Welcome to the Discover The Corridor blog!
There are a number of great Web sites that describe various aspects of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor – but we noticed there wasn’t a central place to tell our story so people could really get a feel for what it’s like to live here, work here, and raise a family here.
This is an amazing place. You know it. I know it. Help us tell the world about it! Submit your articles, photos, ideas, youtube videos, and whatever else you have that will help us tell the “Corridor is Awesome” story to: discoverthecorridor@gmail.com.
Special thanks to Andrea Skeries for the awesome picture of downtown Cedar Rapids!
Discover The Corridor Blog 
Hats off for this initiative. I moved to Cedar Rapids from the Twin Cities 15 years ago — with no intention of staying that long. I have spent a lot of time on the east coast, the west coast, and most major metro markets in between. Upon return from a recent conference in Chicago (a city I still love to visit) it dawned on me that Cedar Rapids is truly “home.” My parking downtown was $45 a day; here it runs 50 cents an hour … at most, $5 a day. When I fly, I am 15 minutes from home; airport parking is $5 a day in long-term, $7 a day in short-term. Heavy traffic means you missed a light change — or that the Hawkeyes are playing in Iowa City. But it is not all about economy and affordability. It is all about the fifth season — the time to enjoy. While “The City of Five Seasons” may not connect the first time, it is intended to motivate a conversation — which it does. While the funding was never provided to give this statement the backing and acceptance it deserves, it summarizes a very special, uniquely undescribable difference between Cedar Rapids and larger cities with “more things to do.” My experience is if you are bored in the Corridor, you are probably a boring person. There is more than enough to do to keep busy and energized. Some describe Cedar Rapids as “change resistant” — yet we have a new City Manager who is all about change — and change is happening. I wish I had raised my kids here. Nothing against the bigger cities, but I know I would have seen more of them and been able to participate in more of their activities — which is the way it should be.
I have a question – do people understand what the meaning of the “corridor” is? I think it is more of a B2B term and very confusing for consumers.
Just wondering – I was having this discussion with some co-workers and it was an interesting discussion.
Either way – nice site. Keep up the positive promotion.
Great question, tomaltman. I spent a couple years working at the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, so the term is like second nature to me. I do think it started as a way to promote the area to potential business prospects, to encourage economic growth. I know it began as the “Technology Corridor” because so many technology companies and start-ups were coming to the area. I do know that technically Cedar Rapids and Iowa City act as one MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area), so in some ways there is no divide between the two. I knew the term had taken hold when The Gazette added to their masthead “An Independent newspaper in Iowa’s Technology Corridor.” It’s there – check it out!
Great question though – I encourage the discussion. I’ll try to see if I can get someone to blog on how the term was coined and why, and how they try to promote it…and who ‘they’ are….:)