WATERLOO — The cities of Cedar Falls and Waterloo haven’t lost their ranking on an infamous list that plagues the Cedar Valley. The metro area is still the sixth worst place for Black people to live.
Financial news website 24/7 Wall St. identified the 20 worst cities for Black Americans by measuring racial socioeconomic gaps in the country’s 383 metro areas. These variables include the gap between white and Black residents in poverty, education, homeownership, income, unemployment, mortality and incarceration. They used sources from the U.S. Census, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bureau of Justice.
The report states that the Cedar Valley has one of the largest unemployment gaps between white and Black residents. While just over 3% of white people are unemployed, Black residents have a rate almost five times that amount at 14.7%. The national unemployment rate is 5.3%.
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The Black population in Waterloo and Cedar Falls is 12,737 – which is 7.5% of the entire population. That equates to about 1,872 unemployed Black residents.
Without a job, residents are most likely not receiving any income. The median income for Black residents is $29,150, which is 47.7% of the median income for white residents – about $61,111. The report states less than 12% of white residents live in poverty, compared to more than one-third of Black residents.
Without substantial income, it is harder to buy a home. Almost three-quarters of white residents own their homes. Less than one-third Black people own their home.
The majority of the metro area’s Black population lives in Waterloo. A little more than 17% of Waterloo’s residents are Black, compared to 1.3% of Cedar Falls residents. Waterloo has the highest percentage of Black residents in the state based on the city’s total population.
Although just over 1% of residents in Cedar Falls are Black, Mayor Rob Green believes the ranking is a problem for both cities.
Green
“The disparities and challenges that landed the Cedar Valley in this list weren’t created in just a few years,” he said. “I am not surprised to see that addressing these endemic challenges will take a decade or more of significant effort.”
With a higher number of Black residents in Waterloo, many have viewed the ranking as a “Waterloo problem,” according to Cedar Falls Human Rights Commission Chairperson Sonja Bock.
Bock
“It’s our problem, too, and we’re a part of the problem,” she said.
Bock said she’s shocked at the report – but not really.
“You know it’s there,” she said. “But when you really look at the numbers, it’s discouraging.”
In 2018, the Cedar Valley was ranked the worst metro area to live in as a Black person.
Michael Blackwell – an educator, pastor and activist – believes the five cities above Waterloo-Cedar Falls have gotten worse, rather than the Cedar Valley getting better.
The top five worst metro areas for Black people to live are Peoria, Illinois; Springfield, Illinois; Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wisconsin.; Racine, Wisconsin.; and St. Cloud, Minnesota. Two other Iowa cities are on the top 20 list. Davenport – along with Moline and Rock Island, Illinois – is number 13 and Des Moines-West Des Moines is number 11.
Ridgeway
Madelyn Ridgeway, executive director of 24/7 BLAC, which was created in 2020 as a response to the reports, noted that 13 of the 20 cities are in the Midwest. As someone who used to live in the South, she asked herself “why the Midwest?”
“I think historically when people think about injustices, the story of Black people, we automatically go to the South because of the (history) of civil rights,” Ridgeway said. “I’m from the South, and I know the perception that people have, but there are no cities in the South on the list.”
She said Waterloo-Cedar Falls’ designation is not surprising to her but also said that changing statistics, mindsets and culture takes time.
An example she gave was the influx of Bosnian refugees in the community during the 1990s. About 30 years later, she said many of the refugees that are still in the Cedar Valley are now thriving – but 30 years takes time.
Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart acknowledged Ridgeway’s organization saying it has helped grow local Black businesses as well as getting more Black people into their own home, rather than renting.
Hart
Hart is Waterloo’s first Black mayor and, along with a majority Black council, he is hoping to create a “community of opportunity,” which he assigned as the city’s motto.
“You have to have an administration that is empathetic and responsive to the needs,” he said. “You can’t solve today’s problems with the mindset that has created them.”
He clarified that it is not just the responsibility of local government but of the entire community to be engaged with the Black community and support them.
Some goals the city is working for, or has achieved, Hart said, is lowering the unemployment rate for Black residents, seeing more Black people in leadership roles, addressing transportation barriers, looking at child care shortages, creating more accessible internet and cleaning up housing.
“It’s not an easy lift,” he said. “But I do think the things we’re doing today … (are) going to support greater long term opportunities.”
As for the city of Cedar Falls, Green said he’s proud of the growth of the Human Rights Commission. He noted they’ve spotlighted issues, addressed complaints, and become a force and voice for issues around race – which he said the city had lacked.
Bock said the city’s creation of a racial task equity force was pivotal. That task force released a housing needs assessment that focused on housing inequality, which hadn’t been accomplished since 1998. The city also hired a diversity, equity and inclusion specialist.
Ridgeway also acknowledged the city of Waterloo has improved by introducing more Black culture into the community like the Summer Soul Classic Parade and the Juneteenth celebration.
She also said there are more Black-focused services, such as hairdressers. When Ridgeway previously lived in Muscatine, she would fly back to the South just to get her hair done “correctly.”
Those accolades don’t diminish the fact that many Black residents struggle to make money.
Blackwell
“Income inequality is outrageous in this country and certainly here also,” Blackwell said. “When the median income for Blacks is (half) of what the median income is for whites, that’s a big problem and so we need to address that. And it’s not something that can take place overnight.”
He believes that many Black workers in the Cedar Valley are making “poverty wages” with jobs that do not represent their capabilities or experience.
With large companies in the Cedar Valley, such as John Deere and Tyson, Ridgeway argued there should be more Black people in their leadership positions, especially due to Waterloo having the highest concentration of Black people in the state.
