Iowa City

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by Cyclone711

Iowa City has better bars and nightlife. Whereas Ames has a better campus and k-12 system. Pick your poison.

Pretty much sums up what I was thinking...I've never had a bad time in Iowa City.

[iccyfan]

Originally Posted by Prone2Clone

Does the water in IC still taste like pond scum?

No. They put in a new high-tech water treatment plant four or five years ago, just north of I-80 at the Dubuque Street exit. It has all but put the water softener and bottled water delivery companies out of business! We have crystal clean water now.

A couple of other thoughts on this thread, given I live in Iowa City. 1) I have had ISU vanity plates on two vehicles for two years and can count on one hand the number of "adverse reactions" I've gotten in town, including driving thru the campus (which my wife does every day). Even then, it's only a smile and "thumbs-down", generally from someone with hawk vanity plates.
2) The IC public school system is one of the best in the state by almost any measure, regularly receiving national recognition.

I would never suggest that Iowa City is a better place to dwell than Ames, but we like it and I'll defend it as a great place to live and raise children.

[bmuff]

Originally Posted by jahfg

Sorry, but I really enjoy Iowa City. The campus is nothing special but I enjoy the town far more than I enjoy the town of Ames. Outside our campus, Ames deservedly garners the name, L'ames.

Only a hawkeye would call Ames that. So, jahfghawk, have you been to Ames lately? Actually, it's got a lot going for it. The mall is undergoing renovations this summer. There's a new mall getting built. Lots of new restaurants on Duff and the S.16th extension is opening next week offering new places for development as well as river access for hiking or kayaking. Campustown is next on the renovation agenda. Main St. has some good bars and a brewery. And expect a bunch of new restaurants and stores to open up around the new mall.

[SouthernHawk]

Originally Posted by iccyfan

No. They put in a new high-tech water treatment plant four or five years ago, just north of I-80 at the Dubuque Street exit. It has all but put the water softener and bottled water delivery companies out of business! We have crystal clean water now.

A couple of other thoughts on this thread, given I live in Iowa City. 1) I have had ISU vanity plates on two vehicles for two years and can count on one hand the number of "adverse reactions" I've gotten in town, including driving thru the campus (which my wife does every day). Even then, it's only a smile and "thumbs-down", generally from someone with hawk vanity plates.
2) The IC public school system is one of the best in the state by almost any measure, regularly receiving national recognition.

I would never suggest that Iowa City is a better place to dwell than Ames, but we like it and I'll defend it as a great place to live and raise children.

They must have forgotten to do something with the campus's water then. It was narsty.

[cycloneG]

Originally Posted by iccyfan

2) The IC public school system is one of the best in the state by almost any measure, regularly receiving national recognition.

You mean like being placed on the NCLB Watch List?

http://www.iowa.gov/educate/index2.p...temid=99999999

[Phaedrus]

Originally Posted by cycloneG

You mean like being placed on the NCLB Watch List?

http://www.iowa.gov/educate/index2.p...temid=99999999

[Nelson Voice]HA HA!!!![/Nelson Voice]

[abcguyks]

Originally Posted by Cyclone62

Ahhh... Prarie. Farmer High. God I hated that school.

Back in the late 70s when I was at Jefferson High, Prairie was known as "Cowpie High". Things may have changed, but Prairie was definitely a hick school back then.

Cedar Rapids does have plenty of smells going for it (ADM, packing plants, sewage treatment plant, General Mills, Quaker Oats, etc). Since I had grown up there, I really thought the smells were a normal part of "living in the city" until I moved away and realized that other towns did not have those smells.

[iccyfan]

Originally Posted by cycloneG

You mean like being placed on the NCLB Watch List?

http://www.iowa.gov/educate/index2.p...temid=99999999

For entertainment purposes, I took a look at the NCLB list from 05-06. There were two IC elementary schools and interesting enough, Ames Middle School as well! I don't see this as an indictment of either district; compliance with NCLB is a farce for many reasons.

EIU has a social work master's degree program and there are more social service agencies in IC than you can shake a stick at. This, of course, draws low-income families from neighboring areas. There is a direct correlation between standardized test scores and % of student population on subsidized lunch programs. There's also the fact that autistic, developmentally-disabled and behavior-discipline students from small towns take advantage of open-enrollment to enter into IC's school system (and their test scores count). Please do not use NCLB statistics as an indicator of a school district's quality!

[cycloneG]

Originally Posted by iccyfan

For entertainment purposes, I took a look at the NCLB list from 05-06. There were two IC elementary schools and interesting enough, Ames Middle School as well! I don't see this as an indictment of either district; compliance with NCLB is a farce for many reasons.

EIU has a social work master's degree program and there are more social service agencies in IC than you can shake a stick at. This, of course, draws low-income families from neighboring areas. There is a direct correlation between standardized test scores and % of student population on subsidized lunch programs. There's also the fact that autistic, developmentally-disabled and behavior-discipline students from small towns take advantage of open-enrollment to enter into IC's school system (and their test scores count). Please do not use NCLB statistics as an indicator of a school district's quality!

05-06? Check for 07-08. There are no Ames Schools listed and three Iowa City schools.

Also, if you don't care for how the federal government monitors academic achievement in schools, what about the state government?

According to the Student Achievement and Teacher Quality Program of Iowa, in 2007 the Ames Community School district ranked 25th in the state while the Iowa City Community School district ranked 211th.

2005

I know bashing NCLB is a fun past time, but an accurate measure of student progress is something this country has needed for a long time. NCLB isn't perfect but it's the measuring stick that is currently used.

[SouthernHawk]

Originally Posted by cycloneG

05-06? Check for 07-08. There are no Ames Schools listed and three Iowa City schools.

Also, if you don't care for how the federal government monitors academic achievement in schools, what about the state government?

According to the Student Achievement and Teacher Quality Program of Iowa, in 2007 the Ames Community School district ranked 25th in the state while the Iowa City Community School district ranked 211th.

2005

I know bashing NCLB is a fun past time, but an accurate measure of student progress is something this country has needed for a long time. NCLB isn't perfect but it's the measuring stick that is currently used.

NCLB is nowhere near accurate. The way the school systems are evaluated is a complete farce. Using statistics like this as the sole basis for an argument against a public school is very misguided.

[CY ST8T]

I am stupider now just for reading this thread. Waterloo Sucks! Now let's see how many people go off on that.

[SouthernHawk]

Originally Posted by CY ST8T

I am stupider now just for reading this thread. Waterloo Sucks! Now let's see how many people go off on that.

Who can argue against that?

[abcguyks]

Originally Posted by SouthernHawk

Who can argue against that?

Not me.

There must be something wrong with me - I actually agree with a Hawkeye fan on something!

[dornstar44]

Originally Posted by CY ST8T

I am stupider now just for reading this thread. Waterloo Sucks! Now let's see how many people go off on that.

Just because you yuppie suburban DM people think you're better than everyone else, you can trash other people's towns. Well, as a Waterloo native, I've got news for you.......

Actually, Waterloo isn't so bad - had you not asked how many people could go off on it, I wouldn't have. Lord knows I'm not ever moving back though.

[LindenCy]

Originally Posted by CY ST8T

I am stupider now just for reading this thread. Waterloo Sucks! Now let's see how many people go off on that.

This reminds me of the line from Billy Madison about having been stupider for hearing it.