The return of this blog.Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Tonight: New riverfront park planning session
As you may have read in yesterday's QCTimes article, there will be a public planning session tonight in what the city calls the "East Industrial Park" area of the riverfront, near 4th and River Drive. The city is trying to decide what to do with the land formerly (and currently) occupied by Builders and River Gulf Grain. Even if you don't think anything should be done there, you should show up and share your opinion. If you just sit at home and complain on the QCTimes comments, don't be surprised when the people who do show up decide something you don't like.
The session is at 5:30PM.
The session is at 5:30PM.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Phil Yerington writes the worst letter to the editor of all time
Its almost like reading The Onion... but here it is:
Davenport vs. Bettendorf: Who's the snob? -QCTimes
Apparently this guy that thought he should be the Mayor of Davenport also thinks its the worst place in the world, and is in love with Bettendorf. Its really pretty hard to find a sentence in his letter that doesn't have some piece of false information or silliness in it.
-Bettendorf's 2 year old convention center is nicer than davenport's 20+ year old one? No way!
-The Isle of Capri in Yerington's world is a 5 star hotel? Apparently he hasn't stayed in many hotels.
-He rags on each piece of River Renaissance, which he spearheaded! Has he had a lobotomy? -The skybridge was in the original proposal for River Renaissance, but to him its silly now.
Does this guy know that there's this thing called Google, where we can look up his past actions and statements if we've somehow forgotten them all as he has?
With this letter he's actually making the "water fluoridation conspiracy" guy look like a better candidate for Mayor.
Davenport vs. Bettendorf: Who's the snob? -QCTimes
Apparently this guy that thought he should be the Mayor of Davenport also thinks its the worst place in the world, and is in love with Bettendorf. Its really pretty hard to find a sentence in his letter that doesn't have some piece of false information or silliness in it.
-Bettendorf's 2 year old convention center is nicer than davenport's 20+ year old one? No way!
-The Isle of Capri in Yerington's world is a 5 star hotel? Apparently he hasn't stayed in many hotels.
-He rags on each piece of River Renaissance, which he spearheaded! Has he had a lobotomy? -The skybridge was in the original proposal for River Renaissance, but to him its silly now.
Does this guy know that there's this thing called Google, where we can look up his past actions and statements if we've somehow forgotten them all as he has?
With this letter he's actually making the "water fluoridation conspiracy" guy look like a better candidate for Mayor.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
April Fool's Day Open Thread
Well, I didn't come up with an attempt at April 1st humor this year. Feel free to insert your own. The Good Friday vs Spring Holiday battle serves as a pretty good joke in itself, really... Just goes to show that we don't have the exciting stuff to argue about anymore.
I hope to put a few images from the WIU:QC groundbreaking up later today, unless I end up enjoying the beautiful weather. Winter might be my favorite season, but I'm still always happy when its over.
I hope to put a few images from the WIU:QC groundbreaking up later today, unless I end up enjoying the beautiful weather. Winter might be my favorite season, but I'm still always happy when its over.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
News News News
Aside from the news that I'm actually posting something, there were a lot of interesting things in the news today.
First, has got to be the crime wave we're currently suffering through. By my count the QC has had 4 people killed in the last week, and that's terrible. Last night's shootings and the ensuing chaos at both hospitals, combined with the 2 fatal stabbings over the weekend, seem to bode badly for this summer being a quiet one.
In downtown Davenport news, we have an article in the QCTimes and a Downtown Davenport Facebook update both revealing that Restoration St. Louis has finally begun work on the interior of the Forrest Block building. The article mentions early next year as a completion time, so it will be interesting to see if they get to keep all their incentives and such. This article also says that the Blackhawk should be done yet this year.
Today is WIU:QC's groundbreaking. After reading about Deere donating the riverfront land to the school while I was still attending the Macomb campus, it seems like its been an eternity to get to this point. I'm hoping to attend, and the weather should definitely cooperate. If you're interested in witnessing the historic moment, the event starts at 1PM, with parking and shuttle available at the iWireless Center. Hopefully I'll have some pictures later.
I'm happy to see that some are pushing for RAGBRAI to return to the Iowa QC, or even Davenport itself. Considering the few hotels in LeClaire, you have to figure that most of the people stayed in Davenport and Bettendorf in 2008, so obviously we can handle both that and the Bix. It would be a heck of a celebration downtown, that's for sure.
