If you want to view Cedar Rapids (or any of east-central Iowa), you need to not only read about the flood of 2008, but the derecho on 2020/08/10. Nick Stewart, the ex-local meterologist made a great by-the-minute documentary on it. Imagine 60-80% more trees in the metro, with many of them over 100 years old. A lot of trees were not just snapped, but completely ripped out of the ground, root-ball and all. You may notice how some trees are still bent towards the east-southeast. Like you mentioned, the flood did displace many businesses, and also permanently closed a lot too. As an example, there was an IMAX theater inside of the Science Station, which are both gone. Several homes close to the river were nearly completely underwater. Also, the city had another name when Mt. Trashmore was still in service: "the city of five smells."
I am a Japanese (Okinawan) married to an American and living in America. I love learning about America's geography. I very much like the way you share facts, history, crime rates of the cities you visit.
I live here. Have for 23 years. My mom is in Okinawa now. She is from Hiroshima. I went to Kubasaki high school and lived at Plaza Housing in Okinawa from 1985 to 1988. I miss the McDonalds and the arcade. off base and I really miss San-A.
The joke around CR and these Iowa towns is that all the Crime is imported from Chicago. We always run out of crime here and don't make our own so we have to run crime on a deficit
@@microponics2695 yup the SE side is where gangbangers go and hide from Chicago. Just like Al Capone did 100 years ago. Even he came to CR to hide. He used to eat at the Light House Inn on Mr Vernon Road.
I was born and raised in Cedar Rapids. 56 now and still working at one of the local Corn Mills. I learned a few things from your visit, and appreciate the thought and work put into this video. Thank you for including us in your travels. Another stop of interest would have been Brucemore Mansion, where you would have found more of Grant Wood's works, most notably a Patio he designed and scupted for the owner at the time. The flood of '08 drove a lot of people away from the River, and the downtown area has never fully recovered. Especially on a work day, it is not surprising to see it so empy anymore. The roads always seem to look under maintenenced here because the swing from humid 90+ degree Summers to below zero Winters is tough on them, as is the numerous trucks and semis delivering goods. We take pride in helping to feed the world however. Thanks again for a delightful video. God bless on your travels. Take care.
The 2008 flood was allowed to happen by not opening the dam fully. They claimed they didn't want to flood the towns and farms downstream. Their purpose for allowing CR to flood was to wipe out those low income homes on the southwest side of the river and replace them with high dollar condominiums. Also, besides the novel name for Mt. Trashmore, the toilet brush for the "City of 5 Smells" is government corruption at it's finest. Our former Mayor Lee Clancy was a big fan of iron workers. She gave them a lot of work.
I was living in Iowa City in 2008 during the major flooding of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City (the flooding you referred to in this video). I had actually just moved from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City a few months prior to the flood. Those were some crazy times. The flood destroyed all of downtown Cedar Rapids, which prompted most businesses to move out of the area. This is why downtown Cedar Rapids is so desolate nowadays. It was a very bustling epicenter prior to the floods. I hope that maybe one day Cedar Rapids will have a viable downtown again, but people are still way too weary to be moving into downtown for business and such due to the high risk of it flooding again with the rivers being in such close proximity to downtown.
Sorry to disagree but not quite accurate. I'm born and live in CR my whole life. While it is true the downtown was completely devastated by the flood, it did not prompt the changes in downtown. The downtown area had in fact changed to a mostly business centric downtown a couple decades before with the popularity of Westdale Mall and Lindale Mall. In the 70-80s the downtown was the main shopping hub of CR, but again, that started to fail well before the flood. Furthermore, the rebuilding began immediately and was soon nearly back to normal after a few years of growth and hard work. It remains an active business centric downtown and home to several excellent and successful restaurants. It is a very busy downtown and businesses have been aggressively been moving back for many years and the surrounding area. I'm guessing this was recorded on a holiday? CR is only that empty on Sundays and holidays.
Yeah. They wanted to build a wall for floods but it must have been voted out. It was only designed to protect one side of the river but not the Czech side, as I understand...where all the houses are.
@@kessilrun6754the levee you’re referring to protects the Quaker cereal factory, and was constructed entirely on their own dime. The city itself is building its own flood protections now using money from the infrastructure bill biden signed.(that both of our senators and all of our representatives voted against)
Sorry, didnt know youd be in town. We usually all come in from the surrounding counties to make it look more metropolitan when we have guests. Looking forward to seeing Primus there in July
Born and raised there, although moved away 3 years ago. Nice to see they've planted new trees since the 2020 derecho took out half the city's trees. That was a crazy day I'll never forget! That and the huge 2008 flood that flooded all of downtown and destroyed a neighborhood on the NW side. CR is still looking good after going thru those disasters.
We just had one come through the Houston, Texas area about 10 days ago. Tore up a lot of things, broke many windows in the downtown highrise office buildings.
@@cdiz765140 mph wind without warning plowed through about 700 miles from the west through Cedar Rapids and continued east. I’d never heard of Derecho until it bent six story tall trees at my property. Then, ripped the roof off. Made a tree taco out of the house. Took about two years to replant over 60% of the trees that had been lost. And, help fix as many houses as possible, and the streets. The toughest part is we had no warning. No electric for a ten or more days depending on the person. No internet for many months depending on the area.
I have been to 44 states and Iowa is one of my favorites. It has a lot of cool places to visit and clean and safe cities. It also pushes way above its weight in the craft beer scene with Dimensional, Toppling Goliath, Lua, Confluence, Pulpit Rock, Lions Bridge in Cedar Rapids, etc. The state capital building in Des Moines is one of may favorite capital buildings. Up on a hill over looking downtown with monuments around it is wonderful.
@jaepcam I live in Wisconsin so if you ever plan on visiting here, I can tell you where to go, depending on what you are into. I have not been to Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Delaware, and Maryland.
@@kyleelsbernd7566 Vesterheim is a top notch museum. Spent a lot of time in Decorah with one of my best friends who was from there. Phelps Park, Dunnings Springs, Pulpit Rock, upper Iowa river canoeing...trollfolk...lol...etc.
It is a cool building. I have done a lot of cool things there over the years. Saw Butterbean fight there among many others. Played in a huge poker tournament there. Been to political rallies, and plays. I have seen several concerts there. One of the coolest old buildings around, and it is sitting on a man made island in the river.
Wow! First timer here! & I’ve gots to say, I’ve never been so proud to live in Cedar Rapids as I am now! I’ve been here 16 yrs (from Chicago) and never seen the beauty of this city the way you’ve shown it! 16 yrs & now I wanna go out & venture the city and it’s beauty to appreciate it more! Thank you for the view and history lesson 🥰
My dad recently died there and I'm from CR. I was familiar with every place you went, albeit 20 to 40 years ago. It was surreal. I laughed there, cried there, worked there, loved there along the river, even performed at the Paramount and saw Citizen Kane with my father there. Thank you for that sir!
It is so interesting to watch this video on Cedar Rapids. I grew up there. Lovingly referred to as Cedar Crapids, it’s a great place to have a family. It is rather plain but safer than most towns and it’s easy to become a homeowner. The roads aren’t great, a lot of people come from Chicago, and there are a LOT of drugs. The derecho completely devastated the community a few years ago, ripped out so much landscaping. The biggest pride I personally have was knowing Grant Wood is from Iowa. Ashton Kutcher too. He donates tons of money to his community that he grew up in. Those small homes you show are typical, and the ones that look decent sized are surprisingly compact on the inside. They have a lot of old architecture which takes up a lot of the interior. You should really check out Anamosa, Amana, and Iowa City. The small towns are my favorite. So charming 😊
the derecho of 2020 was very hard on the tree canopy of CR. estimates of 60% tree loss. many, many, many mature trees destroyed. very sad for everyone who lives here.
