The war on poverty is ancient. The moments and significance of LBJ’s “War on Poverty” and “Guns & Butter” are gone from modern memories. However, that is the foundations of our modern welfare systems. New individuals researching urban & regional planning are intelligently designing modern complex systems aimed at ending the wealth gap, cycle of poverty and systemic racism. Complex systems are continually being refined and changed. The kinder, gentler society is indeed within the reach of new generations. Examining the intriguing dynamics of complex systems, identifying perceived social problems, and designing the best community plans is the desire of every urban & regional planning department. The superior systems of democracy and free enterprise are themes we will research from the world at large. The purpose of my thesis is presenting research in an educational and intentionally entertaining manner. Edutainment is the word. Learning is the language everyone speaks and my sincere desire is you enjoy reading my thesis.
Ending the cycle of poverty is one of the main elements of the “American Dream.” We advertised the American dream in Europe since the earliest moments of our nation. Gilberts Town [modern Bettendorf, Iowa] advertised in Europe the wonderful farm soil that can raise “…crops of all types….”[i] The Quad Cities witnessed the arrival of thousands of German and Irish immigrants in a pre-Civil War Quad Cities. The Blackhawk, Fox and several other local tribes were present in large numbers. African Americans who found freedom with the underground railroad in southern Iowa were helping change the laws of the nation and intermarrying with the local tribes in the QC region. The German and Irish immigrants were experiencing the cycle of poverty when they arrived in the QC. The fighting between the Irish and Germans caused new laws, specifically labor laws, and public education laws.
Learning from the fierce fighting between the Irish and Germans because of the language barrier are lessons we can apply with our modern Quad Cities region. New immigrants arrive in the Quad Cities every moment because we are the world model of the American Dream. The German, Irish, African American, Mexican American, local tribes and every race and nationality of immigrants in the Quad Cities at that moment built the Quad Cities with blood, sweat and tears and became pillars of the Quad Cities, our nation, and the world. The famine in Ireland was the primary cause of the Irish immigration surge at Ellis Island in New York. The Irish then migrated west. The Quad Cities, like New York, became and Irish American region.
The Irish and Germans built separate businesses, schools, and churches because of the language barrier. The Irish immigrants fought the German immigrants because the language barrier and when our public schools codified English language instruction in our public schools, the fiercest fighting between Irish and German immigrants ended. Our modern Quad Cities immigrants from every nation on Earth enjoy the Quad Cities multicultural atmosphere developed through generations of cultural integration. Regarding speaking the English language, the English spoken in the Quad Cities is called “accent free” English and English language learners learn best from “accent free” English. The Quad Cities Midwest region produces lots of TV news reporters and schoolteachers who obtain employment in regions of the nation with strong regional dialects and large immigrant populations because English language learners learn English best from accent free English.
Cash crops and the Mississippi River is why we are all here, however, accent free English speakers are of value in all kinds of international business. The local tribes are significant specifically Chief Blackhawks’ agreements with the US government following the French and Indian wars and skirmishes with the local US garrisons stationed in the Quad Cities region. The early Quad Cities African American experience is joined with the Blackhawk, Fox, and other local tribes through marriage in the pre-Civil War Quad Cities. The first house in Bettendorf is the dwelling of man name Dred Scott. Scott County, Iowa is arguably the best county in Iowa. The Quad Cities was a hub on the underground railroad with other Iowa towns like Stanton, Grinnell, Yetter, Parnell and Port Gibson and Edgington in Illinois.
The first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River was built in Davenport and Westward expansion became realized in earnest. Who built that bridge? Local legend says Irish immigrant labor built that bridge. The Irish laborers and their families camped on the Mississippi River between modern Iowa Ave. and Federal St. in an area dubbed “the Patch.” The name came from the gardens each family grew. Most likely the labor was a mix of all races present in the Quad Cities at that moment. However, the fighting between the Irish and German immigrants was fierce regarding who could obtain employment from the railroad company. Irish and Germans were building separate businesses, schools, and churches because the language barrier. The arguments, agreements and early labor laws adopted became the foundations of our modern labor laws. Fighting between the Irish and Germans continued in the 20th century. Specifically, German American immigrants experienced mistrust and persecution during the World Wars. German American businesses suffered especially German breweries. German American businesses changed their German names that the wartime public would continue purchasing their products. New immigrants in the Quad Cities can learn from the early Quad Cities immigrant experience and likewise achieve the American Dream.
