Happy Valentine's Day

Happy V-Day folks. I'm always dreaming of a return to blogging, although I'm also considering switching things up and going with more of a Facebook microblog type of thing. We'll see.

What's the newest conspiracy theory that isn't making the papers?

I-74 Corridor video

I don't think I posted this 2 years ago when it was released. I just ran across it the other day and don't remember watching it before. It gives an excellent rundown of all parts of the new I-74 bridge project, along with the entire I-74 corridor changes. That includes what's now being done at the 53rd Street interchange. The video also confirms that the actual bridge will be 4 lanes in each direction. Talk about a change for the better!

I-74 Corridor from Iowa DOT on Vimeo.

Still Alive Open Thread

Well, I'm still around. That's about all I can say for myself as a blogger anymore. I'm actually hoping to go out and take quite a few pictures one of these days, because there is a lot happening around the QC. The Kone building is going up, new restaurants are opening in downtown Davenport, and 605 Main has met the headache ball.

As Conservative Demo mentioned in the comments of the last thread, there's always room for some debate about the Bix at 6s, or in a related traffic-blocking note, all these water main breaks. I also might write something up on my feelings about the No-Notice City Lawn Mowing service. Or I might disappear for another 3 months, but lets hope not!

Cheaters win sometimes

Historic East Davenport home coming down -QCTimes

Get denied for a demolition permit for a historic home you should never have bought? Simply damage the structure until you can argue there's no reason to save it anymore.

Get flak from the neighbors for trying to destroy the integrity of their neighborhood? Graffiti your own house to spite them and push the city into caving.

Its seems to me that we've sent a clear message with this whole thing that all you have to do to beat City Hall is act as though none of the rules apply to you.

I won't be eating at the Precinct until its under new ownership someday.

Tax Credit Workshop May 5th

I know the blogging's been lacking greatly, but I thought I'd pass this along at least.


Bringing it Home: Historic Tax Credits for Your Property

May 5, 2011, 11:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
German American Heritage Center, 712 W. 2nd Street, Davenport

Workshop in Davenport on Iowa’s Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit program presented by the State Historic Preservation Office. Participants will learn how the program works to provide a 25% “rebate” on qualified rehabilitation costs, how to determine if a property is eligible to utilize the program, the differences in the program for residential and commercial structures, and how to complete tax credit application forms. The workshop will include a primer on the National Register of Historic Places and a discussion of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Registration cost of $35 includes lunch and workshop materials, and registration is requested by April 26 to ensure adequate space. For a detailed schedule and registration information, visit www.iowahistory.org/historic-preservation or contact Marion Meginnis, marion_meginnis@msn.com.

A Missed Opportunity

The Blackhawk Hotel had its grand opening tonight. This may come as a surprise to those of you who aren't on the Who's Who of Davenport list, because not only was this event not publicized, it was apparently not even public. The QCTimes has a photo gallery that refers to it as a private event. The spotlights shining up into the sky outside the hotel should have had dollar signs in them; kind of like the bat signal for rich people.

Why in the world did Restoration St. Louis and the City of Davenport not take the opportunity to show off the biggest project in years in downtown Davenport? Why didn't they invite in all the naysayers and downtown deniers to see what we're really capable of? Why continue the myth that there are 2 kinds of things downtown: Stuff for "6th ward people" like the Figge and symphony concerts, and stuff for the "homeless people" that some folks believe are standing on every corner downtown? That is far from the truth, of course. Downtown has something for everyone from John Deere enthusiasts, jazz lovers, Broadway show-enjoyers, bar patrons, park-lovers, artists, musicians, business travelers, families, and everyone else. Unfortunately, rather than invite everyone from all walks of life to come down and see the newest big thing in Davenport, the Blackhawk chose exclusivity over publicity.

How are we supposed to change peoples' views of downtown if we don't let them in?

How long?

Hotel Blackhawk opens today, unveiling 4-year, $35 million restoration -QCTimes (December 16th)

Market-rate Apartments: 20
Market-rate Apartments vacant upon opening: 0

Luxury apartments open in former eyesore -QCTimes

Market-rate Apartments: 24
Market-rate Apartments vacant upon opening: 1


How long before that last one is rented? I'd be willing to bet it is taken by the end of today.

How long before the negative folks like Mark Nelson admit that they are wrong about downtown Davenport? Who knows...

City tries again on Prairie Heights commercial land

On November 2nd Davenport issued a Request for Proposals from potential developers of the commercial parcel that the city still owns on the south side of the Prairie Heights area. Many of you will recall that the city did one of these a few years ago and wasn't satisfied with the offers. At that time they chose to hold out for a better proposal.

Here's the page on the city website with the info, including a link to the actual RFP at the bottom. It seems a little less restrictive than the previous one, although not by too much. There are some restrictions that are made by an agreement with the nearby Grace Evangelical Free Church, and also this quote:

The City welcomes proposals that integrate office or residential uses into the proposed commercial development. Industrial uses, however, such as warehouses, automobile repair facilities, manufacturing or storage facilities are neither desired nor allowed within the Prairie Heights Neighborhood development.

