Davenport

Sandwiched between downtown and Vander Veer Botanical Park, Central Davenport combines the spacious feel of the city’s north side, urban attractions and a slice of riverside views. Across it all, though, vintage homes line quiet streets, delivering on a promise of convenience and culture. The Hamburg Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983, features century-old Gothic Revival, Second Empire, Italianate, and Queen Anne-style architecture in the core of the neighborhood. In addition to these houses, more recent cottage, bungalow and Foursquare housing add to the diversity of living options in Central Davenport. Homes in need of renovation range from $30,000 to $70,000, whereas turn-key homes cost $100,000 to $250,000 on average. Quad Cities Realtor Alex Skeen said the different styles mean more than just an eclectic streetscape. "In general, the city’s costs of living are going to be lower than the rural areas, because you have a ton more options as far as housing goes,'' he said. The Davenport Community School District serves the residents of Central Davenport. Students can begin their education at Jefferson Elementary School and Sudlow Intermediate School, both of which scored a C on Niche. Students can continue their education at Central High School, which received a B-minus on the site. Central High also offers a college prep and job shadowing program. St. Ambrose University borders the neighborhood to the north. Central Davenport is home to five parks, the most popular of which is Cork Hill Park. It features a basketball court, a baseball diamond, horseshoe pits, two gazebos and a playground within 6 acres of green space. Residents looking for outdoor recreation not only have access to several neighborhood parks, but also to the Riverfront Trail, a 7-mile-long walking path along the banks of the bending Mississippi River in River Heritage Park. Skeen says, “If you can survive the winter, you can absolutely enjoy the springtime. Once spring hits, everyone’s outside enjoying the weather.” Just outside the neighborhood, and accessible from North Brady Street, the Vander Veer Botanical Gardens is an oasis in the middle of the city. Its Conservatory is a popular indoor stop to see seasonally themed gardens on display all year, and the Grand Allee is a great place for a walk, covering about .9 of a mile across the site's 33 acres. This part of the city offers residents a variety of shopping and dining options nearly on par with downtown. Bars, cafes and restaurants offering tasty eats are dotted throughout Central Davenport, such as Miss Phay Café, which serves Thai and Vietnamese fare in a casual atmosphere with an exposed brick interior. Another popular spot is The Brewed Book, a used bookstore and coffee shop with a chic interior and highly rated coffee, pastries and Italian sodas. For groceries, there’s an Aldi supermarket on North Brady Street. For shopping, the NorthPark Mall is located about 3 miles north of Central Davenport. Central Davenport’s location provides easy access to Downtown Davenport, which borders the neighborhood to the south. U.S. Route 61 bisects the community, connecting it with the other three Quad Cities. Public transportation is available through Citibus, which serves several bus stops along Harrison Street, Gaines Street, North Main Street and Pershing Avenue. For long-distance travel, the Quad Cities International Airport is about 12 miles southeast of Central Davenport.

Nicknamed “Iowa’s Front Porch,” Davenport sits along the Mississippi River and at the gateway to the “Prairie State” of Illinois. With waterfront access, residents also enjoy the landscape's natural beauty while being in the heart of Iowa’s third-largest city. Downtown Davenport is home to an abundance of restaurants and shops, as well as museums and parks featuring popular local events. Along with its riverside views, Downtown Davenport is most famous for its vibrant shopping and dining scene. Residents can enjoy pub fare from the Barrel House bar and grill, which features an exposed red brick interior with a low-key feel. For a more upscale dining experience, the Duck City Bistro provides an eclectic fusion of international and regional fare with a comfortable yet classy candle-lit atmosphere. Open year-round, the Freight House Farmers' Market provides groceries and artisanal goods. For apparel, Abernathy's features vintage clothing along with gifts and unique décor. Downtown’s location along the Mississippi River plays a major role in its appeal, both in scenic beauty and in the number of events held at the riverside parks. Realtor Alex Skeen of eXp Realty says, “The center of downtown is a great place to go to bars and restaurants, but there’s quite a bit to do along the river as well. The Bandshell has a lot of different concerts, and the ‘Red, White, and Boom’ fireworks on the Fourth of July happen here.” LeClaire Park is home not only to the Bandshell music pavilion but also to a fountain monument and a scenic waterfront walk. Skeen adds, “There’s also an enormous amount of green space to sit with family and friends, and, even if there’s not an event going on, you can come down and walk along the river.” This vast stretch of greenery includes the 250-acre Centennial Park, which hosts grand gazebos, athletic courts, and dog and skate parks for outdoor recreation. The park also provides trail access for hikers and bikers alike. Right next door is Modern Woodmen Park, a historic baseball stadium that hosts minor league games. For fun indoors, locals can catch a show at the historic Adler Theater. Skeen says, “It’s a great place where they have a bunch of live shows, like when comedians come into town, as well as smaller music concerts. It’s a historic place as well; it’s been around for as long as downtown Davenport has been here.” The Figge Art Museum, founded in 1928, serves as the Quad Cities region’s main art museum, housing a vast collection of Haitian, Colonial Mexican, and Midwestern art pieces. Homes dot along a gridded landscape characterized by broad, multi-lane roads in the heart of the city. Though most residences do not have garages or driveways, street parking is plentiful. Homes feature short front stoops and colonial revival architecture. As a primarily commercial district, Downtown’s housing inventory is limited yet competitive. Though rental property is more common, homes