Airport News:
Demolition starts renaissance for municipal airport -QCTimes
Quad City Air Show 2010's website is now up. It looks like no Blue Angels or Thunderbirds this year, but instead we'll have what's shaping up to be a huge collection of WWII warbirds. Hopefully along with the Tora Tora Tora display they can bring back the pyrotechnics that have been lacking the last few years.
First, has got to be the crime wave we're currently suffering through. By my count the QC has had 4 people killed in the last week, and that's terrible. Last night's shootings and the ensuing chaos at both hospitals, combined with the 2 fatal stabbings over the weekend, seem to bode badly for this summer being a quiet one.
In downtown Davenport news, we have an article in the QCTimes and a Downtown Davenport Facebook update both revealing that Restoration St. Louis has finally begun work on the interior of the Forrest Block building. The article mentions early next year as a completion time, so it will be interesting to see if they get to keep all their incentives and such. This article also says that the Blackhawk should be done yet this year.
Today is WIU:QC's groundbreaking. After reading about Deere donating the riverfront land to the school while I was still attending the Macomb campus, it seems like its been an eternity to get to this point. I'm hoping to attend, and the weather should definitely cooperate. If you're interested in witnessing the historic moment, the event starts at 1PM, with parking and shuttle available at the iWireless Center. Hopefully I'll have some pictures later.
I'm happy to see that some are pushing for RAGBRAI to return to the Iowa QC, or even Davenport itself. Considering the few hotels in LeClaire, you have to figure that most of the people stayed in Davenport and Bettendorf in 2008, so obviously we can handle both that and the Bix. It would be a heck of a celebration downtown, that's for sure.
Airport News:
Demolition starts renaissance for municipal airport -QCTimes
Quad City Air Show 2010's website is now up. It looks like no Blue Angels or Thunderbirds this year, but instead we'll have what's shaping up to be a huge collection of WWII warbirds. Hopefully along with the Tora Tora Tora display they can bring back the pyrotechnics that have been lacking the last few years.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
St. Patrick's Day Parade Images
Here are a few shots from today's parade. The weather was better than some years, worse than others. Overcast, misty, almost Irish weather...
Third Street, before the parade.
You never know what you're going to see in a QC St. Patrick's Day Parade. Irish Santa, and the weinermobile made appearances today.
And the parade joins into the 3rd Street bar area festivities. This block, at this exact hour of the year, has got to be one of the liveliest places in the QC.
Third Street, before the parade.
You never know what you're going to see in a QC St. Patrick's Day Parade. Irish Santa, and the weinermobile made appearances today.
And the parade joins into the 3rd Street bar area festivities. This block, at this exact hour of the year, has got to be one of the liveliest places in the QC.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Menards Update
It turns out that the QCTimes articles about the Menards dark store agreement were a bit inaccurate. This article said, "Worried that the 53rd Street store would sit empty and be an eyesore for months or years, Davenport aldermen demanded the company have a buyer or renter for its existing store before starting construction on the $15 million project." When I read that, I thought that it wasn't how I remembered it. There are indeed requirements, but none of them explicitly disallow Menards from building their new store before finding a new use for the old one.
Here's a PDF that you can download of the actual agreement from both 2005 and 2007. The first one was regarding Menards potentially moving to Elmore, and the second one has to do with the site on North Brady.
Download the actual pdf here:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/ioytzmigjyr/Menard's DarkStore Agreement.pdf
Here's a PDF that you can download of the actual agreement from both 2005 and 2007. The first one was regarding Menards potentially moving to Elmore, and the second one has to do with the site on North Brady.
Download the actual pdf here:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/ioytzmigjyr/Menard's DarkStore Agreement.pdf
Monday, March 08, 2010
Menards and Museums
Davenport may kill Menards 'dark store' deal to spark construction -QCTimes
As someone mentioned in the comments earlier, the council is considering changing their mind. Shawn "Property Rights, sometimes" Hamerlinck helped pass a set of requirements having to do with the current Menards in order to rezone their future site near the intersection of Brady and 65th. At the time, there were a number of potential businesses going in out in that area, and the economy was humming right along. Now, a couple years later, things are a bit different. It appears that much of the council is willing to have an empty Menards on 53rd in exchange for a larger Menards spurring development in a new corridor and providing construction jobs. I don't know that they're wrong, but I do worry about the old Menards sitting empty for a long, long time. I can think of one possible use, but I'll do a post on that later.
