[From Wikipedia]
The Quad Citiesis a geographic region of the Mid-Mississippi Valley of the United States that includes several communities in the states of Iowa and Illinois. As of 2008, the population is 377,625. The five most populous cities in the region are:
- Davenport, Iowa
- Moline, Illinois
- Rock Island, Illinois
- Bettendorf, Iowa
- East Moline, Illinois
Before World War I, the area was known as the “Tri-Cities”, and included only Davenport, Rock Island, and Moline. With the growth of Rock Island County, East Moline was eventually given “equal status,” and the region became known as the “Quad Cities” during the 1930s. With the opening of an Alcoa plant in 1948, Bettendorf grew such that many people in the community openly discussed the adoption of the name “Quint Cities”. Indeed, WOC-TV (as KWQC-TV was then called) did much “Quint Cities” promotion in the early-to-mid-1950s. However, by this time, the name “Quad Cities” had become known well beyond the area, and “Quint Cities” never caught on. Eventually Bettendorf passed East Moline in size. The “Quad Cities” name is now technically a misnomer, as the area includes five cities, each with a population of over 20,000 and many other contiguous or nearby communities.
The Quad Cities is located approximately 180 miles (290 km) west of the Chicago area where Interstate 80 crosses the Mississippi River. The Quad Cities is also distinctive for the fact that the Mississippi River flows from east to west as it passes through the heart of the area, with the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf located due north of Rock Island and Moline, respectively.
The Davenport-Moline-Rock Island Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of four counties: Scott County in Iowa and Henry, Mercer, and Rock Island counties in Illinois. The Quad City Metro population is 377,625.
In addition to the five anchor cities, the Quad Cities area also comprises a number of surrounding smaller communities. Examples of these communities include the Iowa cities of Eldridge, Long Grove, Park View, Blue Grass, Buffalo, Montpelier, Walcott, Maysville, McCausland, Mount Joy, New Liberty, Pleasant Valley, Princeton, Le Claire, Panorama Park and Riverdale. The Illinois communities are Silvis, Milan, Andalusia, Carbon Cliff, Coal Valley, Colona, Geneseo, Hampton, Port Byron, Orion, Kewanee, Aledo, and Rapids City.
The Quad Cities area is one where the telephone companies cooperate with regional phone calls. Iowa and Illinois have different area codes (563 and 309 respectively), yet most calls originating and terminating within the core urban area are placed without long-distance charges by dialing just a 7-digit number. This helps the bi-state area promote itself as a single community, “joined by a river.”
The Quad Cities are served by the Quad City International Airport, located in Moline. The airport also markets itself to surrounding areas as an alternative to larger airports, such as those in Chicago. The smaller Davenport Municipal Airport is the home of the Quad City Air Show.
The Illinois Department of Transportation is working with Amtrak to restore passenger train service to the Quad Cities. The last passenger train in the area, the Quad Cities Rocket, ran between Chicago and Rock Island by the Rock Island Railroad until December 31, 1978.
[Information taken from Wikipedia, Creative Common License]
