One of Iowa's best cities, located on the Missouri River where South Dakota and Nebraska meet. During urban renewal, more than 200 buildings greater than four stories were demolished, but much still remains. Also home to a very expansive skywalk system and incredible, Prairie style courthouse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's this?

 

Whoa--the Woodbury County Courthouse, the largest Prairie School civic structure ever constructed

 

A National Historic Landmark, it was designed by Elmslie and Purcell; Elmslie was an apprentice of Louis Sullivan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice tour, but what is up with that banner for the Mardi Gras Festivale in July? I think I saw recently a post on UO for one in Ohio too.

Where are all the carbon-based bipedal life forms? Seriously, was anyone walking around the downtown?

It has a lot more skywalks than I'd imagine.  Otherwise, great thread.

According to Wikipedia, Sioux City had an el train for commuters in the 1890s.

Where are all the carbon-based bipedal life forms? Seriously, was anyone walking around the downtown?

 

There were a few. It was a weekday morning and it was clear that there were people at work, but the most activity I observed was around the Hard Rock Casino.

It has a lot more skywalks than I'd imagine.  Otherwise, great thread.

 

It has some pretty harsh winters.

Sioux City is an old meat packing city in far Northwest Iowa.  Metro of about 150 k I believe.

 

Des Moines is by far the largest in Iowa and they actually just proposed a 32 story tower downtown.  It really has it going on there.

 

In eastern Iowa, Davenport is the anchor of the Quad Cities (~400 k metro), but the region is a bit stagnant.  In north east Iowa Dubuque is the oldest city in Iowa and it kind of reminds me of Cincinnati being on the hills and bluffs, and has some old rowhouse areas and a warehouse district, though it is much smaller than Cincinnati.

 

Iowa City is probably the most lively city in Iowa besides Des Moines.  Combined with the Cedar Rapids metro one county north, they are around 400k metro and growing fairly well.  I believe that area and Des Moines are the only two metro areas in Iowa really growing, and with corn commodity prices slipping, it isn't helping the tractor and farm manufactruing economy at all, especially in these smaller metros like Sioux City and Waterloo.

 

That said, if one were to travel to any of these metros, I think the only spots where you would see good activity downtown would be Des Moines and Iowa City, and Iowa City really only when school is in session.

Sioux City is an old meat packing city in far Northwest Iowa.  Metro of about 150 k I believe.

 

Des Moines is by far the largest in Iowa and they actually just proposed a 32 story tower downtown.  It really has it going on there.

 

In eastern Iowa, Davenport is the anchor of the Quad Cities (~400 k metro), but the region is a bit stagnant.  In north east Iowa Dubuque is the oldest city in Iowa and it kind of reminds me of Cincinnati being on the hills and bluffs, and has some old rowhouse areas and a warehouse district, though it is much smaller than Cincinnati.

 

Iowa City is probably the most lively city in Iowa besides Des Moines.  Combined with the Cedar Rapids metro one county north, they are around 400k metro and growing fairly well.  I believe that area and Des Moines are the only two metro areas in Iowa really growing, and with corn commodity prices slipping, it isn't helping the tractor and farm manufactruing economy at all, especially in these smaller metros like Sioux City and Waterloo.

 

That said, if one were to travel to any of these metros, I think the only spots where you would see good activity downtown would be Des Moines and Iowa City, and Iowa City really only when school is in session.

 

I thought Des Moines had one over 600', and it turns out there's a 45 story building similar in size to BP.

Sioux City is an old meat packing city in far Northwest Iowa.  Metro of about 150 k I believe.

 

Des Moines is by far the largest in Iowa and they actually just proposed a 32 story tower downtown.  It really has it going on there.

 

In eastern Iowa, Davenport is the anchor of the Quad Cities (~400 k metro), but the region is a bit stagnant.  In north east Iowa Dubuque is the oldest city in Iowa and it kind of reminds me of Cincinnati being on the hills and bluffs, and has some old rowhouse areas and a warehouse district, though it is much smaller than Cincinnati.