Deal with city, schools creates a short-term boost for Putnam -QCTimes
This one gets pretty complicated, but the end result is the Parks and Rec department moving out of the old Davenport Museum of Art building, the Putnam giving up their claim to the building, and the Davenport Community School District preschool program moving into it from the former Eagles near the Fairgrounds. Having a school as part of the "museum campus" makes perfect sense, and in an ideal world the Putnam board can bring in some new tenants to their buildings downtown before using up the 3 year influx of money. We'll see. My main concern is with the Putnam in the future. If they do manage to turn things around and somehow have plenty of money again, where are they ever able to expand to in the future? They had always hoped to be able to expand into the former DMA building, but never had the cash. With this deal, that option goes away. I always hate to see the QC sell the future short during present difficulties. It does explain the sudden interest in the Parks department moving into the River's Edge (QCSC) building on the riverfront though. I wonder where the Community Services Division will go?
As someone mentioned in the comments earlier, the council is considering changing their mind. Shawn "Property Rights, sometimes" Hamerlinck helped pass a set of requirements having to do with the current Menards in order to rezone their future site near the intersection of Brady and 65th. At the time, there were a number of potential businesses going in out in that area, and the economy was humming right along. Now, a couple years later, things are a bit different. It appears that much of the council is willing to have an empty Menards on 53rd in exchange for a larger Menards spurring development in a new corridor and providing construction jobs. I don't know that they're wrong, but I do worry about the old Menards sitting empty for a long, long time. I can think of one possible use, but I'll do a post on that later.
Deal with city, schools creates a short-term boost for Putnam -QCTimes
This one gets pretty complicated, but the end result is the Parks and Rec department moving out of the old Davenport Museum of Art building, the Putnam giving up their claim to the building, and the Davenport Community School District preschool program moving into it from the former Eagles near the Fairgrounds. Having a school as part of the "museum campus" makes perfect sense, and in an ideal world the Putnam board can bring in some new tenants to their buildings downtown before using up the 3 year influx of money. We'll see. My main concern is with the Putnam in the future. If they do manage to turn things around and somehow have plenty of money again, where are they ever able to expand to in the future? They had always hoped to be able to expand into the former DMA building, but never had the cash. With this deal, that option goes away. I always hate to see the QC sell the future short during present difficulties. It does explain the sudden interest in the Parks department moving into the River's Edge (QCSC) building on the riverfront though. I wonder where the Community Services Division will go?
Monday, March 01, 2010
Blogging will resume shortly
I have fallen into my usual late winter slump. If I were Wundram, I would have flown off to somewhere interesting. I didn't. I should get back to normal QC-related stuff soon. First though, something completely different.
In the spirit of the just-finished Canadian Olympics, here's a video of a lady that has to be one of the neatest mayors in North America. She's 89 years old, and has been the mayor of Mississauga, Ontario for the last 31 years. I'd vote for her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY79KbCptTo
I know these widescreen YouTube videos kind of break the blog formatting, so I'll turn it into a link later today. (FIXED)
In the spirit of the just-finished Canadian Olympics, here's a video of a lady that has to be one of the neatest mayors in North America. She's 89 years old, and has been the mayor of Mississauga, Ontario for the last 31 years. I'd vote for her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY79KbCptTo
I know these widescreen YouTube videos kind of break the blog formatting, so I'll turn it into a link later today. (FIXED)
Monday, February 15, 2010
Dispatch Tax Stuff
Some people in the comments on the previous post are starting a discussion on the city's decision not to lower taxes to make up for the county's new emergency dispatch center tax. I certainly haven't denied that the county taking over taxing for dispatch services and the city not lowering their taxes is a tax increase. Its just that we've known about it for years, despite what some people are claiming.
Here's a QCTimes article from 2007 talking about how they plan to use money saved by the (2009, ha!) opening of the consolidated dispatching center to hire front desk clerks for the police station. So you can see that at least 2 and a half years ago the city knew that they were going to be keeping at least some of the tax money currently spent on dispatching.
Sometimes unpopular things are the right thing to do. The article in today's Times about the AA bond rating is really a final verdict on the unpopular stormwater fee. If the council hadn't passed that "budget-fixing fee" a few years ago, the city budget would be in far worse shape. Instead, we've gone a number of years without the threat of police layoffs that used to be an annual event. So yes, taxes and fees in Davenport have been slowly rising over the last decade, but so has the quality of life. If we can keep making Davenport a better place to live, we should start gaining enough residents to spread the future costs out over more people, and keep taxes and fees steady.
Here's a QCTimes article from 2007 talking about how they plan to use money saved by the (2009, ha!) opening of the consolidated dispatching center to hire front desk clerks for the police station. So you can see that at least 2 and a half years ago the city knew that they were going to be keeping at least some of the tax money currently spent on dispatching.
