Mount Vernon, Marion, or North Liberty (Cedar Rapids, Iowa City: homes, college, crime)

[LPerkins33]

Originally Posted by SykoByte

You must be living in Iowa City, ND then.. LOL
And I was delivering newspapers, minding my own business, lots of drunks and lots of parties going around.
AND I've seen others get harrassed in downtown I.C. too. College kids love to drink and go out when it's nice weather out. I saw them hanging on traffic poles, fighting, yelling, and just acting like they do. I don't know how you can be oblivious to it.. but I guess you are just lucky. Just take a walk around downtown at 1:00am in May and you will see what I'm talking about. ALSO, all the sexual assaults that have plagued that city in the past couple years is astounding! If you think I'm making that up, then you've done a good job ignoring your local news. I still check the Gazette and KCRG even though I don't live there anymore.
I'm not saying it happens all the time. However it did seem to me that I.C. doesn't have as many students running around as it used to. Maybe that's a reason why it's calmed down. I'm also not saying that all the college kids do that stuff. My dad lives in a nice side of town (the outskirts).. and he never has any problems with the ones that live around him. I'm all for people going to college and all that, I just did not like being downtown late at night in the spring/summer, especially on the weekend nights. Any other time is pretty much fine. If you have a different view, then so be it.. that's wonderful. I'm just glad I don't live there anymore.
Now I'm in St. Louis where there's murders almost every day!

Umm I take walks around downtown at 1am several times a week and have never run into any problems (and no I'm not one of the intoxicated students). As I said I've lived here my whole life without incident. You lived here for a few years, I have much more perspective on this town than you do. If someone bothered you in Iowa City then you did something to provoke it, case closed.

And if you are glad to be living in ST. LOUIS over IC and complain about IC's crime then you must just have a skewed view of reality.

[bita023]

North Liberty! I lived there for a year and loved it. Its pricier, but worth it. I'd live in Cedar Rapids before I'd think about living in Marion.

[Nedibes]

I just thought I'd stick in a bit about Mt. Vernon. We moved here over the summer and really like it. If you really love small-town life (you're coming from a small town, right?) then Mt. Vernon is probably going to be more what you're looking for than either the IC or CR areas, though I also think both those areas are very nice.

The main drawback to Mt. Vernon would be the commute--I understand it has been pretty hairy a few times this winter, the worst anyone around here can remember. (At least, they tell me it's the worst--it's my first in Iowa, so I'm hoping that's true!) To CR it's not that bad, but to IC one usually takes Highway 1, a BEAUTIFUL hilly, rural drive in the summer that can be scary in bad road conditions. Judging by the high number of people we know who make this commute daily, though, I would guess that most winters it is doable. Also there are the usual downsides of small town living, going into town for certain things etc., but I imagine you are familiar with those.

What Mt. Vernon has going for it is a wonderful small-town feeling, with all sorts of quirky, fun community activities and features like the downtown street that they close all winter for a sledding hill, the downtown "Magical Night" in November, "Chalk the Walk" in the summer, the "walking tour of the Universe", community theaters for adults and children, and so on. This is combined with an unusual degree of prosperity/stability for a rural small town and some "bigger city" amenities such as the Lincoln Cafe and Wine Bar and a large library, courtesy of the College and its denizens. MOST things you can find here--drugstore, grocery, movie theater, clothing stores--though the selection may be smaller than you would find in IC/CR. And except in very bad weather, it's an easy drive to Marion/CR or IC/Coralville for malls, ethnic food, museums etc. I previously lived in Michigan and California, and my first impression of Mt. Vernon was that it seemed like a beach resort town without the beach (in a good way).

Someone upstream stated that Mt. Vernon was a college town, and implied that there would therefore be many problems with drunk college students. In spite of the fact that we live literally across the street from the college, and around the corner from several dorms, we have not had a problem with this. Of course we don't take our children to campus in the middle of the night, and I'm sure there ARE drunk students around, but I have not heard complaints about this from "townies". Part of this may be that it is a small school and town, where students are quite likely to be recognized by a professor if they misbehave in public . Also, there are NO summer classes at Cornell, so in the summer the town pretty much empties of students.

Overall, I think Mt. Vernon is a great place for a family (we have three children under age 6). The school system is one of the best in the state. Both the junior high and high schools are newly-built, and I believe very nice. I'm sorry I don't know anything about hockey here--I would guess you would need to go into CR for that--but I think both Mt. Vernon and Lisbon do fairly well in other sports. It's a very walking-friendly, safe town, where you see kids walking to the library or drugstore in a way that I didn't think happened anymore in America. In bad weather, people leave their cars running with the doors unlocked while running errands, and come back to find the cars still there and all contents intact!

Oh, and I think housing may be somewhat less expensive here than in N. Liberty/Coralville, though I'm not positive as we have not been house-hunting. There is a lovely stock of beautiful old houses here, as well as some newer, suburb-style housing on the outskirts of town. I believe there's even a new gated community somewhere around here (maybe between Mt. Vernon and Lisbon).

Good luck with your decision and your move--wherever you land, I think you will enjoy this part of Iowa.

[SykoByte]

Originally Posted by LPerkins33

Umm I take walks around downtown at 1am several times a week and have never run into any problems (and no I'm not one of the intoxicated students). As I said I've lived here my whole life without incident. You lived here for a few years, I have much more perspective on this town than you do. If someone bothered you in Iowa City then you did something to provoke it, case closed.

