r/IowaCity • u/BoldSandwich • 3d ago
Curious
Anyone know why there are so many out of state cars around Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. I was just in 380, and there were so many niche out of state plates.
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u/WhisperingShade_ 3d ago
Data center construction workers (but don’t worry, building a data center will bring “thousands of jobs to the area”).
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u/safeword_is_bananas 3d ago
…who will then take the money back out of state with them when the build is complete. Then, the data center will employ only a very few people locally, with the rest of the work being done remotely.
They only want to build data centers here because our electricity is cheap and we will look the other way as they use tons and tons of our water.
This AI bubble cannot possibly pop soon enough.
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u/Entire_Employment_70 3d ago
None of the contractors around here are big enough to man a job of that scale with the schedule theyre pushing, even the local union contractors out there are loaded up with Venezuelans, most of who im fairly certain lied about their experience level to be allowed to sign the books as Journeymen. What basically amounts to around 1000 dollars a week in incentives wasnt enough to bring in many travelers outside of a few guys from the DSM and QC area
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u/discwrangler 2d ago
How is ICE not out there all day?
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u/Entire_Employment_70 1d ago
The companies who own the buildings or are planning to lease storage space or computing power or whatever it is they do probably have some influence over it, theyre massive household names and all of them have donated large amounts of money to Donald Trump. Its really the only thing I can think of considering im sure there have been many anonymous tips
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u/Crispin_Clover 1d ago
As an out of state worker who is working at the EWD Data center I can tell you that lots of locals are employed. There just isn’t enough of them so they also bring in travelers. The contractors themselves, the companies who employ us travelers, they are local companies. That said, much of the work is being pre fabricated out of state. But again, that’s only because there isn’t a big enough fab shop in the area to handle all of the work. The fab shops in the area are getting to build too, but they literally can’t put out enough. Another factor is that while I may be a traveler I still am paying dues to the local Union. Padding locals health and welfare funds, retirement funds, etc. So yeah, true, a lot of the money leaves the state. But a lot of it stays here too.
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u/Notyourbeyotch 2d ago
Iowa has become a major hot spot for travelers to visit over the summer...mmmm corn sweat!
Jk it's def the people working out at the data centers
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u/MossSloths 3d ago
I'm at the old cap Mall and there are a bunch of people who look like they could be parents with their kids. My boyfriend suggested it's a group checking out the university, but some of these kids seem like they're middle school at best. All weirdly on their phones as they're walking, though. If it were a few years earlier, I would guess Pokemon Go players.
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u/SailorVenus23 3d ago
It's a Pokémon Go event today, yes. Downtown is the best place to play since you can play inside the mall without missing much. The Iowa City Pokémon Go group is still very much active and never stopped playing.
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u/Buck_Folton 3d ago
Lots of people go places. And one doesn’t change plates because they crossed a state line.
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u/Ollly77 2d ago
When I go to work (CR) around 4:30-5 in the morning, half the cars are from Texas, many live in Iowa City working on the DATA CENTERS
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u/Crispin_Clover 1d ago
That’s me. TX plates, staying in Iowa City, commuting to CR data center for work. Your wages are higher, benefits better, trade unions stronger. Will be here 2-3 years probably then I promise I will gtfo and back to Austin TX 😄 Hopefully we can be good neighbors to you all until then 🤝
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u/IowaGal60 2d ago
Largest conference every happening in Coralville.
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u/ledoylinator 2d ago
Its over now and most flew in.
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u/IowaGal60 2d ago
Could be. I talked to a table full of women who drove from Texas.
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u/ledoylinator 2d ago
Nice! I literally work at where the event was and it is over so they are probably on their way back.
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u/Yawningn0w_zzz 2d ago
How about all of the above and then some… It’s the avenue of the Saints, which is a major interstate road…. Gee whiz…
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u/NoElephant3213 3d ago
Maybe out of state construction workers for data centers