 

Iowa City is probably the most lively city in Iowa besides Des Moines.  Combined with the Cedar Rapids metro one county north, they are around 400k metro and growing fairly well.  I believe that area and Des Moines are the only two metro areas in Iowa really growing, and with corn commodity prices slipping, it isn't helping the tractor and farm manufactruing economy at all, especially in these smaller metros like Sioux City and Waterloo.

 

That said, if one were to travel to any of these metros, I think the only spots where you would see good activity downtown would be Des Moines and Iowa City, and Iowa City really only when school is in session.

 

I thought Des Moines had one over 600', and it turns out there's a 45 story building similar in size to BP.

 

801 Grand in DT Des Moines is 630', and it towers above the rest although I think there are about 3 more in the 400' range and then this new one they just proposed will be in the 400' range.  There is still a lot of empty space in surface parking from downtown leading to the capitol building, but they seem to be filling it in decently.  They do urbanism quite well for being a metro of close to 700 k, and they have a very healthy economy.  When you are there though, you can tell it is a much smaller town than the 3 C's in Ohio, Indianapolis or even Louisville.  But it is growing at a very fast clip, the metro at 7.4% since 2010.

Sioux City has seen better days, as other smaller cities in Iowa have.  But I was impressed with Des Moines and Iowa City, and Davenport and Cedar Rapids seemed to have made great progress since the floods of 2008.  Des Moines is certainly one of the more underrated cities in its population range.  Downtown Des Moines had a nice compact central area, but the parking lots on the southern edge of downtown were massive.  East Village across the river seems to have a bit going for it, but is broken up by a lot of surface lots and didn't seem to have a main street where all the restaurants were located, instead spread out about the neighborhood.  The city seems to be focusing on these surface lots and filling them in at a decent clip.

 

Iowa offers more than some of the other central states, IMO.

Sioux City has seen better days, as other smaller cities in Iowa have.  But I was impressed with Des Moines and Iowa City, and Davenport and Cedar Rapids seemed to have made great progress since the floods of 2008.  Des Moines is certainly one of the more underrated cities in its population range.  Downtown Des Moines had a nice compact central area, but the parking lots on the southern edge of downtown were massive.  East Village across the river seems to have a bit going for it, but is broken up by a lot of surface lots and didn't seem to have a main street where all the restaurants were located, instead spread out about the neighborhood.  The city seems to be focusing on these surface lots and filling them in at a decent clip.

 

Iowa offers more than some of the other central states, IMO.

 

I am from Cedar Rapids and spent a lot of time in Iowa City.  In Cedar Rapids a ton of old housing stock was wiped out by the 2008 flood, so they will never get that back.  That said the city already had demolished a ton of old commercial buildings and they still are, so it doesn't have the best urban fabric that it could have.  There are pieces here and there, and where there is a decent amount still in tact, it is the hottest area of the metro, go figure.

 

Iowa City has a bit of an issue as well with tearing down historic commercial buildings for new development.

 

You are 100% right on about Des Moines.  Really compact central area but then massive surface lots close to downtown.  It seems they are poised to keep filling in the lots in East Village though with decent urbanism, so that is a plus.

The county courthouse is a bit unusual looking, but very interesting.  Great tour !

Great thread ink, sorry I'm just now seeing it. SUX keeps chugging along. The Iowa SHPO actually made the developer of the United Lofts (on 4th next to the cheesy new theater) screen the windows because the steel frames were inappropriate. There is another large project with several blocks under development just on the other side of the theater, effectively stretching downtown closer toward I-29. We eat at SoHo and the Diving Elk a lot - so those would have been good spots to grab a bite. Sadly, they've lost so much around I-29 that there is still "ample" room for parking.

 

 

^ Dig the old streetcar tracks still in the ground.

 

The last unrestored block of Pearl Street is getting rehabbed:

 

Last year they also begun a public process to plan a new downtown central park, so that will be forthcoming.

 

Sioux City has seen better days, as other smaller cities in Iowa have.  But I was impressed with Des Moines and Iowa City, and Davenport and Cedar Rapids seemed to have made great progress since the floods of 2008.  Des Moines is certainly one of the more underrated cities in its population range.  Downtown Des Moines had a nice compact central area, but the parking lots on the southern edge of downtown were massive.  East Village across the river seems to have a bit going for it, but is broken up by a lot of surface lots and didn't seem to have a main street where all the restaurants were located, instead spread out about the neighborhood.  The city seems to be focusing on these surface lots and filling them in at a decent clip.

