After looking at a post I wrote last year about things to do in Iowa City I decided it was time for a new and improved version. This is a list of some of the places you can enjoy live entertainment in the Iowa City area. When you click on the names of the various venues you’ll be taken to their events pages on their respective websites.

I’m going to kick off with The Englert Theatre. They’ve got a full program through November covering a wide variety of genres, starting with the 2nd Annual Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano Stomp tomorrow, (November 4). The link will take you to the events page for details.

The Hancher Auditorium as you’ll know if you live here, was seriously damaged in the 2008 flood. They still organize and host a variety of different events at a number of different locations. Their events page gives info on upcoming events and the hosting locations.

Justly lately we have another venue that covers a wide variety of genres in the area and that’s The Coralville Center for the Performing Arts. The CCPA is the impressive new building on the corner of 5th St and 12th Ave in Coralville.

Downtown Iowa City has a number of places where you can enjoy live music almost any day of the week

First on that list is the Blue Moose Tap House. New Found Glory is performing there this coming Sunday, (November 6), demonstrating that they pull the heavy hitters on the music scene. (No I’m not a fan, but my nephew is).

Gabe’s on Washington St is another venue that offers live music. You’ll see some pretty interestingly named bands when you check out their events page.

The Mill is an institution in Iowa City and shows up on the Press Citizen’s “Best of Area” list every year.

The Iowa City Yacht Club is another great place for live music from bands with interesting names and offer live entertainment 6 days a week.

Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon is more about good food, but they do have live entertainment too. Tomorrow, (November 4), it’s The Hunks Show. Not quite sure what do do with that title… According to their website it’s the ultimate Vegas experience…

One more place to mention before I wrap up this post and that’s the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort. They’ve been a big hit in the area since they opened in 2006. (Personally I’m more impressed with Riverside being the birthplace of James T. Kirk, but then I was around in the 60′s when Star Trek was in its first season). Let’s not get off topic here though, the Casino has had a huge impact in the Iowa City area. Along with the usual things you expect from a Casino they have a fabulous hotel and plenty of opportunities to spoil yourself, from the golf course to the spa and the 5 restaurants where they serve some pretty spectacular food. They also host a variety of events covering all kinds of Genres.

You’ll notice at the beginning of this post I said this is a list of some of the places you will find live entertainment in the Iowa City area. The emphasis being on some! I’m also sure to have missed some too. If you can think of any to add, please be sure to mention them in the comments. 

We have a lot of parks in Coralville and Iowa City. So many that you’ll never have far to go before you bump into the next one. My photos today are of S.T. Morrison Park in downtown Coralville. You can access Morrison Park from 5th St, although technically it’s on 7th St. On 5th St is where you’ll find City Hall, Coralville Library and the newly opened Coralville Center for the Performing Arts – Along with the Police Station and the Fire Station – And all of these are within real easy walking distance of Morrison Park.

The amenities at Morrison Park include a playground, tennis courts, ball fields, fishing pond and picnic shelters. The Coralville Community Aquatic Center is also on the grounds. In the summer months Morrison Park is also home to the Music in the Park Concert Series and Farmers Market. And to round it up, Morrison Park offers wireless internet… (Did that last one surprise you? It did me, until I remembered the library is right there too and I know they have internet access).

If you drive up and down 1st Ave in Coralville as often as I do you’ll know there are some serious changes going on at the Iowa River Landing. This is the area just south of I-80 and very close to the Marriott on E 9th St. Well, if you’re curious as to what is going on there, Thursday September 22 is your chance to find out in a “show and tell” walking tour organized by the City of Coralville. There have been A LOT of changes in Coralville since I moved here in 2000. One thing that has always impressed me is just what a well-organized and well-planned little town this is. It’s nice to see Coralville continue to grow in a thoughtful and environmentally conscious way.

This event runs from 4.00pm – 7.00pm and will start at the Marriott Lower East Terrace with maps posted at each station along the way showing the route.

Highlights of the Walking Tour Thursday September 22, 2011 – 4.00pm – 7.00pm

Earthview Environmental staff will answer questions about the plants and aquatic life in the wetlands

Terracon will demonstrate soil borings and testing and staff will talk about the City of Coralville’s commitment to the Brownfields program

The walking tour ends at the north east corner of the Marriott where Deanna Trumbull, Consultant, will show images of the Oliver McMillan Plan and  discuss the commercial side of the development of the Iowa River Landing.

You’ll find more information about this event at Coralville.org

Iowa City Real Estate: Johnson County Economic Data – Update September 2011

Way back at the beginning of 2010 I blogged about this very cool AP Interactive Map. It provides us with a look at the economic stress index all across the country. (The economic stress index is the combined impact of unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcy on the states). More than a year and a half later it seems like a good idea to revisit the topic and take a look at where we’re at now compared to then.

If you’re relocating to the Iowa City area and have visited my site before you’ll know that I bang the drum about Iowa City being a relocation town and as such is well equipped to deal with the challenges of the current economic environment. That remains the case, although of course that doesn’t mean we’re totally immune to challenging times. It just means that the lows aren’t that low. (And for that matter, the highs aren’t that high either).

Comparing now to my original post in January 2010, Johnson County is still doing better than most of the rest of the state and shapes up pretty well nationally too. At the time of that post the economic stress index for Johnson County was 4.89. The latest number has it at 5.0. (It”s not real time, they are lagging behind by about 3 months). The scale goes from 0 to 30+ and the lower the number the better. Obviously this is going in the wrong direction and we have a slight dip compared to when I last checked this out. On the up side, as I already mentioned, this is better than most of the state of Iowa, (Linn County, right above us where Cedar Rapids is has an economic stress index of 7.20 for instance). Unemployment in Johnson County is down from 4.2% to 4.1%, foreclosures are up from 0.18% to 0.49% and Bankruptcies down from 0.54% to 0.45%. As a real estate agent of course I’m concerned to see the foreclosure numbers rise. Other than that I’d say this is pretty positive data. It shows we are holding our own in these tough economic times.