The Quad Cities, and a special Guest

Ex-Ithacan · #1 Posted **May 22, 2013, 1:21 AM**

I have visited the Quad cities before, but spent more time and did a bit more exploration. The current Quad city metro include Davenport and Bettendorf on the Iowa side, and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline on the Illinois side. Yes, there are five, but after Bettendorf went through a growth spurt, it was added and the locals decided against changing the Quad Cities moniker. The metro population is 381,000.

I neglected visiting Bettendorf (not much in the way of an urban core as I recall), and East Moline (just kind of ran out of time ..... and energy).
I also stuck to the downtown areas.

Let's start with Moline, Illinois (pop ~ 44,000). I took most of these pics on a Saturday evening, and some on a Sunday morning.

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Moline, IL 02 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 03 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 05 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 06 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 07 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 09 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 10 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 11 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 12 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 14 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 15 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 16 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 19 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 20 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 21 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 22 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 23 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 24 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 25 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 26 by exithacan, on Flickr

The big blue machine is a pump to empty water out of the basement of the building on the left. More on the flood later.
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Moline, IL 27 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 29 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Moline, IL 30 by exithacan, on Flickr

The old train station.
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Moline, IL 31 by exithacan, on Flickr

The tallest downtown building(it's going to be torn down).
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Moline, IL 32 by exithacan, on Flickr

Rock Island, Illinois (pop ~ 39,000). These pics are from a Sunday afternoon. A special guest makes an appearance.

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Rock Island, IL 01 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 02 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 03 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 04 by exithacan, on Flickr

We'll see these fellas again.
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Rock Island, IL 05 by exithacan, on Flickr

Davenport in the distance.
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Rock Island, IL 07 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 08 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 09 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 10 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 06 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 12 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 15 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 16 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 13 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 17 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 18 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 19 by exithacan, on Flickr

Davenport, we'll be there soon.
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Rock Island, IL 21 by exithacan, on Flickr

The Mississippi getting high.
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Rock Island, IL 22 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 23 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 24 by exithacan, on Flickr

A grumpy old man (That's how he's listed in the phone book

) I ran into while strolling through the town.
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Rock Island, IL 26 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 27 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 28 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 11 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Rock Island, IL 20 by exithacan, on Flickr

*** As you may have guessed, that rascal from pic #22 was rockyi. If you're ever in the Quad Cities, he's a great guide (and a great guy).

Lastly, Davenport, Iowa (pop~100,000) The biggest of the cities, and undergoing a nice transformation. Unfortunately, the flooding kind of put a damper on my visit. But here's some pics anyway.

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Davenport, IA 01 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 02 by exithacan, on Flickr

Rock Island Arsenal
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Davenport, IA 13 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 15 by exithacan, on Flickr

Elevator structure which took us to a skywalk going out to the river.
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Davenport, IA 05 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 06 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 07 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 12 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 08 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 11 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 09 by exithacan, on Flickr

The green grass in the distance is a berm which saved the minor league ballpark from flooding.
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Davenport, IA 10 by exithacan, on Flickr

Art Museum
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Davenport, IA 03 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 04 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 17 by exithacan, on Flickr

rockyi took me to a grand old hotel which has undergone a renovation. We tried to steal a brunch, but couldn't pull it off.
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Davenport, IA 19 by exithacan, on Flickr

We eventuall got kicked out for giving the band a bunch of crap for not playing some Kraftwerk.
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Davenport, IA 21 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 16 by exithacan, on Flickr

A building where rock use to work.
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Davenport, IA 16 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 27 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 14 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 25 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 23 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 18 by exithacan, on Flickr

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Davenport, IA 24 by exithacan, on Flickr

Thanks to rockyi for his hospitality and tour.

btw, here's a shot of the interstate going south around the Quad Cities:

Galesburg, IL 01 by exithacan, on Flickr

Hope you enjoyed.

kcexpress69 · #2 Posted **May 22, 2013, 1:53 AM**

Very nice!! I visited the Quad cities back in 02..long before I started taking pictures. I Enjoyed the visit, and got to go to each of the cities. Davenport is the only city that doesn't have a levee to protect it, so I guess every once in awhile it's gonna take a hit. Rock Island seemed run down at the time, but it looks as if quite a bit of activity has been going on to spruce the CBD. Hopefully it's on it's way back. Molene is looking pretty nice..especially with the new Kona building. I agree with you about Bettendorf. Not much to see. And like you, I never made it to East Molene. Enjoying your Iowa tour!!

rockyi · #3 Posted **May 22, 2013, 2:18 AM**

Beeeeeautiful photos Ex. It's greened up very nicely since your visit (it's been exactly one month today) and the river is back in it's banks. I really enjoyed meeting you and after being a member at SSP for 10 years it's about time I met one of yous guys.

Ex-Ithacan · #4 Posted **May 22, 2013, 2:22 AM**

Yep, us oldsters gotta stick together and keep the youngins in line.

Thanks again.

