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The Cedar Falls/Waterloo Area is the Best Place on Earth to Live and Raise a Family!
 The Cedar Falls/Waterloo area is one of the cleanest family-oriented areas in the state. The Cedar River Valley area was the home of roving Indian tribes before the first settlers reached the Iowa territory. In 1845 William Sturgis built a cabin along the west bank of the Cedar River and the settlement that grew around it became known as Sturgis Falls (every June the city celebrates Sturgis Falls Days to celebrate the first settlement). In July 1845, the George Hanna family established a homesite on the east bank of the Cedar River, named it Waterloo and in1855 it became the seat of Black Hawk County. The Illinois Central railroad reached the Cedar Valley in 1861 but was not extended until the end of the Civil War, when more settlers came to work the rich farmlands. Businesses, grain mills, and stores prospered in both Cedar Falls and Waterloo. The Iowa State Normal School was established in the Civil War Soldiers Orphans Home and is now the University of Northern Iowa. These two agricultural settlements have now blended into a strong industrial and service center with almost 120,000 residents. Cedar Falls is know as the Tree City and this is easily understood when you discover all the wonderful city, county, and state parks in the metro area. Top this off with the Cedar Valley Nature Trail, used for hiking, bicycling, and cross-country skiing and you have a recipe for family fun. George Wyth State Park has modern campsites, nature trails, hiking and biking trails, supervised lake swimming, fishing and boating plus an inline skating rink. The University of Northern Iowa is the home of the UNI-dome that provides an arena for sporting and college events, concerts and exhibitions. The Waterloo Black Hawks hockey team calls Waterloo home at the new Young Ice Arena and also houses junior hockey leagues. Both communities house several museums such as the Ice House Museum ( the former ice house that provided all the ice for the early community), Grout Museum of History and Science, George Wyth House and Viking Pump Museum. Performing Arts are important to the community with the newest addition being the Gallagher-Bluedorn performing arts building on the UNI campus. There is also the Black Hawk Children?s theatre, Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra and plenty of Municipal Band Concerts every summer. Education is excellent in the area. After high school, the area has several options: Allen College, a private institution accredited by the Iowa Board of Nursing; Hawkeye Community College which serves more than 4,500 students with applied science and technology programs and an arts and sciences transfer program; and the University of Northern Iowa with over 120 majors, complementary programs at the masters, specialists and doctoral levels. UNI serves over 13,000 students from every county in Iowa, 46 other states and 57 foreign countries. So, if you are looking for a safe place to raise your family, you have just found it here in the Cedar Falls/Waterloo Communities known as the Cedar Valley Communities.
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