when it will just get destroyed every few years. That’s why so many of these towns have a large park along the shore.
As for the OP question, Davenport is the easy winner with the ballpark, the bandshell at LeClaire Park, the riverboat, and a fairly lively business district a couple blocks away from the river.
Litehouse is back open and amazing.
My three choices:
Lansing
McGregor
Waukon Junction(does the lady still have her hair place along the highway?) I think her name was Mona.
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Yeah, LeClaire has completely done a 180 since I moved back to the area in the mid 1990s. It used to be a dirty little river town and now it is trying to be Iowa's answer to Galena. It has several upscale restaurants, a bunch of froofy antique stores, a winery, a brewery and a distillery and is generally packed on weekends with Chicago tourists and people coming to visit the American Picker's place.
Here are some pics of LeClaire now:
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