@ kc - that's about it for the Iowa cities. But there is more to come.

rockyi · #5 Posted **May 22, 2013, 2:47 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcexpress69

Very nice!! I visited the Quad cities back in 02..long before I started taking pictures. I Enjoyed the visit, and got to go to each of the cities. Davenport is the only city that doesn't have a levee to protect it, so I guess every once in awhile it's gonna take a hit. Rock Island seemed run down at the time, but it looks as if quite a bit of activity has been going on to spruce the CBD. Hopefully it's on it's way back. Molene is looking pretty nice..especially with the new Kona building. I agree with you about Bettendorf. Not much to see. And like you, I never made it to East Molene. Enjoying your Iowa tour!!

Every few years or so when we get these "floods" there is a small but vocal minority screaming to build a floodwall in D.T. Davenport. Contrary to what these photos might show, Davenport doesn't need one, in fact they have already done the right thing by clearing most of the structures in the floodplain. (there wasn't much worth saving anyway) and filled it with green space, and like Tom said, the ballpark is protected with a berm so with a temporary walkway built for this situation, the games still went on. Now they don't have the expense of keeping a floodwall maintained year after year plus they have gotten so efficient with clean up that this years flood cleanup only less than $200,000. Plus a floodwall up here would only reek havoc on towns downstream. Even in the worst floods only 1% or 2% of the city is affected. I think the media stirs things up when they show images and make it seem like the whole city is under water.

Rock Island and Moline are cleaning up nicely and filling empty storefronts. Almost all of the multi storied buildings Tom photographed in all three towns are already converted or being converted to lofts and apartments. The downtown living trend has been welcomed here big time, in fact they can't rehab them fast enough and there's a waiting list for units in all three towns. Davenport alone, which only 10 years ago had mostly homeless folk living downtown, now has a D.T. population of 2000+.

You're correct about Bettendorf and East Moline. Bettendorf is home to many upper middle class and wealthy folks who ignored their formerly industrial riverfront but currently they are razing most of it to make way for the new Mississippi River bridge to be built anywhere between 2014 and 2016. East Molines downtown has a multi million dollar project to be built on it's riverfront but until then its pretty sad and rusty down there.

rockyi · #6 Posted **May 22, 2013, 3:01 AM**

....HEHE, I just caught the remark about Kraftwerk.

ColDayMan · #7 Posted **May 22, 2013, 3:53 AM**

Great stuff!

Lipani · #8 Posted **May 22, 2013, 3:59 AM**

Sweet, Ex! I've been waiting for this thread since you talked about visiting rockyi.

Gotta love how much character these smaller Midwestern cities have. I remember being quite fond of the Quad Cities when I visited in 2003.

Ex-Ithacan · #9 Posted **May 22, 2013, 1:09 PM**

Thanks CDM & Lip.

llamaorama · #10 Posted **May 23, 2013, 2:38 AM**

I guess in reality the area along the river must flood frequently so everything down there is meant to be inundated. Like parks and parking lots?

This is going to seem like a strange comment, but...is that a still operating Bennigan's restaurant? Weird. I thought those all bit the dust.

rockyi · #11 Posted **May 23, 2013, 2:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by llamaorama

I guess in reality the area along the river must flood frequently so everything down there is meant to be inundated. Like parks and parking lots?

This is going to seem like a strange comment, but...is that a still operating Bennigan's restaurant? Weird. I thought those all bit the dust.

Yeah, they try to keep areas like parking lots and parks along the river.....easily cleaned up after a flood..... And a few Bennigans were privately owned and still in operation. We have two in the area. The food is still greasy, heavy and loaded with sodium.

deja vu · #12 Posted **May 23, 2013, 4:43 AM**

Nice job. You covered a lot of ground!

rockyi · #13 Posted **May 23, 2013, 9:54 PM**

^He moves pretty fast.

mobyhead · #14 Posted **May 26, 2013, 3:12 PM**

So much water! When I was stationed in Omaha I was told that Iowa stood for Idiots Out Wandering Around. Great tour!

vid · #15 Posted **May 26, 2013, 3:48 PM**

Looks like Thunder Bay, but bigger.

Or like Winnipeg, but smaller.

I bet it's fun going up these stairs in winter!

rockyi · #16 Posted **May 27, 2013, 2:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobyhead

So much water! When I was stationed in Omaha [IBI was told that Iowa stood for Idiots Out Wandering Around[/B]. Great tour!

That's what people from Minnesota always say.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vid

Looks like Thunder Bay, but bigger.

Or like Winnipeg, but smaller.

I bet it's fun going up these stairs in winter!

But it's probably a blast watching people carry up groceries when they're covered with ice.

Thundertubs · #17 Posted **May 27, 2013, 3:31 PM**

Nice tour. Count me as a fan of the QC's. I like Davenport in particular.

Wheelingman04 · #18 Posted **May 31, 2013, 6:32 PM**

Those cities are in much better shape than I would have figured. It gives me more hope for my Rustbelt friends over east in Ohio, WV and PA.

QuadCityImages · #19 Posted **Jul 23, 2013, 12:56 AM**

Good to see a big ol' QC photo thread again. Good job guys.