Sometimes unpopular things are the right thing to do. The article in today's Times about the AA bond rating is really a final verdict on the unpopular stormwater fee. If the council hadn't passed that "budget-fixing fee" a few years ago, the city budget would be in far worse shape. Instead, we've gone a number of years without the threat of police layoffs that used to be an annual event. So yes, taxes and fees in Davenport have been slowly rising over the last decade, but so has the quality of life. If we can keep making Davenport a better place to live, we should start gaining enough residents to spread the future costs out over more people, and keep taxes and fees steady.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Refresh the Hilltop and more riverfront meetings
A couple things about the Hilltop Campus Village.
In the paper today, the Aldi and former Walgreens on Brady will be demolished, and replaced with a larger, nicer Aldi. The one out at 53rd and Elmore certainly has a different feeling than most Aldis or Save-A-Lots that I've been in. I'm sure city staff are trying valiently to convince them to build a non-suburban style store. It didn't work with Walgreens, so we'll see if it does with Aldi.
In the "thinking outside the box" category, the Hilltop district is competing in the Pepsi Refresh Project. This project consists of a Pepsi promotion to give away millions of dollars to good causes, based on people voting for their favorites. Hilltop is asking for $25,000 to buy metal trash bins to put around the neighborhood with the Hilltop logo on them. The top 10 projects seeking $25k get the money, and right now we're 96th. You can vote each day, and the contest ends at the end of the month. Vote for Hilltop here! I've probably spent that on Pepsi over my lifetime anyway...
And the other thing is an upcoming meeting. Here's what the city has to say about it:
The Levee Improvement Commission, Davenport Parks and Recreation and the Design Center want to know your ideas for developing the East Industrial Area (along the Mississippi River just up river from the Government Bridge).
Join us on Monday, February 8th from 5 - 7 PM in the Film Room at the Main Street Library in downtown Davenport for an Open House as we kick-off the planning process.
Be a part of history!
I kind of liked the suggestion that a casino take over the Clayton House/Clarion/HoJo/eyesore property and be connected via pedestrian bridge across River Drive to a restaurant and plaza along the river. There would still be a lot of room upstream for more uses if that happened, which seems about 1% likely anyway. I plan to go to the meeting and see what's happening. These are where these things are decided, after all, not the smoky back rooms that the negative folks picture.
In the paper today, the Aldi and former Walgreens on Brady will be demolished, and replaced with a larger, nicer Aldi. The one out at 53rd and Elmore certainly has a different feeling than most Aldis or Save-A-Lots that I've been in. I'm sure city staff are trying valiently to convince them to build a non-suburban style store. It didn't work with Walgreens, so we'll see if it does with Aldi.
In the "thinking outside the box" category, the Hilltop district is competing in the Pepsi Refresh Project. This project consists of a Pepsi promotion to give away millions of dollars to good causes, based on people voting for their favorites. Hilltop is asking for $25,000 to buy metal trash bins to put around the neighborhood with the Hilltop logo on them. The top 10 projects seeking $25k get the money, and right now we're 96th. You can vote each day, and the contest ends at the end of the month. Vote for Hilltop here! I've probably spent that on Pepsi over my lifetime anyway...
And the other thing is an upcoming meeting. Here's what the city has to say about it:
The Levee Improvement Commission, Davenport Parks and Recreation and the Design Center want to know your ideas for developing the East Industrial Area (along the Mississippi River just up river from the Government Bridge).
Join us on Monday, February 8th from 5 - 7 PM in the Film Room at the Main Street Library in downtown Davenport for an Open House as we kick-off the planning process.
Be a part of history!
I kind of liked the suggestion that a casino take over the Clayton House/Clarion/HoJo/eyesore property and be connected via pedestrian bridge across River Drive to a restaurant and plaza along the river. There would still be a lot of room upstream for more uses if that happened, which seems about 1% likely anyway. I plan to go to the meeting and see what's happening. These are where these things are decided, after all, not the smoky back rooms that the negative folks picture.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Anti-Bettendorf Rant
The thing that got me thinking about this again was this QCTimes editorial about the QC Sports Center, believe it or not. What really got my goat was this 15+ year old quote:
Yes... each city provides things that benefit the QC as a whole. Or at least, that's how it should work. In reality, what does Bettendorf bring to the table? I count a total of one QC-wide amenity, which is the Family Museum. I'm not talking things like libraries and parks, which all of the QCs provide, but metro-wide amenities like the Figge, Botanical Center, or iWireless Center.
