Iowa city, Coralville or North Liberty

[iowegian]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

North Liberty is nice, it's just a little farther away from Iowa City. I've always thought it a little strange because it doesn't really have a town center. It has the highway cutting through town and then huge subdivisions all over. I think it would help a lot if they'd just make Highway 965 uniform 4 lanes and get rid of the ditches on either side. It's kinda hodge podge all over town.

It's grown fast though. Even in 1990 it only had 2,900 people, and last I heard it was topping 10,000.

That is what I don't like about North Liberty, it is too far from everything. And really there are not all that many stores out there yet. I'm actually surprised a Hy-Vee or something hasn't sprung up, but still nothing.

965 needs to be four-laned so badly too. Turning on and off that road during rush hour is totally impossible.

[Chicago60614]

^^ Yeah, I grew up in Northern Coralville, born 1979, so we were in North Liberty a lot. Of course back then it was just the core area that is actually a small grid along Front Street, Penn, and 965 was just to the west of town.

I still like North Liberty I guess, it just seems so random and confusing. The town was so open to development that anything and anyone who wanted to build anything could literally throw it up anywhere. You have decent size subdivisions on random farms, and then farms in between before you hit more. None of the streets really connect, and there's no "flow" through the town. It's like a small town on acid.

I'm seriously not saying that to slam the city, the standard of living there is fine, and it's not very expensive - it just lost any small town flavor it had. Coralville kinda did the same, but it seems to hold its identity together a little more.

[TheFarmer'sDaughter]

I'm not terribly familiar with North Liberty, so I will leave that one to someone else. I would probably suggest Coralville to you. Iowa City has a more crowded feel to me, and Coralville seems to give off a more surburbian vibe, even though the two are right next to each other. Nothing in that area is hick. Both IC and Coralville have their share of restaurants and excellent shopping. The Coral Ridge Mall has just about anything you could want, you can even ice skate and see a kid's museum if you wanted to. I'm biased because I love my state, but I think the Iowa City area as a whole is beautiful. When the humidity wears down a bit, you should consider taking a walk or visiting a park there, I think you will enjoy it. And welcome to Iowa!

[Growing2Boys]

You can look on Craig'slist or the press citizen (local online paper) website to get a good idea of rents in the area. They usually list as "west side" "coralville" "east" & "north liberty" University Heights is west. My guess is North Liberty will be the cheapest. Good luck!