The early Quad Cities town planners advertised in European newspapers the rich farm soil of the Quad Cities region. The truth in advertising of our region is the fact that the Mississippi River Valley soil is the richest farm soil on planet Earth. The Mississippi River Valley soil is the richest because glaciation. The end of the last Ice Age left the richest topsoil right in the center of the Mississippi River Valley. Every Midwest resident observes the ice melting each Spring and observes the sediment that remains when the ice melts. That is from mere inches of ice. The glaciers of the last Ice Age were miles thick and graced the Mississippi River Valley with a magnificent fertile crescent of nitrogen-rich topsoil.
The pre-Civil War, pre-Industrial revolution Quad Cities was very much farming. The first railroad spanning the Mississippi River in Davenport hauled every bushel of produce the Quad Cities region could muster. The legendary cattle drives of the 19th and early 20th Centuries from the southern U.S. ending in Chicago slaughter yards developed huge industries on Lake Michigan with hundreds of thousands of laborers and their families. The fresh produce of the early Quad Cities farming industry helped feed the growing metropolis of Chicago. Modern residents near the Mississippi River in the QC urban center observe the railcars full of corn syrup every day. The corn syrup is employed in the manufacture of hundreds of food products.
The lessons of the early Quad Cities immigrant experience are of value when designing our modern urban & regional planning complex systems. The Quad Cities urban regions are seeing a Renaissance of redevelopment from a series of Urban Revitalization laws being codified in Des Moines and in the local Quad Cities. Empty buildings in our urban center are being redeveloped, filled with residents, and property values are being raised because the Urban Revitalization Tax Exemption [URTE] laws. If businesses and individuals redevelop property and raise the assessed property value in designated URTE zones, then the business and/or individual is legally exempt from ten years of property tax. The property tax exemption gives developers an incentive. The “urban sprawl” models of the 1950s are being replaced with new “urban revitalization and redevelopment” models with the help of new URTE laws.
Property tax is the vehicle of building every town in our nation. The Quad Cities tax base is growing from the manufacture of farm equipment, the production of cash crops and the local education industry is enjoying major increases in education clients earning degrees of every kind.[ii] The manufacture of farm equipment will continue and grow, although the identity of the Quad Cities is changing because of the influx of new education clients earning degrees. Further, the burgeoning music scene is putting the QC region on the map.
The education industry is exciting and continually changing. The education industry within our complex system helps build a recession proof community. Recession proof communities are the best environments in which we can design the kinder, gentler society. Research from the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce suggests 45% of new education clients earning degrees in the Quad Cities are from other regions. The wealth from other regions helps our local businesses. Education clients like the Quad Cities education industry because degrees won’t cost an arm and a leg.
Further, the Quad Cities Midwest region is one of the best advertising markets. Marketing and advertising executives realized long ago the Midwest audience is one of the best test audiences in the nation. The saying “…if the housewife in Iowa likes the product…” is a remnant from the Eisenhower and Betty Friedan generation that is considered valid and based on real marketing research. In fact, several major marketing, advertising, and entertainment industry firms test market products in the Quad Cities. Certainly, lots of law changes occurred since then regarding the dynamics of race, class, and gender and the Quad Cities Midwest region remains one of the best test markets and audiences in the nation. We will examine the interconnections the Quad Cities is developing with other nations and our identity as an international model of commerce and vacation destination.
The IQCF 2024 [DEI] Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Research
The IQCF mission is developing a diverse, inclusive Quint Cities region. The IQCF volunteers researched live concerts in the Quint Cities region since 2014. The IQCF precursor and business plan, the International Tastemaker Fest Thesis, documented hundreds of live performances in the QC since 2014. The purpose of researching the live music scene is learning how audiences interact with talent from other regions of the nation and the world. The observations of the live music scene are then applied in developing diversity, equity, inclusion, talent attraction, and arts & cultural sustainability. The emerging multiethnic majority audience in the QC is what will be a foundation of the future urban & regional planning development of the QC region.
Morgan Wade & Matt Roy @ the Raccoon Motel August 17th, 2022
Morgan Wade is a rare talent with brilliant lyrics and music composition skills. Her new studio album release on Sony Nashville is produced with Nashvilles’ best music industry talent. She is becoming a female headliner with large festival draws and a loyal fan base. Her attraction is the somewhat raw lyrics the crowd memorized and her professional guitar skills. “Intriguingly, alongside artists like Joy Oladokun, Sierra Ferrell and others…Morgan Wade is changing the image and sound of women in country music….”[iii] Now she is becoming a leading voice in new country music and while her sound isn’t strictly country western, alt-country or Americana per se, Morgan Wade is a country music star. Matt Roy[iv] is an accomplished musician and helped develop the vibe with his sound until headliner Morgan Wade delivered her beautiful performance.