Grant Wood used his own sister and their dentist as his models for American Gothic. I agree that turning Mt. Trashmore into a park is great! There are some biking trails on it too. The blueberry burger at the Black Sheep is my favorite! Never seen that dessert before - it looked delicious. If you ever do get back to Cedar Rapids, I recommend checking out the Czech Museum in Czech Village and Newbo City Market. Thanks for a great review of the city!
Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, joined the Navy where I did 6 years time, and moved back to Cedar Rapids. Theres something just special about our little city. Glad you were able to visit! Safe travels!
It is always with a rare pleasure that I discover each of your videos which offers the French that I am an America different from the usual images that I see! I am happy to be able, in your company, to discover this unknown America which is very different from that which we are shown on many other media: Thank you and congratulations for your videos!
@@TaterTots380 Original Grant Wood stained glass. The original blue prints were destroyed when I worked at the Art Museum as for some odd reason kept in the basement and was water damaged during heavy rains in '79
12:00 that building is abandoned and is not currently being used. It used to be home to a bar called “Toocans” which was a tropical theme bar, then taken over by a country bar called “Hazard County.” That bar moved across the street to a former tire center and uses the building’s garage doors to open up more space in the summer
Tons. We are one of the first towns in the country to be declared a Holy land, we were the first of 2 cities to have police radios in cars the other S.F. The original plans for the Wright Bros airplane were drawn up here where they lived for a time. We were also in the top 10 cities on the bomb list during the cold war as the largest cereal plant in the world is here along with at the time Collins Radio that was heavy with gov avionics contracts.
I always love the courthouse on the river but the floods really took a toll it's amazing .I live close . unfortunately cedar rapids crime is up more than ever ugh 😩
Funnily enough, Black sheep is one of the pricier restaurants in Cedar Rapids. Cobble Hill a block over is probably the only thing more expensive in the immediate area.
Thank you for your video. I grew up in CR & I’ve gone back to live there a few times since I left for CA in 1976. It was a great place to grow up, good education system in 60s & 70s. Downtown used to be thriving back then, amazing how quiet & deserted the streets are! Thanks again!
2 things coming from a citizen of Cedar Rapids most my life. The coverage of hazard country is in fact abandoned the real one is across the street which used to be a Goodyear service station. And the big convenience store here is Casey’s for every 1 kum and go we have about 15 Casey’s
Joe, you're general knowledge is rather impressive. History, science, and art and architecture. Just goes to show that a good education doesn't always come from a university, but from a person's curiosity to learn about things they don't know. I don't know your background and I don't know whether or not you attended college. But I do know you are a former bartender. But your general knowledge is impressive, regardless of your education background.
@@LyleFrancisDelp Because his general knowledge is not impressive to me, a person with a real treasure trove of general knowledge in his head. People online always prep for their shows to be more intelligent-sounding, and their viewers/listeners always think they're smart as a result. I guess you are living proof that it's working.
@@mexicounexplained, is your whole intent here to ruin folks' enjoyment of the channel? Yeah, no one has a genuine encyclopedic knowledge of every location they visit, but there's no shame in studying up on a location before touring it. Joe never pretends otherwise.
I lived in "C.R." for almost 15 years. Left for my tour in the Navy, and moved away again for my work. But, it's the only place I've ever felt truly at home. Someday, after I retire, I will probably see if any of those houses on Grande Ave are for sale!
I’ve seen videos (not yours), of the homeless in L.A. and Philly. Very depressing. This one is more what one would want a small to mid-sized city in America to look like. Clean and wholesome where the citizens care about the looks of the place, right down to the trash.
North east Iowa is in the unglaciated Driftless region (also in Wisconsin Minnesota Illinois) like a min Appalachia the size of West Virginia. I recommend Decorah, Viroqua lacrosse Dubuque Madison etc
I lived in Des Moines/Davenport/Eldridge, IA for a few years and now I wish I had visited this beautiful little town while I was there. The Veteran's Memorial building is beautiful. Thank you for a wonderful video.
Love your content. One thing stood out to me as you drove around the neighborhoods of Cedar Rapids, no mailboxes on the curds. They were all in the yard or on the houses. It surprised me that some mail carriers still have to walk to deliver the mail. Looking forward to seeing more of your travels. 👍
Joe..if you ever get to Virginia Beach Va..make sure you check out their Mount Trashmore. Opened in 1974 it represents landfill reuse at it's best. The park sits on 165 acres of an abandoned trash dump. Many miles of walking trails..has 2 lakes for fishing..many picnic areas and even a 24,000 square ft skate park. It gets 1 million visitors a year...more than any park in the city (and they have a bunch).
We had a Mt Trashmore in Miami. It was the highest elevated area in South Florida, therefore our local Naval Air Force base had a substation up there. Imagine being getting stationed at that post? And....this was before it was grassed over like you're seeing here. It was literally a mountain of trash! And it stunk up a holy hot mess!!!
An awesome video, as always ! A very nice city, beautiful homes. I always love the old theatres ! Your food looked amazing ! Thanks so much, Joe and Nic.😊💗
Basketball 🏀 sensation Caitlin Clark generated some major buzz for Iowa which usually only gets attention for its first in the nation caucus in Presidential election cycles.
Iowa is such a different place, being from Wisconsin, I’ve driven through and even played travel ball down there during my youth. Iowa is that place where you always see people driving through but you don’t see many people sticking around
Another great travel video. Thanks guys. To be honest Joe I only really knew 3 things about Cedar Rapids. The artist and painting, the corn processing and the cereal production. LoL and only knew that from my trucking days. LoL. Really nice looking city really clean and as you said kinda on the quiet side but peaceful seemed. Great looking neighborhoods also clean and well kept. Liked the story behind the island and government buildings there. And the really great veterans memorial very fitting for this weekend especially thanks for that as a vet myself. And the other thing I really liked a lot was Mt Trashmore. LoL 😂 now that’s a great idea right there. And as usual thanks for the stats I always like that. Safe travels my friend. Keep filming and I’ll keep watching.
What kind of events did they hold there? Was this the place to be before the Alliant Energy Center? Seems like a lot of building was going on in the 60s downtown ❤
I remember going to a home show type thing and hobby shows and they had dances and concerts there, also the shrine circus, 4th of July fireworks of course memorial Day events they have a lot of cool civil war stuff and displays
Vet's Memorial has an entire lower level. So large that it can store surplus road equipment. The local drum and bugle corps (Emerald Knights) used it for rehearsals for music and drill learning over winter months though they are no longer in existence. One of the states largest Bald Eagle habitats is just across the Cedar River near the court house. I didn't realize it until I had jury duty and the jury deliberation room near the top floor overlooks it. Spent every lunch watching them fly around and catch fish just like on Wild Kingdom.
I grew up on the NW side by Ellis Park until the 2008 flood destroyed it. My aunt refused to move and is one of the few houses that remain there. Now I live towards the edge of town and it's like a prison cuz nothing is walkable. To go to the station to buy a coke is a long and dangerous trek as there aren't sidewalks or even a shoulder to walk on and people drive like lunatics.
Thank you for visiting Cedar Rapids. Live in Marion now, but used to live one block up from that Kum & Go, you went right past that street in the construction. You also passed the old Higley Mansion behind that brick wall right before you got to the gas station, it has been added onto and turned onto a care center. Brucemore mansion would be a great place for people to visit as it is open for tours. Imagine all those streets lined with even more trees, the derecho of 2020 caused alot of damage from the 140 MPH winds. For perspective the flood of 2008, just as you went down that hill past the Kum & Go was ALL flooded, the hospital had water just above the ground level and had to transfer patients to the other hospital.