on the market tend to sell for between $400,000 and $500,000. The Davenport Community School District serves the residents of Downtown Davenport. Students can begin their education at Jefferson Elementary School and Frank L. Smart Intermediate School, both of which received a C from Niche. Students can finish their education at Central High School, which scored a B-minus on the site. Central High features a job shadowing program, which allows juniors and seniors to get on-the-job experience within a range of different fields. Served by Citibus Transit, Downtown Davenport features a robust public transportation system with a web of bus routes connecting the neighborhood to all of Davenport. Commuters can catch buses from venues such as Union Station to travel throughout the city. For longer-distance travel, the Davenport Municipal Airport is 8 miles north of Downtown Davenport. For international trips, Quad Cities International Airport is just 10 miles southeast. Downtown Davenport has a CAP Index Crime Score of 7 out of 10, which is higher than the national average of 4.

The East End is a tree-shaded walkable Davenport neighborhood full of vintage homes, views of the Mississippi River and lively local events, making it one of the city's most sought-after communities. Residents also enjoy close proximity to the rest of the Quad Cities through a network of highways and a seasonal river ferry system. Mainly a residential area, homes line the gridded streets, stretching from the bending Mississippi River to the wooded expanses along Duck Creek, a walking distance of about a mile and three-quarters. Along the way, homes on hillsides overlook shaded streets, one of the big reasons behind the area's appeal. "The established trees create a gorgeous canopy that shields you from really hot days and makes this a very walkable community,'' said Realtor Ana Aguilera True of True Homes. The East End is full of classic Colonial Revivals, Tudors, Foursquares and single-family contemporary homes. Adding to the attraction, she said, is the view of the Mississippi River from some of the elevated sections of the neighborhood. Though some homes are in need of renovation, turn-key homes tend to range from $100,000 to $300,000. The larger homes of the McClellan Heights Historic District, within the neighborhood in the southeastern corner, sell for $300,000 to $550,000. Concentrations of local eateries and bars can be found at Mound Street and 11th Street, as well as east of the neighborhood along Kimberly Road. The 11th Street Precinct Bar & Grill is a popular local watering hole providing pub grub and live music. Lagomarcino’s Confectionery, in the style of an old-school soda fountain, serves an array of chocolates, gummies, truffles, ice cream and other in-house-made goods, popular since 1908. Local boutiques such as Wind Dancer provide trendy clothing, accessories and gifts. Eastern Avenue provides direct access to the shops off U.S. Route 6, including the local Hy-Vee grocery store and Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, which offers a vast array of organic goods. Duck Creek Park, on the eastern side of the neighborhood, features as its centerpiece an 18-hole public golf course but also includes athletics fields, pickleball and tennis courts, a bike trail, playground, reservable pavilion and the Stampe Lilac Garden, which blooms during the spring and summer. Bordering East River Drive are several parks, including Lindsay Park, Indian Springs Park and Prospect Terrace Park. Just east of the neighborhood is Malibu Jack's Quad Cities, an amusement park featuring go-karts, miniature golf, bowling, arcade games and laser tag. For fun in the summer, the Annie Wittenmyer Aquatic Center is located on Eastern Avenue. The 14 mile Riverfront Trail traces the Iowa side of the Mississippi from around the Interstate 74 overpass to Credit Island Park to the west. It is popular with cyclists, pedestrians and runners. Neighborhood events are a regular part of the calendar in East End, ranging from celebrations of beer and wine and art displays to a connection with the region's farming legacy. “It’s a life-of-the-party kind of community,” says True. The annual Village Hops Craft Beer Festival, in its third year, features brews and ciders from more than 25 breweries while also providing live music and streets lined with food vendors. The East Village Wine Walk starts at the International Fire Museum, Lagomarcino's and the Village Theater, where participants can pick up a wine glass and make their way toward nearby businesses, sampling wine as they go. Hosted at Lindsay Park, the Riverssance Art Fair is a two-day event featuring work from over 70 local artists. The festivities also include food vendors and a wine tasting, accompanied by live music. Farm Days takes place in late summer over two days with a petting zoo, agriculture displays, arts and crafts and more. The Davenport Community School District serves the residents of East End. Students can begin their education at centrally located McKinley Elementary School, which received a C-plus on Niche. Eisenhower Elementary is on the north end of the neighborhood and received a C-plus. Students advance to Sudlow Intermediate School, which scored a C on the site. Students can also attend Central High School, which received a B-minus rating and offers a college prep and job shadowing program. East River Drive borders the neighborhood to the south, putting residents within 2 miles of downtown Davenport, while Interstate 74 borders the east, providing direct access to Moline, Rock Island and Bettendorf. Public transportation is available through The Davenport Citibus, which serves several bus stops along Eastern Avenue and East Locust Street and the seasonal Channel Cat Water Taxi that travels up and down the river, connecting riders to both side between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Paratransit is also available for those who cannot travel within a fixed route. For long-distance travel, the Quad Cities International Airport is about 8 miles south of the neighborhood. Davenport was recently awarded $13.1 million from the federal government for flood-mitigation projects for roads along the Mississippi River, one of which involves raising the level of the road at Mound Street and East River Drive. Other projects include improvements to provide for flooded road detours.

