I want to visit Iowa. The eastern part seems charming and probably has a great nightlife. Could probably get there on the cheap, as well.
BRTD, what Iowa city would you recommend for a long weekend getaway? (Thurs night-Mon)
I'm biased (and not BRTD), but it seems like Iowa City is the obvious no-brainer. I experience its nightlife every single weekend and have for five years now, and I'm still not bored! LOL.
As for BRTD, all of those cities voted for Obama in both elections, but all also voted for Rauner in 2014, too. In 2004, Peoria and Champaign counties went for Kerry (though Bush won the Peoria metro, as did Romney in 2012 ... and Obama only won it by 1% in 2008), but Rockford, Springfield and Decatur all went for Bush. Obama is, after all, from Illinois.
Anyway, all of that is completely irrelevant to my point: a more urbanized region does not necessarily mean it will vote more Democratic, as evidenced by the WHOLE state of Iowa voting to the left of the WHOLE region of Downstate Illinois, even though the latter is more industrialized.