Full of Hell & Blood Incantation @ the Raccoon Motel September 28th, 2022
Full of Hell is an “…extreme, grind and death metal…” band. The music is heavy and loud. The …anti-religious lyrical themes…of lead singer Dylan Walker…helps explain why lead single ‘Industrial Messiah Complex’ grinds organized religion to a pulp in under 90 seconds. Walker wrote the lyrics about the commodification of spirituality seen in America’s vast network of garish mega-churches and how those practices are at odds with true spirituality….”[v] The anti-religious themes aren’t necessarily a sign of an atheist leading the band. Dylan Walker might be a spiritualist. The band name “Full of Hell” suggests the belief in Hell and thus a belief in Heaven. The devil always wants humans believing the devil doesn’t exist. Whatever spiritual belief fans of Full of Hell espouse is a personal choice. The draw at the Raccoon Motel was full of fans.
Blood Incantation is a death metal band.[vi] The music is heavy, loud, and fast. The vocals are undecipherable and sound like growling, barking canines. That is the grind-core, death metal motif, and the fans could decipher every grunt, growl, scream and bark. The Raccoon Motel was full of fans with all the death metal gear, t-shirts, patches and the like. The death metal scene is certainly underground, however, the legions of fans at the Raccoon Motel saw the largest draw of 2022. Morgan Wade and Matt Roy was a full house. Full of Hell and Blood Incantation was overflowing. The IQCF volunteers onsite observe that the heavy, grind-core, death metal underground scene in the QC is real, albeit hidden from the mainstream Billboard charts. However, that, like all indie scenes, might be an element of the underground death metal culture. Metallica was an underground indie band from the early 1980s until the early 1990s when they became a mainstream Billboard charting artist. Full of Hell and Blood Incantation are much heavier with undecipherable lyrics, however, the fan base is large and devoted. Billboard chart toppers are centrist in nature. If you like heavy metal, then Full of Hell and Blood Incantation deserve a listen.
Whitney & Squirrel Flower @ the Raccoon Motel November 7th, 2022
Squirrel Flower[vii] is an emerging indie pop artist on Polyvinyl Records.[viii] RIYL Of Montreal and Liz Phair. The music and lyrics are really cool, and her audience is large. Squirrel Flowers’ cover of Caroline Polacheks’[ix] “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings,” helped Squirrel Flower emerge from obscurity and enter the mainstream indie pop realm. Squirrel Flower is a strong band leader with a beautiful voice and guitar sound. Further, Squirrel Flower is a role model of women in the music industry who can compose original music & lyrics and lead a band.
Whitney[x] was the headliner at the Raccoon Motel and the audience was attentive and familiar with all the songs and lyrics. Indie pop is close when describing the sound, however, you can hear dance rhythms and grooves that give Whitney a niche’ they can claim separate from the “indie pop” tag you see on music streaming playlists. The band is tight, and their following is like a dance indie pop Widespread Panic. We encourage you give Whitney a listen. The IQCF volunteers believe the Squirrel Flower and Whitney bill helped each band build their similar audiences.
Lissie & Cat Clyde @ the Raccoon Motel December 3rd, 2022
Lissie[xi] is a local musician from the Quad Cities who accomplished world fame with her brilliant musical compositions and lyrics. RIYL Fleetwood Mac, Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Sarah MacLachlan and if you like Danzig you will enjoy her cover of “Mother.” Lissie is the band leader and describes the sound like “…We’re pretty much a rock band…we don’t have any beats or computers…[just] drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, and live vocals….”[xii] The local Quad Cities audience gives Lissie huge support and encouragement. She is the most famous artist since Bix. Lissie helped put the Quad Cities on the map. Her local performances are always full of local fans who helped Lissie accomplish her wildest dreams. Personally, Lissie is my favorite artist ever.
Cat Clyde[xiii] is becoming a modern Bright Eyes with similar acoustic guitar sounds. Cat Clyde helped develop the vibe with the audience until Lissie emerged on stage at the Raccoon Motel. “Mystic Light” is one of Cat Clydes’ best pieces. Says Cat Clyde, “…It’s a song about wanting to understand my journey and purpose. I’m exploring feelings of adriftness, asking for the mystery or magic of life to show her face so I can see what it’s all for.”[xiv] The IQCF volunteers really enjoyed the ambiance at the Raccoon Motel. Lissie and Cat Clyde are strong women band leaders. The IQCF volunteers encourage you support these artists.
J.E. Sunde @ the Raccoon Motel December 16th, 2022
J.E. Sunde[xv] is an original music composer from Minneapolis, MN. The regional dialect in his voice is certainly an element of his sound. “Lauded by Daytrotter as ‘one of the greatest indie-folk singer/songwriters around…’ J.E. Sunde writes beautiful, poetic lyrics on top of his folk-rock instrumentals.”[xvi] The songs are original, and the lyrics are clear. J.E. Sunde draws the audience in with each song and is certainly a large presence on the Quad Cities scene.
