Cedar Falls, Iowa

Cedar Falls is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States, and it is home to one of Iowa's three public universities, the University of Northern Iowa. The population was 36,145 at the 2000 census, with a 2009 estimate showing a slight increase to 38,589. It has the smaller population of the two principal cities in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metropolitan area.

History
Cedar Falls was founded in 1845 by William Sturgis. It was originally named Sturgis Falls, for the first family who settled the site. The Sturgis family moved on within a few years and the city was renamed Cedar Falls because of its proximity to the Cedar River. However the city's founders are honored each year with a three day community-wide celebration named in their honor – the Sturgis Falls Celebration.

Because of the availability of water power, Cedar Falls developed as a milling and industrial center prior to the Civil War. The establishment of the Civil War Soldiers' Orphans Home in Cedar Falls changed the direction in which the city developed when, following the war, it became the first building on the campus of the Iowa State Normal School (now the University of Northern Iowa).

Geography
Cedar Falls' longitude and latitude coordinates in decimal form are 42.523520, −92.446402.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Cedar Falls has a total area of 28.9 square miles (74.8 km²), of which, 28.3 square miles (73.3 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.5 km²) of it (2.08%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 36,145 people, 12,833 households, and 7,558 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,277.2 people per square mile (493.1/km²). There were 13,271 housing units at an average density of 468.9 per square mile (181.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.14% White, 1.57% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 1.61% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. 1.08% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 12,833 households out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.1% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the city the population was spread out with 18.0% under the age of 18, 30.6% from 18 to 24, 20.5% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females there were 88.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $70,226, and the median income for a family was $85,158. Males had a median income of $60,235 versus $50,312 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,140. About 5.6% of families and 4.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.5% of those under age 18, and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture
In 1986, the City of Cedar Falls established the Cedar Falls Art and Culture Board, which oversees the operation of the City's Cultural Division and the James & Meryl Hearst Center for the Arts.

Library
The Cedar Falls Public Library is housed in the Adele Whitenach Davis building located at 524 Main Street. The 47,000 square foot (4,400 m²) structure, designed by Struxture Architects, replaced the Carniege-Dayton building in early 2004. As of the 2005 fiscal year, the library's holdings included 2,176 audio recordings, 2,292 videos, 253 periodicals, 96 miscellaneous titles, and 115,757 books for a grand total of 120,574 items. Patrons made more than 220,000 visits which took advantage of circulation services, adult, teen, and youth programming. The library also provides public access to more than 30 public computers which provide Internet access, office software suites, high resolution color printing, and various games.

The mission of the Cedar Falls Public Library is to promote literacy and provide open access to resources which facilitate lifelong learning. The library is a member of the Cedar Valley Library Consortium(CVLC). Consortium members share an Integrated Library System(ILS) server which resides in the Rod Library of the University of Northern Iowa. Library management is provided by Sheryl Groskurth MLS, Joint Director of the Cedar Falls and Waterloo Public Libraries.

Education
Besides holding one of the three Iowa public universities, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls is home to three high schools. The Northern University High School, a private school run by the university, Valley Lutheran High School, a private Christian school, and Cedar Falls High School, which is part of the public school district, Cedar Falls Community Schools, which also includes two junior high schools and six elementary schools.

In 2000, the for-profit Hamilton College established its sixth campus of seven in Cedar Falls by acquiring the American Institute of Commerce.

Media

 * FM Radio
 * 88.1 KBBG
 * 88.9 KWVI
 * 89.5 KHKE
 * 90.9 KUNI (FM)
 * 92.3 KKHQ – Located in Oelwein
 * 94.5 KULT-LP
 * 96.1 KCVM
 * 97.7 KCRR – Located in Grundy Center
 * 98.5 KOEL-FM
 * 99.3 KWAY-FM – Located in Waverly
 * 100.1 KBOL-LP
 * 101.9 KNWS-FM
 * 105.7 KOKZ
 * 107.9 KFMW


 * AM Radio
 * 600 WMT – Located in Cedar Rapids
 * 640 WOI – Located in Ames
 * 850 KXGM
 * 950 KOEL – Located in Oelwein
 * 1040 WHO – Located in Des Moines
 * 1090 KNWS
 * 1250 KDNZ
 * 1330 KWLO
 * 1540 KXEL
 * 1650 KCNZ