Thank you for the awesome video with homage to our American heroes. The veterans are truly selfless amazing people who gave to make our country so magnificent. Your service will never be forgotten.
I've lived in this city my entire life, thank you for teaching me new things about it. Also, I've always been told that our fifth season is hospitality!
Absolutely gorgeous that glass is absolutely gorgeous. Look at the people that’s made out of glass. Wow I’ve never seen anything like it. Thank you for this video Joe. That’s beautiful view from on top of the trash lol
I'm from CR, and moved back here. I love this town. We have been rocked with the flood of 2008. That's the reason why DT is empty. DT used to be very busy, but most of the people that used to work DT now work from home. This exponentially increased after Covid. We then were rocked with a deracho the summer of 2020. The wellington area of town where the big houses had so many more trees. 2nd Ave is not the main drag also, it is 1st Ave. But I love the kind thing you said about our town. My wife and I love the Black Sheep!
I've been enjoying your show for several years now, to be honest I always look forward to the dinner and especially the wife, she's the one who makes it worth it
Speaking as someone who was born and raised in Cedar Rapids iowa (I probably could have personally given you a tour), while that is officially what the Tree of 5 seasons stands for according to legend, literally no local thinks that. We half-jokingly call it the city of 5 smells, or the city of only 2 seasons: Winter and Road Construction. Or like 11 seasons: Winter, Fool's Spring, Second Winter, Spring of Deception, Third Winter, Mud Season, Actual Spring, Summer, False Autumn, Second Summer, Actual Autumn. A shame you didn't get to see the inside of the Courthouse or the Paramount theater, they have very ornate interiors. The Skywalks are also worth traveling, you can get through most of the major buildings without stepping outside once if you know where you're going and there's no indefinite renovations blocking your path. There's several sculptures and murals all over downtown, surprised you didn't show them off much. TI heard the people in American Gothic were actually Grant Wood's dentist and his sister. You went right by one of the rental scooters and didn't mention how they're our fairly new pedestrian public transport infrastructure. There's no fewer than 4 Museums you were within walking distance of downtown and you didn't visit any of them, completely neglected to mention how integral the Czech immigrants were to the town's early formation and that there's still a historic neighborhood complete with a dedicated one of the aforementioned museums still inhabited by the direct descendants of the immigrants. Kum & Go actually used to sell boxers, I kind of wish I'd bought some while they were still available. You didn't look at the public Library or any of the other public parks or Nature centers. Small word of advice, when trying to scope out a city you've never been to before, trying to understand how it ticks, you can learn a lot about a culture by looking at their grocery stores, and you can learn a lot about a person by the contents of their grocery cart. How they have it laid out, which items are closest to the door, what variety and quantity of items do they carry, what items do they display together, the average cost of goods, etc. And while it might have been crowded and noisy, Farmer's Market would be a good opportunity to look at some of our indy local wares, every 1st and 3rd Saturdays throughout the summer. While the Black Sheep isn't a bad choice, I would have personally recommended the Map Room just a few blocks away. If it were still Open, I'd have recommended Fong's Pizza, but their lease expired a couple years ago. Quarter Barrel has pretty good food too- while they are technically an arcade, they're also a legit actual restaurant with unique menu items.
That's the prettiest trash pile I've ever laid eyes on! Your son will love that bag. I can only imagine the jokes it will bring on! Cedar Rapids is so pretty. I love the history you told about it and especially the American Gothic Painting. Joe, that certainly was a different kind of burger! Dessert looked great and different! Thanks.
You passed a home on Woodland Dr with the address number 345 on a brick in stand. Zillow has it valued at $718,900. This should give an idea of the homes in that area value.
that is one of the richer neighborhoods. gomes usually tend to be in the $100k to 200k value in the rest of town. not ideal but the housing market is trash all over the country not just here
Super-cool building. I love those old Beaux-Arts buildings. Something wonderful about a building that is also designed as a monument. I like both the Beaux-Arts structures you show.
Another great video! The city looked very nice, learning about Mount Trashmore is another thing I never knew, and the houses were fabulous. The Veterans Memorial building was very beautiful, that window is superb. And now I know all about American Gothic and the Guy and daughter duo who were the models for the painting. The drone work was spliced in at just the right spots. Your videos have become very professional art that is very entertaining. UA-cam just surpassed Netflix and now has more viewers. Your channel is one of the reasons why, it is informative and entertaining. Thank you for your efforts. You are approaching the half million mark. There is a good reason for that and it is your work. It is very good!
The models for "American Gothic" weren't father and daughter. (The painting is supposed to represent a father and daughter.) For the models, the man was Grant Wood's dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby, and the woman was Grant Wood's sister, Nan Wood Grant.
Cedar Rapids has another nickname that locals use for it, The City of Five Smells. If you go on a day when they're making the crunch berries you will immediately understand why. But it's an alright city, it has some nice restaurants and you're only a stone's throw from Iowa City. So not only did the floods affect Cedar Rapids a great deal, but also a few years back there was a derecho that went through where they had straight line winds of 140 mph. It did a great deal of damage to the trees, and one of the reasons that a lot of those neighborhoods looked so sparse. Even a year or so after the wind event it looked like a bomb had went off with the number of trees missing or damaged.
Cool video showing my hometown, I loved growing up here and remember when the Flood of 08 destroyed most of down town. There was an old train bridge that I loved seeing as a kid and it got pushed over by the flood and I remember feeling so sad about it. A lot of of the houses on the west side of the river got completely flooded up to the roofs, destroying them. Pretty much everything on the west side of the river downtown has been rebuilt. The city is installing flood walls now to try and prevent another flood like the one in 08. The 2020 Derecho knocked down so many of the trees here, Cedar Rapids used to be so beautiful and had lots of trees and shade. The trees left standing are the ones that were strong enough to withstand the 120mph winds that blew through. When ever I drive around certain parts of town I just think about how many trees are gone now.
i lived in Cedar Rapids a couple months and it was a ghost town; few grocery stores- a food desert; lots of freemasonic buildings; empty downtown and the threat of flooding making it hard for me to confidently rent a place I could afford...
CR has upscaled since we left in 1980. SE is still RichKid Central though. The rest... tiny houses on tiny lots... I wonder if it still smells of wet-process molasses?
Just a note on your Grant Wood's American Gothic info: He recruited his sister, Nan (1899-1990), to be the model for the daughter, dressing her in a colonial print apron mimicking 20th-century rural Americana. The model for the father was the Wood family’s dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby (1867-1950) from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
0:50 Lived here 35 years, didn't realize that it was so unique as to be only one of three cities in the world who's government sits on a separate island. Always something new to learn. Yes the '08 Flood was a 500-year Flood Plain situation, it was insane the amount of the city that was like up to 6-7 feet underwater. Never seen something so devastating.
I used to go to Cedar Rapids in the late 80’s to visit a friend at Coe College. Never saw any of these treasures. Love the stained glass window and courthouse. Love American Gothic. Appreciate the backstory. Love the homes. The East side looks more familiar to me. Black Sheep Social Club looks great! Look forward to Kansas! Have a great weekend!
I’ve been to the western part of Iowa(Sioux City…etc), but I’ve never been to that part. I’ve read good things about the cities there like Des Moines…etc. I’ve heard it’s great place to live. The only negatives are bitter-cold winters and devastating tornadoes. Rock on!
