moving to Iowa city...need help (Muscatine, Coralville: housing, condo, rent)

[southergirl]

Hi, Im planning on moving to Iowa city..with my husband and two preschoolers.
never been to your city.
can anyone tell me where would be a nice location to live in?
away from bars, apartments, college area..no crime.
just a nice quite neighbohood.
I want to rent a house..but dont know where..
Is there a web I could go to where I can see what the area looks like?

Thank you

[Pearlbob]

There is no crime, period, in IC. When I lived there, I left the windows open in my car all the time, apartment doors unlocked, etc. Not all the time, but just saying....I did it by accident a lot and nothing bad ever happened. Maybe a drunk guy throws an empty beer can in your car, that's about the extent of it. (i was a college student near campus)

Please search on there....there have been many people to ask this same question over the past few months.

Overall, the IC area is very pretty. Lots of rolling hills, trees, parks, etc. A very, very nice town to live in.

[southergirl]

Thanks for the info..
What about hills or west branch..what are those towns like?
I dont want to be right on the center of the city to avoid traffic during rush hour.

[DBQer]

Originally Posted by southergirl

Thanks for the info..
What about hills or west branch..what are those towns like?
I dont want to be right on the center of the city to avoid traffic during rush hour.

I wouldn't be too concerned about traffic. Most areas of Iowa in general don't have much, and Iowa City is certainly no exception. Any delays you'd have would be minimal.

To my knowledge, lots of young families are moving to Coralville or North Liberty, both of which are quite near Iowa City. The transportation network is excellent there, there are constantly buses running this way and that, plus there are good highways. If I had to pick, I'd take Coralville. It has nice neighborhoods, plenty of shopping, and is not far at all from the downtown/campus.

Good luck!

[jgr81]

i lived in iowa city for 5 years for college, then another year working, and moved to chicago last year for grad school. i must say, there really is no traffic/crime in iowa city. it is an awesome town, always things to do, a nice little downtown area as well. yes there are tons of bars and tons of college students, but it's not all that bad. that said, i'm 25 and still enjoyed that lifestyle too :-)

there are lots of areas you can live that are away from the downtown student scene... the east side of iowa city has a lot of new condo/housing developments, and there are some nice older neighborhoods on the east side too.

coralville is another option, it is basically the western part of iowa city and there are places out there too. newer house developments, kind of cookie cutter but lots of families too.

the only area you should avoid would be anywhere near downtown iowa city and probably the half mile radius surrounding it. also, some of the areas around the campus on the west side of the river have a lot of students. it's not hard to tell when driving around the town where the students live... but then again, i lived in a 'student' area and there were also families on the same block. it's all relative. luckily, unlike most other campuses, most of the partying takes place at the bars.

hills is a nice little town, but not really even a town. well it is, but it is sooo tiny. depends where you are moving from, i grew up in iowa and iowa city seemed big when i first moved there.

[WoodwardGirl]

jgr81 addressed Hills... West Branch is really a town, but is very small. There is a very small grocery there, but you would probably need to go to Iowa City for most shopping. There are a couple of restaurants, but they kind of tend toward bar/restaurant as opposed to anything really family-oriented. I love to visit West Branch -- the Hoover Library and grounds are awesome and there are some fun shops and antique stores. But I would tend to think of it more as an address rather than the "town" where you do your business. The school is fine, but I think you need to look at what you want for your kids. Some are going to thrive and do better in a really small school where everybody knows your name, while others will do better where there's a choice of foreign languages, a variety of sports and extra-curricular clubs, etc. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

The only "rush hour" in Iowa City to worry about is home football games, and there tends to not be a lot of rushing going on, then. I have to admit I do tend to avoid downtown Iowa City, restaurant and hotel row in Coralville and the interstates headed into Iowa City on those Saturdays. It's all loads of fun if you're into it, but if you're just trying to get all your errands done on the one day you have free, it can be frustrating and you might want to stay toward the outskirts.

They've done a nice job with pictures at this city photo album:
City of Iowa City, Iowa - Official Web Site

Welcome to the Hawkeye State!

[SharpHawkeye]

Welcome to Iowa City!

I'm not sure I would look as far out as West Branch or Hills...they're both nice places, but traffic in IC really isn't a huge problem, and I think the commute would be more trouble than it's worth.

Since you don't want to live near downtown...I would look maybe east of Muscatine (also called "Court Hill") or even farther east, past 1st. Ave. or east of Scott Blvd if you really wanted to get out of town. The farther east you go, the newer the houses will be. I would stay north of Highway 6, though.

On the other side of town, you might look at the area around West High. It's still in Iowa City, but very residential and out of the way. I'm not a big fan of Coralville as a place to live, but north of I-80 is nice.

Here are some links that will hopefully give a good representation of various places around town!

Iowa City Press-Citizen: Your Community
Iowa City Main Photo Page
Iowa City Flickr Group

[southergirl]

Thanks everyone I appreciate all this information..Its nice to able to see pics of the area. I wish I was able to see pics of court hill and west high too..now that sharphawkeye has recomemded them as a place to live.

SharpHawkeye why are you not a big fan of Coralville? how does that town
compare to court hill and west high?
Is there parks around these areas for little kids?
and how far are the supermarkets?
I want to be able to rent a house will it be easy to find some in coralville, court hill, or west high?

Thanks

[vincolo1]

one more point to remember is that enrollment to West High School is closed. They are full and not taking new students. Your high schoolers will have to go to City high or you can open enroll them somewhere else, just not West High

[southergirl]

Originally Posted by vincolo1

one more point to remember is that enrollment to West High School is closed. They are full and not taking new students. Your high schoolers will have to go to City high or you can open enroll them somewhere else, just not West High

They are pre-schoolers 2-3 years old..
high school is a long..long ways away...

But thanks for the info..