So I'm guessing the carwash that riled up some folks over in Bettendorf a while back need not apply either. I wonder about tatoo parlors... Seriously though, this should really be prime land someday, so I do like that the city doesn't just want it to become a junky strip mall or gas station. That said, the spec building across 53rd from the site doesn't seem to be filling up all that fast. It will be interesting to see what kind of proposals come in this time.

So I've been a little busy this year...

In addition to the typical work, family, and social life type things that put a crimp in my blogging time, I had some extra stuff to work on this summer. There's now a Mrs. QCI!
As any of you who have been involved in a wedding will know, its a lot of work! We were married on October 9th, which happened to be the day that was a record-high 88º out. When planning an outdoor fall wedding in the Midwest, that was not really on our list of possible weather situations. Thanks to all of the great people who helped us on that day, everything went as smoothly as possible, and it was a great day.

After the wedding we were off to our honeymoon in Ireland. This was the first time in Europe for both of us, and while sitting on the wrong side of the car and driving on the wrong side of the road could be "exciting", it was definitely a fun trip and I highly recommend it. I could show off dozens of pictures at this point, but this blog is supposed to be about the QC, so I'll limit myself to 4 of them.



So there it is. The blog is not dead, and I hope to start posting more than once a week. That said, I doubt I will ever return to the daily posting that I did when I was living downtown and putting much of my free time into blogging. Although who knows... after a few years of unexciting (ie, professional) city councils, it appears we're gearing up for a casino battle again! The QCTimes got a month's worth of articles out of it, so I'm sure there will be more posts from me as well. I'd like to thank those of you that still check the blog, and hope we can get back to enthusiastic discussions again.

News good enough to return from the blog afterlife

Davenport to consider $75M casino plan -QCTimes

I've been busy this year, but I'll get to that in a later post. For today, we have great news on the front page of the QCTimes. Not only is someone coming in to rid us of the Isle of Capri's maltreatment, but the casino is staying downtown. I didn't expect this, considering how timid developers usually are about trying new things, but I think its great news. There are plenty of truck stop casinos in the Midwest, but not as many downtown casinos anymore. Dubuque's works, and I think ours can too. As far as the the sites mentioned, I like the WG Block location the best, although the others could work too. The Ground Transportation Center is a waste of real estate, but I'm not sure if I trust any casino to look good enough to have such a prime location.

Many of the people against this seem to be against gambling at all, but I'd say Tuesday's election has shown that Scott County residents still overwhelmingly support gambling. Its just another business folks! I know some people who are addicted to shopping at Kohls, but nobody worries about that. Fortunately, I think that much of the resistance to gambling as a legitimate form of entertainment is fading as younger generations grow up with casinos not having the same stigma they may have had for our grandparents.

I look forward to the day that Davenport's casino competes with Bettendorf and Rock Island's as an equal, rather than a forgotten stepchild.

Flood 2010 Saturday PM - Monday AM

Alternate title: We got 99 problems but the Bix ain't one.

I went out both Saturday night and this morning to take some pictures of the flood preparations. They seem to be going pretty well, and the river seems to be rising a little slower than projected, so hopefully we can come out of this one relatively unscathed. Here are a whole bunch of images from both Saturday night and this morning.
Saturday night, while thousands partied downtown at the Bix Street Fest, Public Works was busy building the usual temporary berm. This year it appears it was made easier by the new concrete median planters.


Preparations near Bechtel Park and Iowa Street.


Berm work on Saturday night, and this morning.


LeClaire Park on Saturday night, and this morning.

Union Station, looking like a fort with its surrounding berm.


Kraft had their wall across Rockingham ready Saturday night, and Rock Island had already begun installing their new removable gates in Schwiebert Park.


This area of Schwiebert Park is north of the floodwall and designed to flood, which its starting to do.

Even more gates being installed at Schwiebert Park. They're also in the midst of fixing some drainage issues around the sprayground, unrelated to the flood.

Bix 2010 Images

So, it wasn't exactly one of our greatest Bix days. Between the weather issues last night, such as the smashed truck seen on the right, the terrible death of the Galesburg coach, or the general soaking of 15,000 runners and however many tens of thousands of spectators, things could have gone better. Now we have imminent flooding to deal with, which we'll survive as we generally do. As always, things could have been worse. Despite the rain, thousands of people got together for a good time in Davenport. Next year lets hope for blue skies to show off the renovated Blackhawk and Forrest Block buildings.

It looks like most of the registered runners and walkers could not be deterred by a little rain.


The men's winner, Ryan Hall, and the women's winner, Lisa Koll, each heading down 3rd Street towards the finish line.

Some of the earlier finishers. While there were fewer spectators downtown than a dry Bix, I was impressed with how many people came out to support the runners.

This is an angle you don't see too much, which is the Quick Bix runners coming down Perry Street to an early finish. I've done the 2 mile version a couple times, and its always pretty deserted spectator-wise once you turn off of the main route. It does ensure that you get to the post-race party while the good snacks are still available though, and you don't get that "Why do I do this?" feeling that you do coming back on Kirkwood...