Cedar Rapids, IA
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 (32 km) north of Iowa City and 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. It is a part of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor of Linn, Benton, Cedar, Jones, Johnson, and Washington counties. Until massive flooding in 2008, the city's 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, Orchestra Iowa, Theatre Cedar Rapids, the African-American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa, the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance. Cedar Rapids is an economic hub of the state, located in the core of the Interstate 380. 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 Landon Cassill, Ryan Sweeney, Trent Green, Zach Johnson, and Kurt Warner, as well as Mark Walter, co-owner and chairman of baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. The city is also the setting for the 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.
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 (32 km) north of Iowa City and 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. It is a part of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor of Linn, Benton, Cedar, Jones, Johnson, and Washington counties. Until massive flooding in 2008, the city's 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, Orchestra Iowa, Theatre Cedar Rapids, the African-American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa, the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance. Cedar Rapids is an economic hub of the state, located in the core of the Interstate 380. 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 Landon Cassill, Ryan Sweeney, Trent Green, Zach Johnson, and Kurt Warner, as well as Mark Walter, co-owner and chairman of baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. The city is also the setting for the 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.