We all have jobs on the outskirts of the town and if you do work in the city every car during the week is in parking garages and the people are working in the buildings. Friday night-Sunday that downtown area has thousands of people roaming around.
he likely came in the middle of the week and in the middle of the day. everyone is working! now come on a friday/saturday at 6pm and the streets are full
G,day from Sydney Australia. Mt Trashmore is concerning with contamination leaching through subsoil down to the river.I don't know how to fix it. "We" started using lining in landfill waste sites and classification of the area as contamination, not for residential or sporting use. The "bad old days" when our engineering was responsible for rubbish removal without thinking about soil ecology and heavy metal!!! 🌏🇦🇺
@davesbainrps6909 Kings (a local company who makes block) used to dredge it for free and keep the sand for raw material. Local government decided Kings needed to pay the city for the sand, so Kings stopped dredging for free. That's when the flood happened. The almighty dollar
Sorry if this is a repeat, but, it didn't seem to take the first time: Cedar Rapids also has a nickname based on the 5 Seasons. The city of 5 Smells. Quaker Oats happens to be one of them. then, south along 30 you'll pick up a couple others with a corn processing plant, paper mill, and the sewage treatment plant along the river. I think the river, itself, qualifies as part of the scent line-up.
A note about the helicopter 'toy' mentioned in reference to the Wright Bros: it's that stick with a propeller on top that was still popular in the 60s when i had one. We also called it a helicopter. Same lift principal, the faster you made it twist, the higher it went! ❤
I have lived in Cedar Rapids for 35 years ... never been to a Kum & Go 😂. When you started that segment I thought "Oh, he's going to Casey's." Black Sheep is some good stuff. Learned some new things too. Thanks.
Loved the vid Joe.. but ya gave no honorable mention to them 2 angel 🐿🐿 squirrels chasing each other starting at the 19:58 mark lol. Don't think ya even noticed them.... stay frosty for them fuzzy butts.. please 😎. Happy memorial weekend....
I have lived in this area for about 2 years now. Things I like: - Smaller metro-y feel. Most of the midwestern restaurants/stores you want are like a 20 min drive away max - Good amount of amenities/activities. Baseball stadium, smaller mall, plenty of nice parks - Very affordable cost of living Random complaints I have: - Random smells on the way to work. Sometimes smells like a floating ass in the sky - Some areas of Cedar Rapids smell like weed. Particularly the Southern part - Intersection/on ramp design was lacking in some areas. You have no idea what's going on the first time you pull into the intersection, or the on ramp is so short that interstate traffic must slow down to let you merge
Grew up in this city, don't recall any of this, really just remember the mall I went too in the 90's (34 as well) already lost my father. I hope he appreciates you
You are in my hood! You drove past my best friend in Kindergarten's house. She still lives there. And I work downtown. Been here all my life. That bonafide mansion you passed was purchased for less than 500,000.00 and went through a renovation. Those homes on the other side are all less than 100,000.00.
Hi Joe & Nic, Cedar Rapids looks like a beautiful city, it's sooo clean and I love the architecture Beaux-Arts but it has a state like Spartan edge to it which I really like. Also, the city has a cleanliness and practical environmentalism like the city park built on recycled trash. I would 💓to visit Cedar Rapids one day (not sure if I can get a direct flight from London, though?). Also, could you do a tour sometime of Idaho, especially Franklin County where Napoleon Dynamite was filmed? 👍🤗
@@bb5242 Unfortunately, they have speed cameras all over the world these days. It's not about safety, it's an extra source of revenue!🤑 Cedar Rapids looked beautiful to me and very clean, but you can't always tell from one source of info, but Joe tells it pretty much as it is, he pulls no punches! Besides, a return flight would cost me almost £900 and ATM I can't afford that, so maybe another time?🤗
Heathrow to Chicago ORD, Minneapolis or St.Louis. Then regional flights to Cedar Rapids (CID). Nice airport. ORD always bewilders me. American premium economy class works for us. From London, suggest stay over Premier Inn, Heathrow is economical. Can never get from London to airport on time.
@@wm6h Thanks WM6H, I can get a flight directly from LHR to ORD then to Cedar Rapids East Iowa airport, but its expensive £900 but I can't afford it ATM.
How about this. You can get good deals LHR to SW Florida. Brits are always going to FLA. Rental car to Punta Gorda, FLA. Agilent Air to CID. Non-Stop. Many from CID have winter homes in FLA. I myself never thought about that route until just now.
If you want to view Cedar Rapids (or any of east-central Iowa), you need to not only read about the flood of 2008, but the derecho on 2020/08/10. Nick Stewart, the ex-local meterologist made a great by-the-minute documentary on it. Imagine 60-80% more trees in the metro, with many of them over 100 years old. A lot of trees were not just snapped, but completely ripped out of the ground, root-ball and all. You may notice how some trees are still bent towards the east-southeast. Like you mentioned, the flood did displace many businesses, and also permanently closed a lot too. As an example, there was an IMAX theater inside of the Science Station, which are both gone. Several homes close to the river were nearly completely underwater.
Also, the city had another name when Mt. Trashmore was still in service: "the city of five smells."
We definitely still call it the city of five smells
Wdym, Mt Trashmore is still there, as a city park and is a huge wildlife reserve
@@ReeTuber118 he said when trashmore was still in service, like service as an actual landfill not a park
half of marshalltown is treeless now because of the tornado. Weather is a changin'
Boring empty lifeless town 😂🤣
Thank you for visiting our city and thank you for the kind words about our town. Come back any time!!
Thanks for doing Cedar Rapids. Blair’s Ferry road was named after my great grand parents, My roots are very deep there.
Who is Blair? And why does he have a fairy?
Holy cow, we must be related! I'd always heard bits of the ferry story growing up. My great-grandparents were Russ and Ann Gerdes
@@pcproffyThe Blairs had a fairy service there, before bridges were built.
@@broadhead_rc5808Yes we are!
Gloria is my cousin.
I am a Japanese (Okinawan) married to an American and living in America. I love learning about America's geography. I very much like the way you share facts, history, crime rates of the cities you visit.
I live here. Have for 23 years. My mom is in Okinawa now. She is from Hiroshima. I went to Kubasaki high school
and lived at Plaza Housing in Okinawa from 1985 to 1988. I miss the McDonalds and the arcade. off base and I really miss San-A.
The joke around CR and these Iowa towns is that all the Crime is imported from Chicago. We always run out of crime here and don't make our own so we have to run crime on a deficit
@microponics2695 crime been getting worse in Iowa to be honest, especially Dodge, shooting are becoming a weekly event here.
@@just_your_localguard9612 okay so go get a gun and protect yourself....
@@microponics2695 yup the SE side is where gangbangers go and hide from Chicago. Just like Al Capone did 100 years ago. Even he came to CR to hide. He used to eat at the Light House Inn on Mr Vernon Road.
I was born and raised in Cedar Rapids. 56 now and still working at one of the local Corn Mills. I learned a few things from your visit, and appreciate the thought and work put into this video. Thank you for including us in your travels. Another stop of interest would have been Brucemore Mansion, where you would have found more of Grant Wood's works, most notably a Patio he designed and scupted for the owner at the time. The flood of '08 drove a lot of people away from the River, and the downtown area has never fully recovered. Especially on a work day, it is not surprising to see it so empy anymore. The roads always seem to look under maintenenced here because the swing from humid 90+ degree Summers to below zero Winters is tough on them, as is the numerous trucks and semis delivering goods. We take pride in helping to feed the world however. Thanks again for a delightful video. God bless on your travels. Take care.
with the destruction of so many trees and how hot Cedar Rapids gets in summer it is a challenge to walk around under the blazing sun.
The 2008 flood was allowed to happen by not opening the dam fully. They claimed they didn't want to flood the towns and farms downstream. Their purpose for allowing CR to flood was to wipe out those low income homes on the southwest side of the river and replace them with high dollar condominiums. Also, besides the novel name for Mt. Trashmore, the toilet brush for the "City of 5 Smells" is government corruption at it's finest. Our former Mayor Lee Clancy was a big fan of iron workers. She gave them a lot of work.