Bettendorf is around 1/3rd the size of Davenport, and 3/4 the size of each of the cities of Rock Island and Moline. Does anyone believe that Bettendorf provides 1/3rd as many QC amenities as Davenport, or 3/4 as many of the amenities as Rock Island or Moline provide? This doesn't stop them from using all of the culture and amenities that the QC has to offer to market to and attract residents to Bettendorf, of course.
Then there's the additional factor of Bettendorf having a meager fire department and relying on Davenport's help for anything larger than a dumpster fire. I'd imagine it would also cost Bettendorf quite a bit to build their own Sewer Treatment Plant rather than using Davenport's. So they take advantage of these things provided to them by their larger neighbor, which allows them to keep their taxes low, which they then use as a selling point when luring away Davenport's residents.
I suppose the main thing that bothers me is that Bettendorf is essentially leeching off of Davenport. Their "Premiere" city could not keep its taxes low and provide the quality of life that many of its citizens want without Davenport. Yet on the other side of the coin, Davenport would actually be in much better shape without Bettendorf siphoning off Davenport's wealthier citizens and potential residents.
Bettendorf wouldn't be as good without Davenport.
Davenport would be better without Bettendorf.
Maybe they should change the name of their tiny riverfront recreation area to Leech Park.
“Where do we draw the line?” former Bettendorf alderman Joe Douglas said in a 1994 council meeting. “I’m not sure we should be bankrolling the facility. There are many types of projects that benefit the Quad-Cities as a whole. Each city funds these projects on their own without funding from other cities.”
Yes... each city provides things that benefit the QC as a whole. Or at least, that's how it should work. In reality, what does Bettendorf bring to the table? I count a total of one QC-wide amenity, which is the Family Museum. I'm not talking things like libraries and parks, which all of the QCs provide, but metro-wide amenities like the Figge, Botanical Center, or iWireless Center.
Bettendorf is around 1/3rd the size of Davenport, and 3/4 the size of each of the cities of Rock Island and Moline. Does anyone believe that Bettendorf provides 1/3rd as many QC amenities as Davenport, or 3/4 as many of the amenities as Rock Island or Moline provide? This doesn't stop them from using all of the culture and amenities that the QC has to offer to market to and attract residents to Bettendorf, of course.
Then there's the additional factor of Bettendorf having a meager fire department and relying on Davenport's help for anything larger than a dumpster fire. I'd imagine it would also cost Bettendorf quite a bit to build their own Sewer Treatment Plant rather than using Davenport's. So they take advantage of these things provided to them by their larger neighbor, which allows them to keep their taxes low, which they then use as a selling point when luring away Davenport's residents.
I suppose the main thing that bothers me is that Bettendorf is essentially leeching off of Davenport. Their "Premiere" city could not keep its taxes low and provide the quality of life that many of its citizens want without Davenport. Yet on the other side of the coin, Davenport would actually be in much better shape without Bettendorf siphoning off Davenport's wealthier citizens and potential residents.
Bettendorf wouldn't be as good without Davenport.
Davenport would be better without Bettendorf.
Maybe they should change the name of their tiny riverfront recreation area to Leech Park.
Friday, January 22, 2010
2 Links Open Thread
A couple quick things this morning:
As the blurb in the QCTimes mentioned, the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau has redone their website again. It looks really good and has a ton of great info, but my favorite part is the "Ask a question" section where you can type in a question about the QC and they do their best to answer it. There's also an archive of some of the questions asked, and their answers. Its always interesting to see what outsiders want to know about the Quad Cities.
The other thing is the new Facebook page for the Hilltop Campus Village. There's alsoa website, but its in its very early stages and still being worked on. So if you're on Facebook, and support the Hilltop area of Davenport, please become a fan.
Other than that, open thread.
As the blurb in the QCTimes mentioned, the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau has redone their website again. It looks really good and has a ton of great info, but my favorite part is the "Ask a question" section where you can type in a question about the QC and they do their best to answer it. There's also an archive of some of the questions asked, and their answers. Its always interesting to see what outsiders want to know about the Quad Cities.
The other thing is the new Facebook page for the Hilltop Campus Village. There's alsoa website, but its in its very early stages and still being worked on. So if you're on Facebook, and support the Hilltop area of Davenport, please become a fan.
Other than that, open thread.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
A few more downtown images
The Blackhawk Hotel renovation is coming along, including all new windows. Anyone know whether they're going to stay white or be painted?