And if you are glad to be living in ST. LOUIS over IC and complain about IC's crime then you must just have a skewed view of reality.

I think you missed the sarcasm in my post there about STL.
I know exactly how it is in I.C. I've lived there, family has lived there and still does, and many friends have lived there. And I still pay attention to the news there. What would you say to all the victims of the numerous sexual assaults there lately? They must have provoked it??? It doesn't take anything to provoke a cocky drunk college student.
I'm sorry but I can not read anymore of your ignorance.

[SykoByte]

Originally Posted by SharpHawkeye

What, those dang kids wouldn't get off your yard?

In all seriousness, the OP is moving to a college town. They know that there are often drunk kids in college towns. They're a family with two small kids, so they know better than to be trolling around downtown at 1:00am on a Friday or Saturday night. They really care more about whether the town is livable the other 90% of the time. Which it is.

Also, I don't think it's less college students, I think it's more townies that are starting to demand that the college students settle down a bit.

I lived in a great part of I.C. on the outskirts.. never had any probs with the college kids there. Other parts were different. But anyway you are totally right about people moving to college towns and knowing what they are getting into, and yes you are right that a family would not be downtown at 1:00am. That's a good point to make because that probably would not pertain to them. I.C. is livable for sure, I just found other towns to be less-stressful, more relaxing and enjoyable. I myself want to move to Florida.. the people in those forums say terrible things and wonderful things about FL.. but I'll have to see for myself, just like any town. Some people love I.C. and that's great. If you like it there, stay for sure. I just chose not to.

[metro223]

Originally Posted by SykoByte

I think you missed the sarcasm in my post there about STL.
I know exactly how it is in I.C. I've lived there, family has lived there and still does, and many friends have lived there. And I still pay attention to the news there. What would you say to all the victims of the numerous sexual assaults there lately? They must have provoked it??? It doesn't take anything to provoke a cocky drunk college student.
I'm sorry but I can not read anymore of your ignorance.

Ya I agree, I don't see how everyone who is targeted by a group of college students asked for it, or provoked it.. I mean of course it would be easy for anyone to pick a fight with them, but a lot of college students (far from all) that go to bars will just yell anything to anyone.

They're called "mooks."

[LPerkins33]

Originally Posted by SykoByte

I think you missed the sarcasm in my post there about STL.
I know exactly how it is in I.C. I've lived there, family has lived there and still does, and many friends have lived there. And I still pay attention to the news there. What would you say to all the victims of the numerous sexual assaults there lately? They must have provoked it??? It doesn't take anything to provoke a cocky drunk college student.
I'm sorry but I can not read anymore of your ignorance.

that was ONE person out of 65,000. And they have since stopped completely. You may have lived here, but only for a short period of time. Sorry but you don't "know exactly how it is in IC". EVERYTHING you have said about Iowa City in this thread has been exaggerated by a thousand. I don't know who crapped in your corn flakes but I can only assume some minute incident spawned your bias toward a city that is easily the best one in Iowa.

[LPerkins33]

Originally Posted by metro223

Ya I agree, I don't see how everyone who is targeted by a group of college students asked for it, or provoked it.. I mean of course it would be easy for anyone to pick a fight with them, but a lot of college students (far from all) that go to bars will just yell anything to anyone.

They're called "mooks."

I honestly don't know where you get this from, I spent MANY nights downtown in Iowa City(in and out of college) and NEVER had anyone yell at me for no reason nor did I hear anyone yell at someone for no reason. Makes me wonder if this Syko person is completely full of it just like Dubuqueaskme who was proven to be a complete fraud and run out of the forum(perhaps even the same person! :end conspiracy theory)

[SykoByte]

Originally Posted by LPerkins33

I honestly don't know where you get this from, I spent MANY nights downtown in Iowa City(in and out of college) and NEVER had anyone yell at me for no reason nor did I hear anyone yell at someone for no reason. Makes me wonder if this Syko person is completely full of it just like Dubuqueaskme who was proven to be a complete fraud and run out of the forum(perhaps even the same person! :end conspiracy theory)

Ok now you are being a jerk. I find it very hard to believe you actually live in I.C., but I'm sure you do. I already admitted I was a bit harsh on I.C. And those sexual assault incidents have not stopped. There was one a few (maybe a couple?) weeks ago if I remember correctly. It was on gazetteonline. I just plain do not believe you when you say how you've spent many late nights in I.C. and have never been hollered at, or harassed in any sort of way. I'm sorry but I think that is a little bogus. Unless maybe YOU were one of the people causing trouble and you are seeing it all from that point of view instead. Not that getting hollered at is any big deal.. but it still sucks. What happened to me was my car got kicked when I was stopped at a red light, when I was delivering newspapers, completely unprovoked, and uncalled for. I've also seen things like that happen to others there and I myself do not want to deal with that sort of thing. Like I said, if others like it there, then stay. Stay where you are happy and content. We have obviously seen different sides of that city.
And as for me being someone else on here.. do all the research you want.. I have no idea who dubuqueaskme whoever is. I'm not here to make enemies or start wars.. but I find you a difficult person to exchange opinions with.
I know you will write back with a comeback of some sort.. which is expected. I'm just hoping I can hold back from writing in this silly discussion again.. Say what you will, think what you will, but to me you are very wrong.

[LPerkins33]

Syko, you're not even worth responding to, so after this I will ignore all of your posts since they are nothing but drivel. I'm sick of your exaggerations and sometimes flat out lies. I'm done arguing with someone who can't admit that they are blowing things completely out of proportion.