I was living in Iowa City in 2008 during the major flooding of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City (the flooding you referred to in this video). I had actually just moved from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City a few months prior to the flood. Those were some crazy times. The flood destroyed all of downtown Cedar Rapids, which prompted most businesses to move out of the area. This is why downtown Cedar Rapids is so desolate nowadays. It was a very bustling epicenter prior to the floods. I hope that maybe one day Cedar Rapids will have a viable downtown again, but people are still way too weary to be moving into downtown for business and such due to the high risk of it flooding again with the rivers being in such close proximity to downtown.
Sorry to disagree but not quite accurate. I'm born and live in CR my whole life. While it is true the downtown was completely devastated by the flood, it did not prompt the changes in downtown. The downtown area had in fact changed to a mostly business centric downtown a couple decades before with the popularity of Westdale Mall and Lindale Mall. In the 70-80s the downtown was the main shopping hub of CR, but again, that started to fail well before the flood. Furthermore, the rebuilding began immediately and was soon nearly back to normal after a few years of growth and hard work. It remains an active business centric downtown and home to several excellent and successful restaurants. It is a very busy downtown and businesses have been aggressively been moving back for many years and the surrounding area. I'm guessing this was recorded on a holiday? CR is only that empty on Sundays and holidays.
Yeah. They wanted to build a wall for floods but it must have been voted out. It was only designed to protect one side of the river but not the Czech side, as I understand...where all the houses are.
I lived off Blairs Ferry during the flood. I was here for the 1993 flood as well. At least you were in IC when the flood hit.
@@kessilrun6754the levee you’re referring to protects the Quaker cereal factory, and was constructed entirely on their own dime. The city itself is building its own flood protections now using money from the infrastructure bill biden signed.(that both of our senators and all of our representatives voted against)
@@kessilrun6754 That flood wall is currently under construction.
Sorry, didnt know youd be in town. We usually all come in from the surrounding counties to make it look more metropolitan when we have guests. Looking forward to seeing Primus there in July
Maybe we should start a website or something? Text notifications?
@@fella11814 Doing everything by mail is fine. Not like we're in a rush or anything.
Born and raised there, although moved away 3 years ago. Nice to see they've planted new trees since the 2020 derecho took out half the city's trees. That was a crazy day I'll never forget! That and the huge 2008 flood that flooded all of downtown and destroyed a neighborhood on the NW side. CR is still looking good after going thru those disasters.
what is a derecho?
@@cdiz765 hurricane force winds on land.
@@SykoByte thanks
We just had one come through the Houston, Texas area about 10 days ago. Tore up a lot of things, broke many windows in the downtown highrise office buildings.
@@cdiz765140 mph wind without warning plowed through about 700 miles from the west through Cedar Rapids and continued east.
I’d never heard of Derecho until it bent six story tall trees at my property. Then, ripped the roof off. Made a tree taco out of the house.
Took about two years to replant over 60% of the trees that had been lost. And, help fix as many houses as possible, and the streets.
The toughest part is we had no warning. No electric for a ten or more days depending on the person. No internet for many months depending on the area.
I have been to 44 states and Iowa is one of my favorites. It has a lot of cool places to visit and clean and safe cities. It also pushes way above its weight in the craft beer scene with Dimensional, Toppling Goliath, Lua, Confluence, Pulpit Rock, Lions Bridge in Cedar Rapids, etc. The state capital building in Des Moines is one of may favorite capital buildings. Up on a hill over looking downtown with monuments around it is wonderful.
44 for me too. Still have to hit North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii.
@jaepcam I live in Wisconsin so if you ever plan on visiting here, I can tell you where to go, depending on what you are into. I have not been to Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, Delaware, and Maryland.
Iowa is definitely underrated.
Yes Decorah is a real gem, I grew up there but moved away 30 years ago
@@kyleelsbernd7566 Vesterheim is a top notch museum. Spent a lot of time in Decorah with one of my best friends who was from there. Phelps Park, Dunnings Springs, Pulpit Rock, upper Iowa river canoeing...trollfolk...lol...etc.
I've driven through CR 500 times and had no idea how grand the Veterans Memorial is. Thank you for the tour Joe!
It is a cool building. I have done a lot of cool things there over the years. Saw Butterbean fight there among many others. Played in a huge poker tournament there. Been to political rallies, and plays. I have seen several concerts there. One of the coolest old buildings around, and it is sitting on a man made island in the river.
Well I've lived in this town for almost all of my 20 years of life and you are still teaching me new things about it. Thanks for visiting!!!
Wow! First timer here! & I’ve gots to say, I’ve never been so proud to live in Cedar Rapids as I am now! I’ve been here 16 yrs (from Chicago) and never seen the beauty of this city the way you’ve shown it! 16 yrs & now I wanna go out & venture the city and it’s beauty to appreciate it more! Thank you for the view and history lesson 🥰
Please do, there is alot to offer here!
Just moved here last year and love it!
My dad recently died there and I'm from CR. I was familiar with every place you went, albeit 20 to 40 years ago. It was surreal. I laughed there, cried there, worked there, loved there along the river, even performed at the Paramount and saw Citizen Kane with my father there. Thank you for that sir!
It is so interesting to watch this video on Cedar Rapids. I grew up there. Lovingly referred to as Cedar Crapids, it’s a great place to have a family. It is rather plain but safer than most towns and it’s easy to become a homeowner. The roads aren’t great, a lot of people come from Chicago, and there are a LOT of drugs. The derecho completely devastated the community a few years ago, ripped out so much landscaping. The biggest pride I personally have was knowing Grant Wood is from Iowa. Ashton Kutcher too. He donates tons of money to his community that he grew up in. Those small homes you show are typical, and the ones that look decent sized are surprisingly compact on the inside. They have a lot of old architecture which takes up a lot of the interior.
You should really check out Anamosa, Amana, and Iowa City. The small towns are my favorite. So charming 😊
the derecho of 2020 was very hard on the tree canopy of CR. estimates of 60% tree loss. many, many, many mature trees destroyed. very sad for everyone who lives here.
Grant Wood used his own sister and their dentist as his models for American Gothic. I agree that turning Mt. Trashmore into a park is great! There are some biking trails on it too. The blueberry burger at the Black Sheep is my favorite! Never seen that dessert before - it looked delicious. If you ever do get back to Cedar Rapids, I recommend checking out the Czech Museum in Czech Village and Newbo City Market. Thanks for a great review of the city!
Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, joined the Navy where I did 6 years time, and moved back to Cedar Rapids. Theres something just special about our little city.
Glad you were able to visit! Safe travels!
It is always with a rare pleasure that I discover each of your videos which offers the French that I am an America different from the usual images that I see! I am happy to be able, in your company, to discover this unknown America which is very different from that which we are shown on many other media: Thank you and congratulations for your videos!
Iowa territory was part of France (later Spain) at one time. Our flag is based on the French flag, unless you knew that already.
The Memorial Window was beautiful!
@@TaterTots380 Original Grant Wood stained glass. The original blue prints were destroyed when I worked at the Art Museum as for some odd reason kept in the basement and was water damaged during heavy rains in '79
12:00 that building is abandoned and is not currently being used. It used to be home to a bar called “Toocans” which was a tropical theme bar, then taken over by a country bar called “Hazard County.” That bar moved across the street to a former tire center and uses the building’s garage doors to open up more space in the summer
This is definitely a "I had no idea" video -- I had no idea Cedar Rapids had so many interesting features!😊
Tons. We are one of the first towns in the country to be declared a Holy land, we were the first of 2 cities to have police radios in cars the other S.F. The original plans for the Wright Bros airplane were drawn up here where they lived for a time. We were also in the top 10 cities on the bomb list during the cold war as the largest cereal plant in the world is here along with at the time Collins Radio that was heavy with gov avionics contracts.