The new 7th Judicial District building towering over the current one, and downtown's (relatively) new Crescent Cleaners location.
I've always loved both the law offices just east of Brady, and this huge residence on East 6th Street. Hopefully with Palmer's growth, the Crescent Warehouse District, and the CityView nearby, this neighborhood just north of downtown can really take off as well. There are certainly plenty of potential infill locations. I've already heard a rumor of a new eating establishment coming to Brady.
A different view of downtown, mostly featuring the Blackhawk and MidAmerican buildings.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Forrest Block Progress!
Never have I been so happy to see a building get boarded up. Its not usually a step forward, but in this case it takes the Forrest Block building from bombed out post-WWII Germany to merely 2000's Detroit abandoned building. Now the building is at least shielded from the elements, and hopefully real progress will start being made. I took a few more pictures this morning, but I'll save those images for tomorrow.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
2010 New Year's Wish Lists
Over the years I've been writing this blog, I've occasionally come out with a list of New Year's wishes for the Quad Cities. Other years I intended to, but never got it done. For reference, here are 2006 and 2008's wish lists. Apparently this is an even year tradition. So, here we go with the 2010 Quad City Images New Year's Wish List. In the past I've done a small number of more ambitious wishes, so this year I'm going to change it up and do a list of things, both probable and improbable.
In no particular order:
-WIU QC's riverfront campus makes good progress
-Amtrak to the QC begins construction
-The Forrest Block stays on track the rest of the way out
-Downtown Moline's Kone Centre begins construction
-Davenport finds a new casino operator willing to invest in downtown
-The Blackhawk Hotel continues its redevelopment into one of the highlights of downtown Davenport
-A new mixed-use building is announced for downtown Davenport
-Another major downtown residential renovation somewhere in the QC
-Continued progress on Prairie Heights, including the new library
-A (relatively) problem free construction season for the sewer tunnel
-Davenport and the QC surprise many with a big 2010 census population increase
-More money comes in for the new I-74 bridge
-A new employer brings 500+ new jobs to the metro area
-The (slightly) new council continues being professional and productive
-All this snow doesn't cause major spring flooding
-A continuing decrease in crime
-Non-stop flights to Phoenix from QCI Airport
-Dave and Busters comes to the QC! (unlikely)
-Davenport and Rock Island host a riverfront New Year's part for 2011
-Calm and logical debate about Davenport's one way street decisions
-No more big layoffs or closings
-Better marketing and positive national exposure for the Quad Cities
-That I don't take a month off from blogging next year!
That's it for this year. If I missed anything major I'll add it later. Feel free to add your own wish lists in the comments.
In no particular order:
-WIU QC's riverfront campus makes good progress
-Amtrak to the QC begins construction
-The Forrest Block stays on track the rest of the way out
-Downtown Moline's Kone Centre begins construction
-Davenport finds a new casino operator willing to invest in downtown
-The Blackhawk Hotel continues its redevelopment into one of the highlights of downtown Davenport
-A new mixed-use building is announced for downtown Davenport
-Another major downtown residential renovation somewhere in the QC
-Continued progress on Prairie Heights, including the new library
-A (relatively) problem free construction season for the sewer tunnel
-Davenport and the QC surprise many with a big 2010 census population increase
-More money comes in for the new I-74 bridge
-A new employer brings 500+ new jobs to the metro area
-The (slightly) new council continues being professional and productive
-All this snow doesn't cause major spring flooding
-A continuing decrease in crime
-Non-stop flights to Phoenix from QCI Airport
-Dave and Busters comes to the QC! (unlikely)
-Davenport and Rock Island host a riverfront New Year's part for 2011
-Calm and logical debate about Davenport's one way street decisions
-No more big layoffs or closings
-Better marketing and positive national exposure for the Quad Cities
-That I don't take a month off from blogging next year!
That's it for this year. If I missed anything major I'll add it later. Feel free to add your own wish lists in the comments.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Old News: River Gulf, Blackhawk, Farmers Market
There were a few things I wanted to say about some news that happened over the last few weeks, so here goes:
River Gulf says latest extension will be the last -QCTimes
This debate definitely has two sides. On one hand, the River Gulf operation is certainly an eyesore, and like many of the late Bernie Goldstein's operations, it seems to enjoy screwing over the city of Davenport. The city owns the land, yet the property rights folks aren't coming out in droves to argue with people saying the city has no business not renewing their lease! Its almost like they only believe in that stuff when it suits them...