“When you look at the fact that how many of us are in Iowa, how many of us are in … the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area, there should be more of us that are higher earners,” she said. “There should be more of us that are in leadership positions.”
Returning to the point of her southern roots, she said growing up she saw many examples of Black leaders such as mayors, CEOs, doctors and lawyers.
“We need more examples,” Ridgeway said. “We need more thriving business owners. We need more leaders. We need more high earning Black professionals. We need more Black people in homes that are helping them build that wealth.”
When someone doesn’t have a job, they can’t qualify for a home, she said, which becomes a cycle.
“Most people in America, Black or white, no matter what their culture is, their largest asset is their home,” she continued. “When you don’t own a home then your overall net worth is lower. You want to start a business, you don’t have that capital. You don’t have anything that you can even borrow from. You don’t have any investments.”
Green said homeownership is one of the most effective ways for someone to build wealth over time through equity, which is a financial asset and can provide stability. He said due to historical discriminatory housing practices such as redlining and restrictive covenants, many Black Americans were denied access to owning a home which has led to even greater wealth disparities.
Redlining, is the practice of mortgage lenders denying financial services to people who live in a certain area. Restrictive covenants prohibit particular groups – specifically racial – from purchasing or leasing a property.
Bock said the structure built decades ago was created to keep places segregated in the future.
“It’s worked extremely well,” she said.
Green said the Human Rights Commission is preparing a resolution for the Cedar Falls City Council to “formally acknowledge and repudiate Cedar Falls’ history of restrictive covenants.” He said the resolution will enable leaders in the community as the city addresses concerns from the housing needs assessment.
The housing needs assessment, which was published this year, was a response to a Cedar Falls Racial Equity Task Force request for solutions to a lack of affordable housing.
The Courier previously reported that, last fall, the median sale price for a home in Cedar Falls was $225,000 – significantly higher than the range of $170,000 to $200,000 in the surrounding communities of Denver, Hudson and Jesup.
As for rental units, the median gross rent was $944 in 2020, which is higher than the state’s median gross rent at $806. Only 20% of occupied rental units had gross rents under $700.
This has led to a smaller number of Black people living in Cedar Falls, according to Bock. She said although they may come to the city to work, they cannot afford to live within the city limits.
She believes that Waterloo has the upper hand for affordable housing because there is more programming and support, such as Habitat for Humanity, which builds news homes or renovates old houses. The housing needs assessment report stated there are not many rundown properties in Cedar Falls to be demolished or revitalized and that lots in Waterloo are cheaper.
“Again, it’s those institutional structures that are helping people get a leg up … that will say ‘Please help keep people out,’” she said. “And they have helped. There’s been institutional struggle.”
Ridgeway stated although the city of Waterloo has had a lot of new housing developments approved, many of them are not affordable housing.
She said this results in Black residents not living in newer developments whereas older homes usually have issues and Black homeowners may not have the equity yet to make the repairs or upgrades.
Blackwell said, along with affordable housing, there should be more mixed-income housing, as well. The lack of these types of housing results in “geographical separation” in both cities. This could result in people of lower socioeconomic classes being relegated to one area.
Although the 24/7 Wall St. report focuses mostly on housing and income, there are other issues affecting the Black community.
Green said in Cedar Falls Community Schools, only four out of 790 school employees were Black, even though more than 5% of students are Black. He said the district is working to increase its diversity.
Waterloo Community Schools stated in a 2021 report that 20% of its staff members are people of color. That number was not broken down into different racial groups.
With education, children can go into the world with better chances of employment, according to Blackwell. He described it as “problematic” that money is going from public school funding to private and parochial schools under a new state law.
“We should fortify our public schools so that people can go to and achieve those kinds of successes so they can market themselves and improve their employment chances as they grow older and mature,” he said.
Other issues noted included Black Hawk County’s high jail recidivism rate and lack of quality medical care for Black residents.
Although a top 10 ranking is discouraging, many believe there is hope on the horizon if the community chooses to act on it.
Blackwell thinks the metro’s designation could help the area secure funding to improve the conditions for Black residents. He said companies in the area could use the 24/7 Wall St. report as justification on grant applications.
Ridgeway also believes there are a lot of opportunities because many people are paying attention to the report – but she said those people can’t forget the Cedar Valley is on the list.
“This doesn’t have to be our story,” she said. “We can be the community that looks at this problem and says each of us cared enough to do our part and it changed Waterloo-Cedar Falls for the better.”
“We refused to be in that list forever,” she continued. “It’s just not acceptable for us to be on that list forever. Our kids deserve more than that.”
What do Iowans want? An inside look at what 20 Iowans say about their lives, government
What Iowans want – Ryan Globe
Photo: David Golbitz, The Council Bluffs Nonpareil
Ryan Globe
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Occupation: Custodial at Iowa School for the Deaf
Political party: Independent
Hometown: Council Bluffs
Education: Associate’s degree
What are the biggest challenges you face in your everyday life?
“Money. The buying power of my dollar goes a lot less further than what it was for my parents, for my grandparents.”
How do you see Iowa’s government affecting your life?
Ryan can’t take a walk with his son outside their building, because the sidewalks are in desperate need of repair; the same with the streets. Legalizing and taxing marijuana would create an income stream that could help pay to repair city, county and state infrastructure.
What issues do you wish the government paid more attention to? Less attention to?
Pay more attention to things that people can agree on, like the need to repair infrastructure, and less time encroaching on peoples’ private lives, especially in schools: “If you’re a teacher, just do your job. Shut your mouth, teach algebra, teach English.”
