Davenport

Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a combined statistical area population of 474,019. The city was founded on May 14, 1836, by Antoine Le Claire and was named for his friend George Davenport, a former English sailor who served in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. Notable people from the city have included jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Susan Glaspell, former National Football League running back Roger Craig, UFC Welterweight Champion Pat Miletich, IBF Middleweight and WBA Super Middleweight boxing champion Michael Nunn, and former two-time WWE Champion and WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins. Three interstates (80, 74 and 280) and two major United States Highways serve the city. There are two main universities: St. Ambrose University and Palmer College of Chiropractic, where the first chiropractic adjustment took place. An internationally known 7-mile (11 km) foot race, called the Bix 7, is run during the festival. Daven port has 50 plus parks and facilities, as well as more than 20 miles (32 km) of recreational paths for biking or walking. It has a Class A minor-league baseball team, the Quad cities River Bandits.

History

The land was originally owned by the historic Sauk people, Meskwaki (Fox), and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Native American tribes. France laid claim to this territory as part of its New France and Illinois Country in the 18th century. After losing to Great Britain in the Seven Years' War, France ceded its territory east of the Mississippi River to the victor, but retained lands to the west. The United States government concluded the Black Hawk Purchase, sometimes called the Forty-Mile Strip or Scott's Purchase, by which the US acquired lands in what is now eastern Iowa. The purchase was made for $640,000 on September 21, 1832, and contained an area of some 6 million acres (24,000 km²), at a price equivalent to 11 cents/acre ($26/km²). Although named after the defeated chief Black Hawk, he was being held prisoner by the US. Sauk chief Keokuk, who had remained neutral in the war, signed off on the purchase. It was made on the site of present-day Davenport. The city was incorporated on January 25, 1839. The Rock Island Railroad built the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi river in 1856. This railway connection resulted in significant improvements to transportation and commerce with Chicago, a booming 19th-century city. On May 6, 1856, just weeks after the bridge was completed, a steamboat captain deliberately crashed into the bridge. The owner of the Effie Aon Aon Company, John Hurd, filed a lawsuit against the railroad company. The decision of the United States Supreme Court upheld the right to remain in Iowa.

Geography

Davenport is located on the banks of the Mississippi River. It is the largest city bordering the Mississippi that has no permanent flood wall or levee. Residents prefer to maintain open access to the river for parks and vistas rather than have it cut off by dikes and levees. The streets of the city, especially downtown and in the central part of the town, follow a grid design. Davenport has several neighborhoods dating back to the 1840s. The city can be divided into five areas: downtown, central, east, north and west, near north and northwest, and end, near the river. January is on average the coldest month, while July is the warmest. The highest temperature recorded in Daven port was 111 °F (44 °C) on July 12, 1936. The lowest temperature, 29 °C (34 °C), was recorded on January 18, 2009. It has a humid continental climate (Dfa). Summers are very warm to hot with high levels of humidity. Winters have cold temperatures and often high winds, with snow likely from November through February. During the summers, farmers experience difficulties while farming such as shallow soil, the humidity, and cold damp winds. Although several minor tornadoes have occurred, no devastating tornado has ever touched down in Dauphin County, Iowa. The area around the city is known as the "Little Tornado Capital of the World" because of the number of tornadoes that have touched down there.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, Davenport's population was 101,724. There were 46,964 housing units at an average density of 736.2 per square mile. Ethnically, the population was 8.8% Hispanic or Latino of any race. The city population grew to 99,685 in the 2010 U.S. Census estimate. The Quad Cities metropolitan area grew to 379,690. The population density was 30 times the averagedensity of Iowa and 20 times theaverage density of the United States. However, it was about a third less than Des Moines and 20 percent less than Cedar Rapids, the only two cities in Iowa with higher populations than Daven port. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.03. The racial makeup of the area was 83.7% White (410,861), 11.43% Black or African American (27,757), 0.4% American Indian and Alaskan Native (1,255), 2.0% Asian (6,624) and 0.03% Pacific Islander (156). 7.1% of the residents were Hispanic or Latinos of anyrace (37,070). There were 39,124 households, out of which 31.8%. had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.0%. were married couples living together, 13.4%. had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families.

Economy

As of September 2009, the unemployment rate in Davenport and the rest of the Quad Cities, had risen to 8.4%. The median income for a household in the city was $40,378, with families earning $51,445. The city is the headquarters for department store Von Maur, which has 24 stores. The surrounding Quad Cities have a few major places of employment, including the Rock Island Arsenal, which is the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the United States. KONE, Inc, a large manufacturer of elevators, is located in Moline, Illinois. Alcoa, an aluminum manufacturer, is Located in Riverdale, Iowa. Other local businesses include Whitey's Ice Cream, Hungry Hobo Sandwich Shop, and Happy Joe's and Harris Pizza both local pizzerias (the former of which is also an ice cream parlor). The city's biggest labor industry is manufacturing, with over 7,600 jobs in the sector. The largest single employer is John Deere, which employs 7,200 workers in the Quad cities and 948 on its north side plant. Other large employers include Genesis Health System with 5,125 employees and 4,900 in D avenport, Trinity Regional Health system with 3,333, regional grocery store Hy-Vee with 3, 138 and the Daven port Community School District with 2,237 employees. Daven Port is also the headquarters of Lee Enterprises, which publishes fifty daily newspapers and more than 300 weekly newspapers, shoppers, and specialty publications.