Anyway, on the other side you have the fact that Davenport only developed in the first place because of riverfront industry. I actually wrote a letter to the editor years ago defending the idea of industry on the riverfront unless Davenport had a better use in mind. The annoying harping by the biased QCTimes isn't helping either. The thing I find most humorous about the QCTimes complaining, is that I can imagine a situation where 10 years down the line their building is the ugliest thing within 10 blocks and all the new downtown residents start asking why they need this newspaper warehouse taking up prime land so near the riverfront.
So now it seems that Davenport officials actually are trying to redevelop the east fringe of downtown, so there's a little more reason for River Gulf to get the boot. The Levee Commission was picked by our elected officials to make these kinds of decisions, and if they do anything too crazy, those that appointed them will not be reelected. River Gulf has been anything but honorable or cooperative in this entire process, so I've lost a lot of sympathy for their plight. I just hope that come next spring they don't trot out another tired reason that their move is behind schedule (spring floods, anyone?) and try to extend their lease yet again.
Davenport Club returns — sort of -QCTimes
I was very happy to read this article. Everything I had been reading about the Blackhawk restoration made it sound like the top floor would be used for apartments. I was hoping it could still be some kind of restaurant, and now it sounds like that will be the case after all. Just like many older people have memories of the Davenport Club, I have memories of my Senior Prom dinner at High Notes, which was the later, public incarnation of the Davenport Club. Even though a lot of the view is blocked by the MidAmerican Building, I'm still glad that this neat space will be a public space rather than apartments. I would hope that they'll keep the glass elevator as well. This project is going to be a huge thing for downtown Davenport.
Farmer's market request space on riverfront -QCTimes
This one is pretty funny. The childish folks that run the Mall Parking Lot Farmer's Market want to come back to the riverfront. They refused to even be adjacent to the Freight House Farmer's Market because they don't follow the same rules about where vendors can get their food. So they moved to the mall, which is pretty much the exact opposite entity from a Farmer's Market in the first place. While the Freight House Farmer's Market was more successful than ever this summer, the Mall Parking Lot Market... wasn't.
I would compare this a bunch of kids playing basketball. Three of the kids decide they don't like the rules being used, so they storm off to play X-Box instead. They look out the window and see that the game they've left looks fun, and has lots of spectators now. They head out to play again, but instead of owning up to their mistake and asking to rejoin the game, they start a game of 2-on-1 on the next court over, which everyone ignores. The folks who were too snobby to even be near the Freight House folks need to swallow their pride, and merge with the Freight House Farmer's Market. Downtown and the riverfront doesn't need a 2nd farmer's market causing the same parking traffic-vs-pedestrian problems that started all of these changes in the first place.
River Gulf says latest extension will be the last -QCTimes
This debate definitely has two sides. On one hand, the River Gulf operation is certainly an eyesore, and like many of the late Bernie Goldstein's operations, it seems to enjoy screwing over the city of Davenport. The city owns the land, yet the property rights folks aren't coming out in droves to argue with people saying the city has no business not renewing their lease! Its almost like they only believe in that stuff when it suits them...
Anyway, on the other side you have the fact that Davenport only developed in the first place because of riverfront industry. I actually wrote a letter to the editor years ago defending the idea of industry on the riverfront unless Davenport had a better use in mind. The annoying harping by the biased QCTimes isn't helping either. The thing I find most humorous about the QCTimes complaining, is that I can imagine a situation where 10 years down the line their building is the ugliest thing within 10 blocks and all the new downtown residents start asking why they need this newspaper warehouse taking up prime land so near the riverfront.
So now it seems that Davenport officials actually are trying to redevelop the east fringe of downtown, so there's a little more reason for River Gulf to get the boot. The Levee Commission was picked by our elected officials to make these kinds of decisions, and if they do anything too crazy, those that appointed them will not be reelected. River Gulf has been anything but honorable or cooperative in this entire process, so I've lost a lot of sympathy for their plight. I just hope that come next spring they don't trot out another tired reason that their move is behind schedule (spring floods, anyone?) and try to extend their lease yet again.
Davenport Club returns — sort of -QCTimes
I was very happy to read this article. Everything I had been reading about the Blackhawk restoration made it sound like the top floor would be used for apartments. I was hoping it could still be some kind of restaurant, and now it sounds like that will be the case after all. Just like many older people have memories of the Davenport Club, I have memories of my Senior Prom dinner at High Notes, which was the later, public incarnation of the Davenport Club. Even though a lot of the view is blocked by the MidAmerican Building, I'm still glad that this neat space will be a public space rather than apartments. I would hope that they'll keep the glass elevator as well. This project is going to be a huge thing for downtown Davenport.