Ellie Turner @ the Raccoon Motel January 17th, 2023
Ellie Turner[xvii] is a professional folk artist. Her song “…’One More Day’ acts an…introduction…on her new album ‘When the Trouble is all Done.’ The songs…reflective undertone, …tinged with…peace and melancholy…is a pitch-perfect…sound of estranged lovers thinking over the times they had with each other….”[xviii] Ellie Turner is a talent who must be heard live on stage.
Rookie of the Year & Cedars @ RIBCO February 10th, 2023
Cedars[xix] is an electronic band from central Texas with a strong female lead singer. The band is professional, and the sound is like Evanescence-lite with a twist of lime. The songs are certainly Billboard chart ready. The IQCF volunteers are happy we discovered Cedars, and they might enjoy mainstream fame and success.
Rookie of the Year[xx] was the headliner and the fans remembered every word of every song. Rookie of the Year is from Fayetteville, North Carolina. “…Their second full length album ‘Sweet Attention’…reached the U.S. Billboard Heatseekers’ #21 and #9 on Billboards’ Alternative New Artist chart in its first week…with over 30,000 album sales….”[xxi] Rookie of the Year entertained the RIBCO audience like professionals and the vibe was cool.
Sunny Sweeney & Angela Meyer @ the Raccoon Motel February 22nd, 2023
Angela Meyer[xxii] is a famous professional country music star from Davenport, IA. The IQCF are huge fans of Angela Meyer, and she is accomplishing her dreams with the support of her local fan base in the Quad Cities.[xxiii] We encourage you support Angela Meyer because she is a strong woman role model of women in the music industry. Angela helped build the vibe on stage at the Raccoon Motel until Sunny Sweeney performed her songs.
Sunny Sweeney[xxiv] is a professional country music singer-songwriter. Her voice and guitar skills are her signature, and she enjoys a large fan base of devoted fans. The Raccoon Motel audience encouraged Sunny Sweeney on stage whilst she described her personal life between songs. Her confessional approach on stage describing the inspirations behind her lyrics helped the audience understand her joys and her emotions regarding her past relationships.[xxv] Country music is full of similar experiences and Sunny Sweeney carved a niche in the country music scene with her authentic songwriting, lyrical and guitar skills.
Dessa & Subatlantic @ the Raccoon Motel & RIBCO April 14th, 2023
Dessa[xxvi] is an American rap artist, singer, writer, record executive and member of indie hip hop collective Doomtree.[xxvii] Dessa developed her early skills writing poetry and entered the music world “…when a member of the Minnesota hip-hop community saw one of [her] poetry slam performances and asked if [she] might be interested in [rhyming] with a beat…. She became a founding member of the Minneapolis-based hip-hop…record label Doomtree. In 2016 Dessa…contributed to the Hamilton Mixtape, where she appeared alongside the Roots, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Queen Latifah, Chance the Rapper, Kelly Clarkson, Nas, Busta Ryhmes and other music luminaries. [xxviii] Dessa and her band entertained the Raccoon Motel audience with a fervor that is her hip-hop signature. You can hear her spoken word poetry becoming lyrical rap genius with her backing band providing the beats.
“Subatlantic[xxix], an indie rock band based in the Quad Cities, features Becca Rice-lead vocals, guitar, and keyboards; Adam Kaul-guitar; Phil Pracht-drums; and Sean Chapman-bass and cello.”[xxx] The sound is like modern 1990s and 2000s grunge pop with strong female vocals. RIYL Belly. Subatlantic enjoys huge local support in the Quad Cities and the audience at RIBCO helped develop the ambiance and vibe. The IQCF encourages you support Subatlantic and the local music scene in the Quad Cities.
Jess Williamson @ the Raccoon Motel June 17th, 2023
Jess Williamson[xxxi] is one of the best indie Americana singer songwriters and band leaders in the world. Her album “Sorceress” is full of brilliant songwriting and lyrics. “When Williamsons’ relationship…with her “Sorceress” songwriting partner…ended, she focused on her personal growth. ‘My music, my singing, my songwriting got better because I did not want to be small anymore. I stepped into my fullness as a woman and a singer.’”[xxxii] Jess’ collaborations with Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) spawned a band called Plains. Jess Williamson is an inspiration and new generations of women singer songwriters will enjoy learning from Jess’ skills.
Matthew James Cepican International Quint Cities Festival Nonprofit Corporation Founder 