A central location that served as the site of Davenport’s turn-of-the-century development, North Side is a community full of history and culture. Home to the Columbia Avenue Historic District and the city’s bustling Brady Street, the neighborhood exudes a sense of nostalgia, filled with century-old homes in classic and iconic styles. As North Side continues to modernize and keep up with the times, new homes are being built so that new residents can experience all that neighborhood has to offer. All the features of fall fill the atmosphere in North Side, right down to the trees decked out in red, green and gold leaves. Winding roads lined with homes of various styles fill the residential streets, with houses set back from the curb on spacious lots with manicured lawns. New builds are prevalent in the area, with Craftsman homes featuring multi-sectioned multicar garages. Split-level homes display combo façades with small front patios, and more modest ranch-style homes offer sizeable yards perfect for entertaining friends and family outdoors. Older ranch-style homes are priced in the $100,000s and $200,000s, while new builds typically start in the high-$300,000s. General home prices can reach the mid-$500,000s, with select expansive homes on half-acre lots well in the $800,000s. North Side has plenty of outdoor recreation with 11 parks for residents to enjoy. Covering 28 acres of green space, Goose Creek Park is a hot spot for baseball enthusiasts, with its baseball diamond available for practice and games. Little ones can enjoy the park’s playgrounds, and everyone can cool off at the spray ground during warmer months. The park also has an area for disc golf and a community picnic shelter for get-togethers. The baseball fever continues at the 220-acre Prairie Heights Park, the home of the Southeast Little League and the Davenport Challenger League with its four diamonds, including the all-inclusive Miracle Field. The park also has a playground and an expansive walking trail that begins at its entrance. Golf enthusiasts can hone and develop their swing at Red Hawk Golf & Learning Center regardless of skill level. Red Hawk Golf is a 9-hole course that offers educational programming to any golfer and scholarships to select participants. Recently renovated, the course now features a putting and chipping green and three new ponds. The complex’s other courses, Emeis and Duck Creek, are 18-hole courses. Spread across 6,500 yards, Emeis goes to a par 72 and has hosted golf greats Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. Duck Creek covers 5,759 yards to par 70 and will begin hosting Cosmic Golf, a glow-in-the-dark experience for everyone to enjoy, in 2024. Hy-Vee Grocery Store is the go-to for groceries and daily essentials, having multiple locations in the community. Big box stores are located along I-74, featuring Walmart Supercenter and Target and wholesale spots such as Costco and Sam’s Club. The North Park Mall is also located in the area, offering popular brands such as H&M and JD Sports. For a bite to eat, the Machine Shed Restaurant offers downhome favorites in a farming-influenced setting for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Locals can also enjoy warming up with a cup of coffee and some casual conversation at North Side’s Coffee Revolution. In the heart of North Side, Red Hawk Golf & Learning Center has returned to hosting the annual Chili Open Golf Classic. True to its name, the tournament is played when chilly winds blow — and golfers are served some of the Quad City area’s best chili to keep them warm — all to raise funds for selected charities. Served by the Davenport Community School District, students have several options when mapping out their educational journeys. Attending Harrison Elementary School and Sudlow Junior High School can prepare students for studies at North High School. The only high school in DCSD offering a dual enrollment accelerated associate degree program, North holds an overall Niche grade of B-minus, along with Harrison. Sudlow has a C. The community also has several private and religious-based schools for interested families. Interstate 74 serves as the community's eastern border, with Interstate 80 as its northern border, making North Side centrally located with wide-open access to surrounding areas. The nearby Interstate 280 runs south from its intersection with I-80, just minutes from North Side.