I always love the courthouse on the river but the floods really took a toll it's amazing .I live close . unfortunately cedar rapids crime is up more than ever ugh 😩
@@peggypasson8794 Do they still have the sweet corn festival? I remember when it had issues because of gangs.
Yep there is a sweet corn festival.
@@aboveaveragebayleaf9216 St. Jude's and I can't wait for the funnel cakes lol
How awesome to show a Veterans memorial building on Memorial day weekend. You guys have been getting some cheap meals lately.
Funnily enough, Black sheep is one of the pricier restaurants in Cedar Rapids. Cobble Hill a block over is probably the only thing more expensive in the immediate area.
You gave me a new view on a city I've lived in since 1989. Thank you!!
Another great video. What an awesome road trip.
Iowa farmer here, another interesting video, it’s been many years since I’ve been in Cedar Rapids.
sad.
It is deceptive how long it can take to get across Iowa. We have just a bit more land area than England but are a tad short on rail transportation!
@@iowapanner2223I heard that amtrak has some plans for the Midwest, but the government always cuts funding to amtrak
@@jimmyjohnjohnson9803 So true
Thank you for your video. I grew up in CR & I’ve gone back to live there a few times since I left for CA in 1976.
It was a great place to grow up, good education system in 60s & 70s. Downtown used to be thriving back then, amazing how quiet & deserted the streets are! Thanks again!
Great video of my hometown. You showed my house which was cool. Glad I had the yard work done. 😅
2 things coming from a citizen of Cedar Rapids most my life. The coverage of hazard country is in fact abandoned the real one is across the street which used to be a Goodyear service station. And the big convenience store here is Casey’s for every 1 kum and go we have about 15 Casey’s
Hawaii's next. Nicole will love that. Nice story on 'America's Mona Lisa' - the famous "American Gothic" painted in Iowa in 1930.
Joe, you're general knowledge is rather impressive. History, science, and art and architecture. Just goes to show that a good education doesn't always come from a university, but from a person's curiosity to learn about things they don't know.
I don't know your background and I don't know whether or not you attended college. But I do know you are a former bartender. But your general knowledge is impressive, regardless of your education background.
He preps for the shows by reading things off the internet. Just tricks.
@@mexicounexplained How can you possibly know that? Either way, he does his research and presents himself quite well on camera.
@@LyleFrancisDelp Because his general knowledge is not impressive to me, a person with a real treasure trove of general knowledge in his head. People online always prep for their shows to be more intelligent-sounding, and their viewers/listeners always think they're smart as a result. I guess you are living proof that it's working.
@@mexicounexplained, is your whole intent here to ruin folks' enjoyment of the channel? Yeah, no one has a genuine encyclopedic knowledge of every location they visit, but there's no shame in studying up on a location before touring it. Joe never pretends otherwise.
@@ShawnD1027 No, that's not my intent. My message is very clear and concise.
I lived in "C.R." for almost 15 years. Left for my tour in the Navy, and moved away again for my work. But, it's the only place I've ever felt truly at home. Someday, after I retire, I will probably see if any of those houses on Grande Ave are for sale!
City of 5 seasons because we often have what was always called "Indian summer" where we have a 2 week period of above 75 degree weather in the fall.
It's supposed to be "the time to enjoy them" though that doesn't make a lick of sense either
I’ve seen videos (not yours), of the homeless in L.A. and Philly. Very depressing. This one is more what one would want a small to mid-sized city in America to look like. Clean and wholesome where the citizens care about the looks of the place, right down to the trash.
North east Iowa is in the unglaciated Driftless region (also in Wisconsin Minnesota Illinois) like a min Appalachia the size of West Virginia. I recommend Decorah, Viroqua lacrosse Dubuque Madison etc
Glad you enjoyed our wonderful city, thanks for making a stop!
I lived in Des Moines/Davenport/Eldridge, IA for a few years and now I wish I had visited this beautiful little town while I was there. The Veteran's Memorial building is beautiful. Thank you for a wonderful video.
Happy Memorial Day weekend to all my fellow veterans fallen and present. Thanks for sharing video. SALUTE
Love your content. One thing stood out to me as you drove around the neighborhoods of Cedar Rapids, no mailboxes on the curds. They were all in the yard or on the houses. It surprised me that some mail carriers still have to walk to deliver the mail. Looking forward to seeing more of your travels. 👍
Joe..if you ever get to Virginia Beach Va..make sure you check out their Mount Trashmore. Opened in 1974 it represents landfill reuse at it's best. The park sits on 165 acres of an abandoned trash dump. Many miles of walking trails..has 2 lakes for fishing..many picnic areas and even a 24,000 square ft skate park. It gets 1 million visitors a year...more than any park in the city (and they have a bunch).
It's one of the bright spots on vlogs. Nice, quiet and livable.
We had a Mt Trashmore in Miami. It was the highest elevated area in South Florida, therefore our local Naval Air Force base had a substation up there. Imagine being getting stationed at that post? And....this was before it was grassed over like you're seeing here. It was literally a mountain of trash! And it stunk up a holy hot mess!!!
Looks really nice. Iowa has some very nice towns and scenery. Dubuque,and Decorah to name a few. Mississippi river and bluffs,beautiful farm land.
Thank you for highlighting my hometown ❤
An awesome video, as always ! A very nice city, beautiful homes. I always love the old theatres ! Your food looked amazing ! Thanks so much, Joe and Nic.😊💗
Basketball 🏀 sensation Caitlin Clark generated some major buzz for Iowa which usually only gets attention for its first in the nation caucus in Presidential election cycles.
Iowa is such a different place, being from Wisconsin, I’ve driven through and even played travel ball down there during my youth. Iowa is that place where you always see people driving through but you don’t see many people sticking around
Because you're on thru roads 😂
please keep them on the roads
That memorial window! Wow. Yet again another nice history lesson. Large respect for your architectural knowledge.
Another great travel video. Thanks guys. To be honest Joe I only really knew 3 things about Cedar Rapids. The artist and painting, the corn processing and the cereal production. LoL and only knew that from my trucking days. LoL. Really nice looking city really clean and as you said kinda on the quiet side but peaceful seemed. Great looking neighborhoods also clean and well kept. Liked the story behind the island and government buildings there. And the really great veterans memorial very fitting for this weekend especially thanks for that as a vet myself. And the other thing I really liked a lot was Mt Trashmore. LoL 😂 now that’s a great idea right there. And as usual thanks for the stats I always like that. Safe travels my friend. Keep filming and I’ll keep watching.
I grew up there in the 60s we used to go to the memorial building for all sorts of events thanks!
What kind of events did they hold there? Was this the place to be before the Alliant Energy Center? Seems like a lot of building was going on in the 60s downtown ❤
I remember going to a home show type thing and hobby shows and they had dances and concerts there, also the shrine circus, 4th of July fireworks of course memorial Day events they have a lot of cool civil war stuff and displays
Sehr schöne Stadt, alles sauber und ordentlich!
Vielen Dank für die Infos!
My Russian friend says everything is so clean and orderly in the midwestern USA.
So good to see you Joe and Nic....Love the way you set up Memorial Day!! Thank You!!
Memorial Day like the students forgot
Always enjoy videos and seeing you and Nicole having a meal out.
It's always cool seeing people go to places I see almost everyday. Thanks for the simple but very informative video!
I'm glad you started with our fun little islands. It's honestly my favorite thing about our city. It's neat. ❤
Vet's Memorial has an entire lower level. So large that it can store surplus road equipment. The local drum and bugle corps (Emerald Knights) used it for rehearsals for music and drill learning over winter months though they are no longer in existence. One of the states largest Bald Eagle habitats is just across the Cedar River near the court house. I didn't realize it until I had jury duty and the jury deliberation room near the top floor overlooks it. Spent every lunch watching them fly around and catch fish just like on Wild Kingdom.