Arts and culture

Davenport has a number of parks, including Credit Island park which has a bike path, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, and fishing along the Mississippi River. NorthPark Mall is the city's main shopping mall and has 160 stores. Bix Fest is a three-day music festival with many traditional jazz bands held in tribute to internationally renowned jazz cornetist, pianist, composer, and Davenport native Bix Beiderbecke. In late July or early August the six-day Great Mississippi Valley Fair features major grandstand concerts, carnival rides, attractions, and food vendors. The city won the 2007 City Livability Award in the small-city category from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The annual Bix 7 is a 7-mile (11 km) road race held in late July and features live music, food, and vendors. Other local expositions include River Roots Live, Beaux Arts Fair and many others. The former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Freight House is home to several small businesses featuring locally grown items, such as a deli, a grocery hub, and a tap room for a local brewery. The German American Heritage Center is located at the foot of the Centennial Bridge and is located in the heart of uptown. The RiverCenter/Adler Theater is the home of the Quad City River Bandits baseball team and the Modern Woodmen Park is the site of the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home which took in homeless children following the Civil War.

Sports

Davenport and the Quad Cities are home to many sports teams. The Quad Cities River Bandits baseball team play games at Downtown Davenport's Modern Woodmen Park. The TaxSlayer Center in Moline is home to the Quad City Steamwheelers indoor football team and the quad City Storm hockey team. Daven port high schools are in the Mississippi Athletic Conference for sports. The city's high school football team is a member of the Mississippi Valley Football Conference. The town's basketball team is part of the South Central Conference for high school and junior varsity teams.

Parks and recreation

Davenport has over fifty parks or recreational trails. Major parks include Credit Island, which is a 450-acre (1.8 km²) park in southwest Davenport located alongside the Mississippi River. Three public golf courses are offered in the city. The Channel Cat boat offers rides across the river and has two stops in Iowa and three stops in Illinois and connects the bike paths that each state has on its river front. The city features two recreational trails for biking or walking. Plans are being discussed to connect the two trails in Riverdale to the Riverfront Parkway in Bettendorf. For river-related activities, the Channel Cat Boat offers rides through the city and across the state of Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. The boat has stops in all three states and stops in each state's riverfront parks as well as a stop in Illinois. The channel cat boat has rides through Iowa and Illinois and also stops in Missouri and Illinois.

Government

Davenport uses a mayorcouncil form of local government. As of 2021, city government consists of mayor Mike Matson and a ten-person council. One person is elected from each of the eight wards and two at-large aldermen are elected to represent the whole city. Citywide goals through 2012 include having a financially responsible government, having a growing economy, revitalizing neighborhoods, and upgrading city infrastructure and public facilities. The 2010 fiscal year budget was $199.2 million, an increase of $35 million from 2009. The city's general fund receives the largest amount of funds from property taxes, followed by service fees such as solid waste collection and swimming pool or golf course admission and 80% of its expenses go to personnel costs. The largest department in the city is the public works department with a budget of $36.7 million. Davenport is in Iowa's 2nd congressional district. It is represented by Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks. The two Senators are Republicans Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst. The district is slightly more liberal with 3,000 Democrats between 2006 and 2010. The 42nd senate district covers the eastern third of the city and all of Bettendorf, Riverdale, and Panorama Park. The 84th district covers western and southern Clinton County and covers the same boundary as the forty-first senate district. The District is not in Davenports Park as it is not part of Scott County, or Panorama County.

Education

Davenport has four public high schools: Central, West, Mid City and North. The city has four colleges and universities: Saint Ambrose University, Kaplan University, Palmer Chiropractic College, and Hamilton Technical College. The high schools are part of the Mississippi Athletic Conference for sports. Marycrest International University was a university in Davenport from 1939 to 2002, when it closed. The campus was renovated and adapted to senior citizen housing. It is the site of the first chiropractic adjustment in the world. The school district is the fourth-largest school district in Iowa. It serves nearly 14,500 students in the communities of Davenports, Blue Grass, Buffalo, and Walcott. It was named after Phebe Sudlow, the first female public school superintendent in the United States. She was superintendent for DavenPort schools from 1874 to 1878. It has six public intermediate schools and 23 public elementary schools. It also has one private high school: Assumption. The district has four high schools and one private school: Central High School. It had four high school football teams in the 1960s and 1970s. It now has four football teams and one football team in the 1980s and 1990s. There are 23 elementary schools and six intermediate schools in the district. The public high school is named after the first woman to be superintendent of a U.S. public school. It opened in 1874 and has been in operation since 1878 and is located in the heart of the city.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Davenport, Scott County, Iowa = 56. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 53. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 20. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Davenport = 3.7 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 101,724 individuals with a median age of 36.1 age the population grows by 0.97% in Davenport, Scott County, Iowa population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,594.55 residents per square mile of area (615.65/km²). There are average 2.4 people per household in the 40,132 households with an average household income of $42,714 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 7.60% of the available work force and has growths 0.19% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 32.78%. The number of physicians in Davenport per 100,000 population = 233.3.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Davenport = 36.2 inches and the annual snowfall = 17.3 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 118. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 203. 85 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 17.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 43, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Davenport, Scott County, Iowa which are owned by the occupant = 60.96%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 46 years with median home cost = $109,300 and home appreciation of -0.76%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $13.58 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,783 per student. There are 15 students for each teacher in the school, 712 students for each Librarian and 476 students for each Counselor. 7.23% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 14.69% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 7.23% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).