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Top Attractions in Iowa

Davenport

Davenport is the largest city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County; it is also the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population estimate of 382,630 and a CSA population of 474,226, making it the 90th largest CSA in the nation. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk War stationed at nearby Fort Armstrong. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 99,685 . However, the city is currently appealing this figure, arguing that the Census Bureau missed a section of residents that would place the total population over 100,000, and indeed, even the Census Bureaus own estimate for Davenports 2011 population is 100,802. Located approximately half way between Chicago and Des Moines, Davenport is on the border of Iowa and Illinois. The city is prone to frequent flooding due to its location on the Mississippi River. There are two main universities: Saint Ambrose University and Palmer College of Chiropractic, which is where the first chiropractic adjustment took place. Several annual music festivals take place in Davenport, including the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival, The Mississippi Valley Fair, and the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival. An internationally known 7-mile foot race called the Bix 7 is run during the festival. The city has a Class A minor league baseball team, the Quad Cities River Bandits. Davenport has 27 parks and over 12 miles of recreational paths for biking or walking. Four interstates and two major United States Highways serve the city. Davenport has seen steady population growth since its incorporation, with an exception being the 1980s, when the population decreased due to job loss. Davenport has a declining crime rate and a low rate of unemployment, and was ranked as the most affordable metropolitan area in 2010 by Forbes. In 2007, Davenport, along with neighboring Rock Island, won the City Livability Award in the small-city category from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. In 2012, Davenport as well as the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area was ranked among the fastest-growing areas in the nation in the growth of high-tech jobs. Notable natives of the city have included jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Susan Glaspell, former National Football League running back Roger Craig, and current WWE World Heavyweight Championship holder Seth Rollins. The current mayor of Davenport is Bill Gluba.

Des Moines

Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857. It is named after the Des Moines River, which may have been adapted from the French Rivière des Moines, meaning "River of the Monks". The citys population was 203,433 as of the 2010 census. The five-county metropolitan area is ranked 91st in terms of population in the United States with 599,789 residents according to the 2013 estimate by the United States Census Bureau. Des Moines is a major center of the U.S. insurance industry and has a sizable financial services and publishing business base. In fact, Des Moines was credited as the "number one spot for U.S. insurance companies" in a Business Wire article and named the third largest "insurance capital" of the world. The city is the headquarters for the Principal Financial Group, Athene USA insurance, the Meredith Corporation, Ruan Transportation, EMC Insurance Companies, and Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. Other major corporations such as Wells Fargo, Voya Financial, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, ACE Limited, Marsh, Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred have large operations in or near the metro area. In recent years Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and Facebook have established data processing and logistical facilities in the Des Moines metro. Forbes magazine ranked Des Moines as the "Best Place for Business" in both 2010 and 2013. In 2014, NBC ranked Des Moines as the "Wealthiest City in America" according to its criteria. Des Moines is an important city in U.S. presidential politics because it is the capital of Iowa, which is home to the first caucuses of the presidential primary cycle. Hence, many presidential candidates set up campaign headquarters in Des Moines. A 2007 article in The New York Times stated "if you have any desire to witness presidential candidates in the most close-up and intimate of settings, there is arguably no better place to go than Des Moines".

Dubuque

Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2013, its population was 58,253, making it the tenth-largest city in the state The city lies at the junction of three states: Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region locally known as the Tri-State Area. It serves as the main commercial, industrial, educational, and cultural center for the area. Geographically, it is part of the Driftless Area, a portion of North America that escaped all three phases of the Wisconsinian Glaciation. It is one of the few large cities in Iowa with hills, and a tourist destination featuring the citys unique architecture and river location. It is home to five institutions of higher education, making it a center for culture and learning. Dubuque has long been a center of manufacturing, but the economy has recently had rapid growth and diversification in other areas. In 2005, the city led the state and the Midwest in job growth, ranking as the 22nd fastest-growing economy nationally. Today, alongside industry, the city has large health care, education, tourism, publishing, and financial service sectors.

Iowa City

Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the only City of Literature in North America, as awarded by UNESCO in 2008. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the 2015 population at 74,220, making it the fifth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa. Iowa City is adjacent to the town of Coralville and surrounds the town of University Heights, with which it forms a contiguous urban area. Iowa City is the principal city of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses Johnson County and Washington County and has a population of over 164,000. Iowa City was the second capital of the Iowa Territory and the first capital city of the State of Iowa. The Old Capitol building is a National Historic Landmark in the center of the University of Iowa campus. The University of Iowa Art Museum and Plum Grove, the home of the first Governor of Iowa, are also tourist attractions. In 2008, Forbes magazine named Iowa City the second-best small metropolitan area for doing business in the United States.

Sioux City

Sioux City is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the western part of the State of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, which makes it the fourth largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, of which it is the county seat, though a small portion is in Plymouth County. Sioux City is the primary city of the five-county Sioux City, IA–NE–SD Metropolitan Statistical Area, with a population of 168,825 in 2010 and a slight increase to an estimated 168,921 in 2012. The Sioux City–Vermillion, IA–NE–SD Combined Statistical Area had a population of 182,675 as of 2010 and has grown to an estimated population of 183,052 as of 2012. Sioux City is at the navigational head of the Missouri River, about 95 miles north of the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area. Sioux City and the surrounding areas of northwestern Iowa, northeastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota are sometimes referred to as Siouxland, especially by the local media. Money recognized Sioux City in its August 2010 issue of "Best Places To Live". In 2008 and 2009, the Sioux City Tri-State Metropolitan Area was recognized by Site Selection as the top economic development community in the United States for communities with populations between 50,000 and 200,000 people. In March 2013, Site Selection also recognized Sioux City as the 4th Top Metro area in the Midwest Region behind 1st place Kansas City, 2nd place Minneapolis–Saint Paul and 3rd place Omaha-Council Bluffs. Sioux City was also ranked 1st in regards to Metro Populations between 50,000 and 200,000. Forbes placed the Sioux City metro in the Top 15 Best Small Places for Businesses and Careers and MSN.com ranked the area the #2 Most Livable Bargain Market. The Daily Beast, an American news reporting website, placed Sioux City on their list of The Top 40 Drunkest Cities in America, with a ranking of 14th.

Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, 20 miles north of Iowa City and 100 miles northeast of Des Moines, the states capital and largest city. Until massive flooding in 2008, the citys government was headquartered in the Veterans Memorial Building, near the Linn County Courthouse and jail on Mays Island in the Cedar River; Cedar Rapids was one of a few cities in the world, along with Paris, France, with governmental offices on a municipal island. A flourishing center for arts and culture in Eastern Iowa, the city is home to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the National Czech Slovak Museum Library, the Paramount Theatre, Theatre Cedar Rapids, the African-American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa, and the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance. Cedar Rapids is an economic hub of the state, located in the core of the Interstate 380. Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor of Linn, Benton, Cedar, Jones, Johnson, and Washington counties. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 126,326. The estimated population of the three-county Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the nearby cities of Marion and Hiawatha, was 255,452 in 2008. Cedar Rapids has been residence to famous figures for the United States, including American Gothic painter Grant Wood, journalist and historian William L. Shirer, writer and photographer Carl Van Vechten, and aerodynamics pioneer Dr. Alexander Lippisch. In the 1990s and 2000s, Hollywood would feature several Cedar Rapidians including actors Bobby Driscoll, Ashton Kutcher, Elijah Wood, and Ron Livingston. The area has also produced a number of professional athletes such as Ryan Sweeney, Trent Green, Zach Johnson, and Kurt Warner, as well as Mark Walter, co-owner and chairman of baseballs Los Angeles Dodgers. The city is also the setting for a musical, The Pajama Game and the comedy film Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids is nicknamed the "City of Five Seasons", for the "fifth season", which is time to enjoy the other four. The symbol of the five seasons is the Tree of Five Seasons sculpture in downtown along the north river bank. The name "Five Seasons" and representations of the sculpture appear throughout the city in many forms.

Ames

Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County. Lying approximately 30 miles north of Des Moines, it had a 2010 population of 58,965. The U.S. Census Bureau designates the Ames metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County; combined with the Boone, Iowa micropolitan statistical area, the pair make up the larger Ames-Boone combined statistical area. While Ames is the largest city in Story County, the county seat is in the nearby city of Nevada 8 miles east of Ames. Ames is the home of Iowa State University of Science and Technology, a public research institution with leading Agriculture, Design, Engineering, and Veterinary Medicine colleges. ISU is the nations first designated land-grant university, and the birthplace of the Atanasoff–Berry Computer, the worlds first electronic digital computer. Ames hosts one of two national sites for the United States Department of Agricultures Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which comprises the National Veterinary Services Laboratory and the Center for Veterinary Biologics. Ames is also the home of the USDAs Agricultural Research Services National Animal Disease Center. NADC is the largest federal animal disease center in the U.S., conducting research aimed at solving animal health and food safety problems faced by livestock producers and the public. Ames has the headquarters for the Iowa Department of Transportation. In 2010, Ames was ranked ninth on CNNMoney.com "Best Places to Live" list.

Council Bluffs

Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across from what is now the much larger city of Omaha, Nebraska. It was known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowa — the historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trails. The population of Council Bluffs was 62,230 at the 2010 census. Along with neighboring Omaha to the west, Council Bluffs was part of the 60th-largest metropolitan area in the United States in 2010, with an estimated population of 865,350 residing in the eight counties of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. Council Bluffs is more than a decade older than Omaha. The latter, founded in 1854 by Council Bluffs businessmen and speculators following the Kansas-Nebraska Act, has grown to be the significantly larger city.

Fairfield

Fairfield is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, Iowa, United States. It has a population totaling 9,464 people according to the 2010 census. It is a Midwestern city surrounded by rolling farmlands filled with corn, soybean, cattle, and hogs with a median family income of $46,138 (10% of families below the poverty line). The city became the county seat in 1839 with 110 residents and grew to 650 by 1847. Its library was established in 1853, and it held its first fair in 1854. Early architecture includes work by George Franklin Barber and Barry Byrne, who trained under Frank Lloyd Wright. The city has an “abundance of start-up companies” and has been called "one of the state's economic superstars." It has received The Grassroots Rural Entrepreneurship Award, been nicknamed “silicorn valley,” and was featured in a 2012 episode of the TV show, Oprah's Next Chapter. It has been the home of Maharishi University of Management (formerly Maharishi International University) since 1974 and has been referred to as "the world's largest training center" for practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation technique. The city includes the $6 million Fairfield Arts & Convention Center (FACC), built in 2007. In 2010, it was named one of six Iowa Great Places. It was named by Smithsonian magazine as one of "The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2013." The city has 12 public parks and recreation areas consisting of more than 1,300 acres and is governed by a seven-member city council. The Fairfield Community School District is home to nearly 2,500 students, teachers, administrators, and staff, with three elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. The city has two private schools, Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment and Cornerstone Primary School. Fairfield has its own municipal airport, several radio stations, a local public-access television station, and a daily newspaper.
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