 * Broadcast Television
 * 2 KGAN 2 (CBS) – Located in Cedar Rapids
 * 7 KWWL 7 (NBC, WX+ on DT2)
 * 9 KCRG 9 (ABC) – Located in Cedar Rapids
 * 12 KIIN 12 (PBS/IPTV) – Located in Iowa City
 * 17 K17ET 17 / K44FK 44 (TBN)
 * 20 KWKB 20 (The CW/MNTV) – Located in Iowa City
 * 22 KWWF 22 (RTN)
 * 28 KFXA 28 (Fox) – Located in Cedar Rapids
 * 32 KRIN 32 (PBS/IPTV)
 * 40 KFXB 40 (CTN) – Located in Dubuque


 * Print
 * The Courier, daily newspaper
 * The Cedar Falls Times, weekly newspaper

The underground music scene in the Cedar Falls area from 1977 to present day is well documented. The Wartburg College Art Gallery in Waverly, Iowa hosted a collaborative history of the bands, record labels, and music venues involved in the Cedar Falls music scene which ran from March 17 to April 14, 2007. This effort has been continued as a wiki style website called The Secret History of the Cedar Valley.
 * Music

Notable people
See UNI notable alumni for notable people from the University of Northern Iowa.


 * Actors
 * Annabeth Gish – actress
 * Gary Kroeger – actor, Saturday Night Live 1982–1985
 * Mark Steines – co-host, Entertainment Tonight, alumnus of the University of Northern Iowa
 * Joe Trotter -— actor/comedian, Andersonville
 * Michael Mosley (actor) – actor, Scrubs (TV Series)


 * Athletes
 * Kurt Warner – A retired NFL quarterback who played for the St. Louis Rams, New York Giants, and Arizona Cardinals; a University of Northern Iowa alumnus
 * Aaron Kampman – NFL defensive end with the Green Bay Packers
 * Don Denkinger – umpire that made a controversial call in the 1985 World Series
 * Bryce Paup-- NFL Football Player
 * Edgar Seymour-- Olympic Bobsledder
 * Terry Stotts – former head coach of the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks
 * Chad Rinehart – Boone High School, University of Northern Iowa, Redskins
 * Dedric Ward – A retired National Football League wide-receiver, who played for the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, and Dallas Cowboys. Ward was an alumnus of the University of Northern Iowa.
 * Trev Alberts – 1993 Butkus Award (for best linebacker in NCAA Division I football) winner and All-American at the University of Nebraska. A number one draft choice of the Indianapolis Colts, Alberts retired from the NFL after three seasons and moved to broadcasting with ESPN for a number of years.  Now the Director of Athletics at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.


 * Musicians
 * Karen Holvik – classical soprano, currently on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music
 * Giants – instrumental post-rock band
 * House of Large Sizes – an alternative rock band
 * Bill Stewart – jazz drummer and composer, attended UNI
 * Bonnie Koloc – folk music singer/songwriter/musician, born in Waterloo, Iowa attended UNI


 * Politicians
 * Jon Crews—Mayor of Cedar Falls January 2000 – Present
 * Charles Grassley – Current U.S. Senator, attended UNI
 * Gil Gutknecht – Former Minnesota congressman
 * Roger Jepsen – Former U.S. Senator


 * Writers
 * Bess Streeter Aldrich (1881–1954) – author of several novels
 * R.V. Cassill – novelist and short story writer
 * James Hearst – poet, farmer, professor of creative writing at UNI between 1941 and 1975
 * Helen Markley Miller (1899–?), writer of historical and biographical fiction for children about the Western United States.
 * Nancy Price – author of Sleeping With the Enemy
 * Leland Sage – Professor at UNI and historian
 * Robert James Waller – author of The Bridges of Madison County


 * Diverse notability
 * Marc Andreessen – Co-founder, Netscape Corporation
 * Rick Velleu - Co-creator of Dora the Explorer series for Nickelodeon (Rick designed the character of Dora)
 * Randy & Vicki Weaver – Parents, John Deere Employee, Ruby Ridge incident