Looking forward to the Hawaii video! Have fun there!
I grew up on the NW side by Ellis Park until the 2008 flood destroyed it. My aunt refused to move and is one of the few houses that remain there. Now I live towards the edge of town and it's like a prison cuz nothing is walkable. To go to the station to buy a coke is a long and dangerous trek as there aren't sidewalks or even a shoulder to walk on and people drive like lunatics.
The no-sidewalks thing really surprised me when i moved there. First community i had ever seen that.
Thank you for visiting Cedar Rapids. Live in Marion now, but used to live one block up from that Kum & Go, you went right past that street in the construction. You also passed the old Higley Mansion behind that brick wall right before you got to the gas station, it has been added onto and turned onto a care center. Brucemore mansion would be a great place for people to visit as it is open for tours. Imagine all those streets lined with even more trees, the derecho of 2020 caused alot of damage from the 140 MPH winds. For perspective the flood of 2008, just as you went down that hill past the Kum & Go was ALL flooded, the hospital had water just above the ground level and had to transfer patients to the other hospital.
Thank you for the awesome video with homage to our American heroes. The veterans are truly selfless amazing people who gave to make our country so magnificent. Your service will never be forgotten.
I've lived in this city my entire life, thank you for teaching me new things about it.
Also, I've always been told that our fifth season is hospitality!
Absolutely gorgeous that glass is absolutely gorgeous. Look at the people that’s made out of glass. Wow I’ve never seen anything like it. Thank you for this video Joe. That’s beautiful view from on top of the trash lol
I'm from CR, and moved back here. I love this town. We have been rocked with the flood of 2008. That's the reason why DT is empty. DT used to be very busy, but most of the people that used to work DT now work from home. This exponentially increased after Covid. We then were rocked with a deracho the summer of 2020. The wellington area of town where the big houses had so many more trees. 2nd Ave is not the main drag also, it is 1st Ave. But I love the kind thing you said about our town. My wife and I love the Black Sheep!
I've been enjoying your show for several years now, to be honest I always look forward to the dinner and especially the wife, she's the one who makes it worth it
Speaking as someone who was born and raised in Cedar Rapids iowa (I probably could have personally given you a tour), while that is officially what the Tree of 5 seasons stands for according to legend, literally no local thinks that. We half-jokingly call it the city of 5 smells, or the city of only 2 seasons: Winter and Road Construction. Or like 11 seasons: Winter, Fool's Spring, Second Winter, Spring of Deception, Third Winter, Mud Season, Actual Spring, Summer, False Autumn, Second Summer, Actual Autumn.
A shame you didn't get to see the inside of the Courthouse or the Paramount theater, they have very ornate interiors. The Skywalks are also worth traveling, you can get through most of the major buildings without stepping outside once if you know where you're going and there's no indefinite renovations blocking your path. There's several sculptures and murals all over downtown, surprised you didn't show them off much. TI heard the people in American Gothic were actually Grant Wood's dentist and his sister. You went right by one of the rental scooters and didn't mention how they're our fairly new pedestrian public transport infrastructure. There's no fewer than 4 Museums you were within walking distance of downtown and you didn't visit any of them, completely neglected to mention how integral the Czech immigrants were to the town's early formation and that there's still a historic neighborhood complete with a dedicated one of the aforementioned museums still inhabited by the direct descendants of the immigrants.
Kum & Go actually used to sell boxers, I kind of wish I'd bought some while they were still available. You didn't look at the public Library or any of the other public parks or Nature centers. Small word of advice, when trying to scope out a city you've never been to before, trying to understand how it ticks, you can learn a lot about a culture by looking at their grocery stores, and you can learn a lot about a person by the contents of their grocery cart. How they have it laid out, which items are closest to the door, what variety and quantity of items do they carry, what items do they display together, the average cost of goods, etc. And while it might have been crowded and noisy, Farmer's Market would be a good opportunity to look at some of our indy local wares, every 1st and 3rd Saturdays throughout the summer.
While the Black Sheep isn't a bad choice, I would have personally recommended the Map Room just a few blocks away. If it were still Open, I'd have recommended Fong's Pizza, but their lease expired a couple years ago. Quarter Barrel has pretty good food too- while they are technically an arcade, they're also a legit actual restaurant with unique menu items.
Note that the neighborhood at 17:00 doesn't have any curbside mailboxes. The mail carriers have to trudge to each house, including during winter.
At 19: 08 that is a sign of a good father to remember his son with a gift though many miles away !
Enjoyed all of this, glad to be able to come along 👏👏😊
That's the prettiest trash pile I've ever laid eyes on! Your son will love that bag. I can only imagine the jokes it will bring on! Cedar Rapids is so pretty. I love the history you told about it and especially the American Gothic Painting. Joe, that certainly was a different kind of burger! Dessert looked great and different! Thanks.
You passed a home on Woodland Dr with the address number 345 on a brick in stand. Zillow has it valued at $718,900. This should give an idea of the homes in that area value.
There is nothing to do there.
@@dalepxp8963 Iowa City is close. U of I draws a lot of people and fun stuff.
that is one of the richer neighborhoods. gomes usually tend to be in the $100k to 200k value in the rest of town. not ideal but the housing market is trash all over the country not just here
Super-cool building. I love those old Beaux-Arts buildings. Something wonderful about a building that is also designed as a monument. I like both the Beaux-Arts structures you show.
Another great video! The city looked very nice, learning about Mount Trashmore is another thing I never knew, and the houses were fabulous. The Veterans Memorial building was very beautiful, that window is superb. And now I know all about American Gothic and the Guy and daughter duo who were the models for the painting. The drone work was spliced in at just the right spots. Your videos have become very professional art that is very entertaining. UA-cam just surpassed Netflix and now has more viewers. Your channel is one of the reasons why, it is informative and entertaining. Thank you for your efforts. You are approaching the half million mark. There is a good reason for that and it is your work. It is very good!
The models for "American Gothic" weren't father and daughter. (The painting is supposed to represent a father and daughter.) For the models, the man was Grant Wood's dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby, and the woman was Grant Wood's sister, Nan Wood Grant.
Lived in CR from 1997 to 2022. Great place to do business, raise a family and make great, life-long friends!❤ Great video!
Cedar Rapids has another nickname that locals use for it, The City of Five Smells. If you go on a day when they're making the crunch berries you will immediately understand why. But it's an alright city, it has some nice restaurants and you're only a stone's throw from Iowa City.
So not only did the floods affect Cedar Rapids a great deal, but also a few years back there was a derecho that went through where they had straight line winds of 140 mph. It did a great deal of damage to the trees, and one of the reasons that a lot of those neighborhoods looked so sparse. Even a year or so after the wind event it looked like a bomb had went off with the number of trees missing or damaged.
Cool video showing my hometown, I loved growing up here and remember when the Flood of 08 destroyed most of down town. There was an old train bridge that I loved seeing as a kid and it got pushed over by the flood and I remember feeling so sad about it. A lot of of the houses on the west side of the river got completely flooded up to the roofs, destroying them. Pretty much everything on the west side of the river downtown has been rebuilt. The city is installing flood walls now to try and prevent another flood like the one in 08. The 2020 Derecho knocked down so many of the trees here, Cedar Rapids used to be so beautiful and had lots of trees and shade. The trees left standing are the ones that were strong enough to withstand the 120mph winds that blew through. When ever I drive around certain parts of town I just think about how many trees are gone now.
Thanks for visiting, lived there my whole life. It's an interesting place if you look long enough.
Kum & Go with lots of pumps... great description!
