Restaurants and shops face onto pedestrian malls full of people watchers, street entertainers, and vendors selling popcorn, bagels, sandwiches and soft drinks. Iowa City, Home of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, annually ranks as one of the best sports city in America, according to the annual ratings released each summer by The Sporting News. Ranking the best sport cities from one through 238, The Sporting News bases a major portion of its rankings on professional sports teams located in each city. Iowa City, in each of the last three years, has ranked as one of the top college sports cities. Each year, The University of Iowa boasts a student population that includes young men and women from all 50 states and more than 100 foreign countries.
Diversity is also true among the student-athletes who come to Iowa City to play basketball.
The state of Iowa ranks as the fifth best state to raise a family, according to a recent study released by the Children's Rights Council, a Washington, D.C. based organization. The report is based on 43 factors which access a state's quality of life. The magazine cited the cost of living index, crime index and education levels as key factors used to formulate the Better Living list, which rated 315 metropolitan areas around the nation. I sports in both football and men's basketball, are graded according to various standards, ranging from on-field to academic performance. The ratings cover the last four years of graduating classes, and include GPAs and SAT scores for incoming freshmen.