4 ms·

Surprised to see Cedar Rapids, IA on the list. I grew up in the area and it was not very appealing to stay in the area. Growing up, everybody's parents worked a

Surprised to see Cedar Rapids, IA on the list. I grew up in the area and it was not very appealing to stay in the area. Growing up, everybody's parents worked at Rockwell Collins, and not many of my peers had intentions of staying in the area. Few did. In the last few years I have noticed changes around the city. Some big investments downtown, new developments for commercial and shopping space, etc. I doubt Cedar Rapids would have been on the list if it it wasn't for the 2008 flood. Nothing could get done at a city level because people were always against it for some reason or another. It was a kick in the pants city wide to get stuff done. Rockwell, the largest employer in the city, has always had a tough time recruiting. Perhaps it will be easier for them to get young talent in the coming years?

FLUX-YOU 9y ago
>In the last few years I have noticed changes around the city. Some big investments downtown, new developments for commercial and shopping space, etc. I guess investors have the big cities' real estate markets locked down. Now they're trying the same gentrification game in small towns to get rents raised?
- wbl 9y ago
  The people who raise rents ard the ones who limit the supply of housing.
humanrebar 9y ago
> Perhaps it will be easier for them to get young talent in the coming years? Dunno what kind of work happens up in Cedar Rapids, but it's a lifestyle sacrifice to be unplugged from the internet and mobile communication during work hours. If a significant portion of the work up there happens in secret labs, they'll absolutely have problems recruiting millenials. Especially software engineers, who benefit from online language references, stack overflow, etc.
- froindt 9y ago
  Rockwell has a split of commercial and government. No idea on the distribution of levels of confidentiality on the government work, but I definitely agree that a lack of access to online reference materials would a hard pass for many engineers. I know they do lots with GPS and flight displays. Beyond Rockwell, much of the city is employed by grain processing. Cargill, Penford (it has a new name now, don't know it), general mills, quaker oats, and Conagra all have large factories in the city.
yeldarb 9y ago
NewBoCo[1] is doing some awesome stuff in Cedar Rapids. They’ve got a startup accelerator, a code school, a coworking space, and run lots of great events. [1] https://newbo.co https://newbo.co
- froindt 9y ago
  That was one of the developments I had in mind, along with lots of revitalization on the northeast side. That's on the far other side of town compared to where my parents live, but we still head out to the NewBo market a couple times per year.

FLUX-YOU 9y ago

>In the last few years I have noticed changes around the city. Some big investments downtown, new developments for commercial and shopping space, etc. I guess investors have the big cities' real estate markets locked down. Now they're trying the same gentrification game in small towns to get rents raised?

wbl 9y ago
The people who raise rents ard the ones who limit the supply of housing.

humanrebar 9y ago

> Perhaps it will be easier for them to get young talent in the coming years? Dunno what kind of work happens up in Cedar Rapids, but it's a lifestyle sacrifice to be unplugged from the internet and mobile communication during work hours. If a significant portion of the work up there happens in secret labs, they'll absolutely have problems recruiting millenials. Especially software engineers, who benefit from online language references, stack overflow, etc.

froindt 9y ago
Rockwell has a split of commercial and government. No idea on the distribution of levels of confidentiality on the government work, but I definitely agree that a lack of access to online reference materials would a hard pass for many engineers. I know they do lots with GPS and flight displays. Beyond Rockwell, much of the city is employed by grain processing. Cargill, Penford (it has a new name now, don't know it), general mills, quaker oats, and Conagra all have large factories in the city.

yeldarb 9y ago

NewBoCo[1] is doing some awesome stuff in Cedar Rapids. They’ve got a startup accelerator, a code school, a coworking space, and run lots of great events. [1] https://newbo.co https://newbo.co

froindt 9y ago
That was one of the developments I had in mind, along with lots of revitalization on the northeast side. That's on the far other side of town compared to where my parents live, but we still head out to the NewBo market a couple times per year.