And clean restrooms
i lived in Cedar Rapids a couple months and it was a ghost town; few grocery stores- a food desert; lots of freemasonic buildings; empty downtown and the threat of flooding making it hard for me to confidently rent a place I could afford...
CR has upscaled since we left in 1980. SE is still RichKid Central though. The rest... tiny houses on tiny lots... I wonder if it still smells of wet-process molasses?
Yes, I work at St. Luke's, and that is a great description of the smell.😂
Southeast? I thought that was Marion
@@jakobwaack4148 I owned a house in Marion 1976-80... it was FAR from affluent. (846 sq feet, 3br, 1bath, backing onto an active railroad track.?
@jakobwaack4148 SE is the old mansions. South of First Ave and east of 19th. Ya, some of Marion is like that! Lol
@@jakobwaack4148
Marion is just a suburban slog, not quite luxury.
Happy Memorial Day to all my Veteran Brothers and Sisters. S A L U T E
Memorial Day is to remember the fallen.
@@BirdDogey1 Their sacrifice makes our celebrating possible- USA 1662-1967
Just a note on your Grant Wood's American Gothic info: He recruited his sister, Nan (1899-1990), to be the model for the daughter, dressing her in a colonial print apron mimicking 20th-century rural Americana. The model for the father was the Wood family’s dentist, Dr. Byron McKeeby (1867-1950) from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Joey. How did you not hear about the huge Czech village in cedar rapids
Looks like Sunday morning. Lived in Cedar Rapids Iowa USA 🇺🇸 for 19 years. 😊
0:50 Lived here 35 years, didn't realize that it was so unique as to be only one of three cities in the world who's government sits on a separate island. Always something new to learn.
Yes the '08 Flood was a 500-year Flood Plain situation, it was insane the amount of the city that was like up to 6-7 feet underwater. Never seen something so devastating.
I used to go to Cedar Rapids in the late 80’s to visit a friend at Coe College. Never saw any of these treasures. Love the stained glass window and courthouse. Love American Gothic. Appreciate the backstory. Love the homes. The East side looks more familiar to me. Black Sheep Social Club looks great! Look forward to Kansas! Have a great weekend!
I’ve been to the western part of Iowa(Sioux City…etc), but I’ve never been to that part. I’ve read good things about the cities there like Des Moines…etc. I’ve heard it’s great place to live. The only negatives are bitter-cold winters and devastating tornadoes. Rock on!
Amazing the lack of people on the streets! Almost a ghost town feeling!
We all have jobs on the outskirts of the town and if you do work in the city every car during the week is in parking garages and the people are working in the buildings. Friday night-Sunday that downtown area has thousands of people roaming around.
he likely came in the middle of the week and in the middle of the day. everyone is working! now come on a friday/saturday at 6pm and the streets are full
G,day from Sydney Australia. Mt Trashmore is concerning with contamination leaching through subsoil down to the river.I don't know how to fix it. "We" started using lining in landfill waste sites and classification of the area as contamination, not for residential or sporting use. The "bad old days" when our engineering was responsible for rubbish removal without thinking about soil ecology and heavy metal!!!
🌏🇦🇺
I lived there, they call it the "City Of Five Smells." The river floods often.
They should dredge it often
Lots of ugly things down there that don't like being disturbed. Don't swim in the Cedar unless you have some good speed.
@davesbainrps6909 Kings (a local company who makes block) used to dredge it for free and keep the sand for raw material. Local government decided Kings needed to pay the city for the sand, so Kings stopped dredging for free. That's when the flood happened. The almighty dollar
@@valo6245 greedy spoils a lot
It's so nice to see how far Kum and Go has come from being a pop up brothel way back in the day.
Sorry if this is a repeat, but, it didn't seem to take the first time:
Cedar Rapids also has a nickname based on the 5 Seasons. The city of 5 Smells. Quaker Oats happens to be one of them. then, south along 30 you'll pick up a couple others with a corn processing plant, paper mill, and the sewage treatment plant along the river. I think the river, itself, qualifies as part of the scent line-up.
A note about the helicopter 'toy' mentioned in reference to the Wright Bros: it's that stick with a propeller on top that was still popular in the 60s when i had one. We also called it a helicopter. Same lift principal, the faster you made it twist, the higher it went! ❤
That's right!!
I have lived in Cedar Rapids for 35 years ... never been to a Kum & Go 😂. When you started that segment I thought "Oh, he's going to Casey's." Black Sheep is some good stuff. Learned some new things too. Thanks.
They're pretty much the same. Kwik Trip / Kwik Star is my favorite gas station
@@Eric-xh9ee Kwik Star for breakfast, Casey's for pizza.
Loved the vid Joe.. but ya gave no honorable mention to them 2 angel 🐿🐿 squirrels chasing each other starting at the 19:58 mark lol. Don't think ya even noticed them.... stay frosty for them fuzzy butts.. please 😎. Happy memorial weekend....
saw that, he missed the fun
Keep your eyes peeled for those tornados going through that area, stay safe!😊
I have lived in this area for about 2 years now. Things I like:
- Smaller metro-y feel. Most of the midwestern restaurants/stores you want are like a 20 min drive away max
- Good amount of amenities/activities. Baseball stadium, smaller mall, plenty of nice parks
- Very affordable cost of living
Random complaints I have:
- Random smells on the way to work. Sometimes smells like a floating ass in the sky
- Some areas of Cedar Rapids smell like weed. Particularly the Southern part
- Intersection/on ramp design was lacking in some areas. You have no idea what's going on the first time you pull into the intersection, or the on ramp is so short that interstate traffic must slow down to let you merge
Grew up in this city, don't recall any of this, really just remember the mall I went too in the 90's (34 as well) already lost my father.
I hope he appreciates you
You are in my hood! You drove past my best friend in Kindergarten's house. She still lives there. And I work downtown. Been here all my life. That bonafide mansion you passed was purchased for less than 500,000.00 and went through a renovation. Those homes on the other side are all less than 100,000.00.
Living here my whole life and never realized what the building you showcased in the beginning was.
Hi Joe & Nic, Cedar Rapids looks like a beautiful city, it's sooo clean and I love the architecture Beaux-Arts but it has a state like Spartan edge to it which I really like. Also, the city has a cleanliness and practical environmentalism like the city park built on recycled trash. I would 💓to visit Cedar Rapids one day (not sure if I can get a direct flight from London, though?). Also, could you do a tour sometime of Idaho, especially Franklin County where Napoleon Dynamite was filmed? 👍🤗
I'm sure there's nice areas, but every time I drive through there it looks kind of dumpy to me. Also, they have those annoying as hell speed cameras.
@@bb5242 Unfortunately, they have speed cameras all over the world these days. It's not about safety, it's an extra source of revenue!🤑 Cedar Rapids looked beautiful to me and very clean, but you can't always tell from one source of info, but Joe tells it pretty much as it is, he pulls no punches! Besides, a return flight would cost me almost £900 and ATM I can't afford that, so maybe another time?🤗
Heathrow to Chicago ORD, Minneapolis or St.Louis. Then regional flights to Cedar Rapids (CID). Nice airport. ORD always bewilders me. American premium economy class works for us. From London, suggest stay over Premier Inn, Heathrow is economical. Can never get from London to airport on time.
@@wm6h Thanks WM6H, I can get a flight directly from LHR to ORD then to Cedar Rapids East Iowa airport, but its expensive £900 but I can't afford it ATM.
How about this. You can get good deals LHR to SW Florida. Brits are always going to FLA. Rental car to Punta Gorda, FLA. Agilent Air to CID. Non-Stop. Many from CID have winter homes in FLA. I myself never thought about that route until just now.
Another great video along with information I would have never known! Captain Krunch. Happy trails!