Cedar Rapids, not a complete wasteland

Cedar rapids, there is nothing to do here, and most of the time, I would have to agree. Most people who weren't born here don't have as tight of a connection to the city as those who do. People with family here often love it, as it is a nice city, and they have people who they know and like. People like my family though have found their way here through various means, don't know much about here or the people, and one thing I've noticed is not many people go out of their way to greet or get to know people who aren't from around Iowa. One of the things I feel like would make this city better is if there were more things for people to do with their spare time. I would love to go on bike ride. Around the city I can get place to place with the bike lane, but I mean I want to go somewhere and see something, not just use my bike to travel between work and home. I know lots of people use the bike lanes and I'm not saying they are bad, but what I am getting at is that I have very limited options of where to bike where it is safe. Yes there is a trail or two around here, but one brings you right along the river, which usually smells pungent and gross, and gives you a nice view of mount trash-more. Now I do not intend to be very harsh to the people who like the city just the way it is, I as well like Cedar Rapids, but I feel like there is a lot of room for improvement. One thing that I feel would be really nice here would be a water park, like we almost got not too many years ago. I feel like there would be more than enough people who want one to be able to go there and make use of it, but also I feel like that could be a source for tourism, which there is not much of in Cedar Rapids. Another thing I feel like would be great would be a football team that was in Cedar Rapids, which I don't see happening since everyone here already goes to the Hawkeye games every Saturday they play. Something else I feel like would give people more to do is just to have more off-leash dog parks, because this would be great for new people to the area to be able to meet people who are like themselves (enjoy outdoors/ dogs etc.). The dog park would be best if it was in a centralized location, and have different areas depending on dog size to prevent some of the bigger dogs from hurting the others. Overall, I do think there is a lack of things to do here, and that there could be improvement.
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