 

Iowa offers more than some of the other central states, IMO.

 

Iowa is a good state, actually a lot bluer than people realize politically. They're also always up there with Minnesota and Wisconsin on education spending and stuff like that.

great to see iowa and especially a town i have kind of wondered about while looking at a map, but were you the last man on earth there? not one human being in sight.

Great thread ink, sorry I'm just now seeing it. SUX keeps chugging along. The Iowa SHPO actually made the developer of the United Lofts (on 4th next to the cheesy new theater) screen the windows because the steel frames were inappropriate. There is another large project with several blocks under development just on the other side of the theater, effectively stretching downtown closer toward I-29. We eat at SoHo and the Diving Elk a lot - so those would have been good spots to grab a bite. Sadly, they've lost so much around I-29 that there is still "ample" room for parking.

 

 

^ Dig the old streetcar tracks still in the ground.

 

The last unrestored block of Pearl Street is getting rehabbed:

 

Last year they also begun a public process to plan a new downtown central park, so that will be forthcoming.

 

Sioux City has seen better days, as other smaller cities in Iowa have.  But I was impressed with Des Moines and Iowa City, and Davenport and Cedar Rapids seemed to have made great progress since the floods of 2008.  Des Moines is certainly one of the more underrated cities in its population range.  Downtown Des Moines had a nice compact central area, but the parking lots on the southern edge of downtown were massive.  East Village across the river seems to have a bit going for it, but is broken up by a lot of surface lots and didn't seem to have a main street where all the restaurants were located, instead spread out about the neighborhood.  The city seems to be focusing on these surface lots and filling them in at a decent clip.

 

Iowa offers more than some of the other central states, IMO.

 

Iowa is a good state, actually a lot bluer than people realize politically. They're also always up there with Minnesota and Wisconsin on education spending and stuff like that.

 

SUX?  Ouch that's unfortunate.

 

Iowa's a different shade of blue, as you undoubtedly know.  More populism and way less identity politics than most blue states, a lot less religious influence than other farm states.

 

If it wasn't for the caucuses, they'd risk the Dems ignoring their priorities like they did West Virginia.

Man, that courthouse was sexy!

Great thread ink, sorry I'm just now seeing it. SUX keeps chugging along. The Iowa SHPO actually made the developer of the United Lofts (on 4th next to the cheesy new theater) screen the windows because the steel frames were inappropriate. There is another large project with several blocks under development just on the other side of the theater, effectively stretching downtown closer toward I-29. We eat at SoHo and the Diving Elk a lot - so those would have been good spots to grab a bite. Sadly, they've lost so much around I-29 that there is still "ample" room for parking.

 

 

^ Dig the old streetcar tracks still in the ground.

 

The last unrestored block of Pearl Street is getting rehabbed:

 

Last year they also begun a public process to plan a new downtown central park, so that will be forthcoming.

 

Sioux City has seen better days, as other smaller cities in Iowa have.  But I was impressed with Des Moines and Iowa City, and Davenport and Cedar Rapids seemed to have made great progress since the floods of 2008.  Des Moines is certainly one of the more underrated cities in its population range.  Downtown Des Moines had a nice compact central area, but the parking lots on the southern edge of downtown were massive.  East Village across the river seems to have a bit going for it, but is broken up by a lot of surface lots and didn't seem to have a main street where all the restaurants were located, instead spread out about the neighborhood.  The city seems to be focusing on these surface lots and filling them in at a decent clip.

 

Iowa offers more than some of the other central states, IMO.

 

Iowa is a good state, actually a lot bluer than people realize politically. They're also always up there with Minnesota and Wisconsin on education spending and stuff like that.

 

SUX?  Ouch that's unfortunate.

 

Iowa's a different shade of blue, as you undoubtedly know.  More populism and way less identity politics than most blue states, a lot less religious influence than other farm states.

 

If it wasn't for the caucuses, they'd risk the Dems ignoring their priorities like they did West Virginia.

 

Yeah, SUX is their local airport code, and there's a SUX Store. They're very proud of SUX lol.