Farmer's market request space on riverfront -QCTimes
This one is pretty funny. The childish folks that run the Mall Parking Lot Farmer's Market want to come back to the riverfront. They refused to even be adjacent to the Freight House Farmer's Market because they don't follow the same rules about where vendors can get their food. So they moved to the mall, which is pretty much the exact opposite entity from a Farmer's Market in the first place. While the Freight House Farmer's Market was more successful than ever this summer, the Mall Parking Lot Market... wasn't.
I would compare this a bunch of kids playing basketball. Three of the kids decide they don't like the rules being used, so they storm off to play X-Box instead. They look out the window and see that the game they've left looks fun, and has lots of spectators now. They head out to play again, but instead of owning up to their mistake and asking to rejoin the game, they start a game of 2-on-1 on the next court over, which everyone ignores. The folks who were too snobby to even be near the Freight House folks need to swallow their pride, and merge with the Freight House Farmer's Market. Downtown and the riverfront doesn't need a 2nd farmer's market causing the same parking traffic-vs-pedestrian problems that started all of these changes in the first place.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Snow Day Open Thread
Even though the weather and roads in town aren't too bad, kids mostly get the day off today. It sounds like things out in the country are getting pretty crazy.
Here are a few images from Vander Veer Park this morning:
Here are a few images from Vander Veer Park this morning:
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Eleventy Billion Jobs to Bettendorf: Just sign here!
We have a new winner in the category of "Most ridiculously overblown development hyping":
Advocates ask Bettendorf to invest $4.3 M in I-80 development -QCTimes
This relegates the previous champion of great expectations , former Alderwoman Howard's claim that the Freight House Farmer's Market would create $50+ million in surrounding development, to a distant second place.
Niky Bowles's "best development ever" is sadly knocked down to third place.
Advocates ask Bettendorf to invest $4.3 M in I-80 development -QCTimes
"Seeing an opportunity to create thousands of new jobs, millions of square feet of office and retail space and as many as 10,000 new housing units, the Bettendorf Development Corporation has agreed to ante up $500,000 to expand water and sewer lines to Interstate 80 and Middle Road if the city invests $4.3 million in the project.
Rob Fick, president of the private, non-profit community development organization, and developer Kevin Kellner, who also is a member of the group, told the Bettendorf City Council it is essential to invest a total of $6.8 million worth of improvements to attract high-tech companies in economic sectors such as insurance, health care, finance, multi-nationals and graphic production.
Van Dyke said the project is ripe for grant money because it will create up to 16,500 new office jobs. “The whole crisis with the state is about income tax. Creating new employment creates income tax and helps solve the problem.”I wonder why they stopped at 16,500 jobs? Were 17,000 or 20,000 just too silly? And 10,000 new housing units also seems like a lowball estimate. Surely if all of these acres were covered by 60 story buildings they could fit way more jobs and residential units in than that. After all, the location has such a beautiful view of... nothing, and quick access to the same interstate that every other business/commerce park in the Iowa QC already offers... All it takes a little sprucing up and multinationals will be beating down Bettendorf's door.
This relegates the previous champion of great expectations , former Alderwoman Howard's claim that the Freight House Farmer's Market would create $50+ million in surrounding development, to a distant second place.
Niky Bowles's "best development ever" is sadly knocked down to third place.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Black and Blue Saturday? Not in the QC
While the surplus commercial materialism of "Black Friday" can be over the top at times, I've always looked at the sales as an adventure. Since I'm normally awake all night anyway its no big deal to go out at 5:30 in the morning. Sam's has their free breakfast, although they ran out way too early this year, and there are usually some good deals on DVDs and such. Target had a great deal on LED Christmas lights, but they really need to figure out a better way to get people through the checkout lanes there. The good thing is that I didn't see any fighting, yelling, or any of the other stuff you always hear about in relation to yesterday's events. People in line at Target were talking about where they found various items, which lines were fastest, and random chit chat. I wasn't out for any store openings, so maybe that's where all the trouble is. By the time we stopped by Wal Mart they were out of about everything from their ad, and the store was practically empty.So whether I wasn't out at the right time to see it, or if there just wasn't any, I certainly didn't see any trouble between our fellow Quad Citians during the shopping madness. I haven't read much in the national news about any incidents, so hopefully people have learned to take a more relaxed attitude towards Christmas shopping. Its the only way to have a good time.
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