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I don't think anyone actually thinks it's UNSAFE. Maybe just to walk down since it's such an auto-oriented road. I wouldn't personally worry about crime anywhere in Coralville as someone going about their regular day. I was just saying the areas north of the strip between 22nd and 23rd have apartment complexes that might be annoying/frustrating if you were actually living there for an entire year.
I mean have there ever really been any murders/shootings in Coralville? I can find one of the mother who set fire to her relatives house and a young boy ended up dying, but nothing else. I remember there was a murder back in the mid 1980's. It was actually a guy who lived next door to me, he was 18 and moved to the old trailer park they tore out by the Credit Union on 5th st. Bad drug deal I believe.
Yeah I grew up there for 22 years, still go back 6-7 times a year and know multiple police officers and teachers in schools around the district, etc. I'm not trying to say there ISN'T crime, but I've talked with other people like the OP who might be from Atlanta or Chicago and their opinions and idea of "crime" are normally on a much much more heightened level than someone who grew up in Iowa City. I just didn't want the OP to think there are swaths of the city that are totally off limits to enter or be near because of a constant level/fear of violent crimes. Same with the idea of "traffic". In Atlanta and Chicago you have to be extremely aware of where you live and where you work and how the expressways are and traffic to get you around. Many times it's well over an hour to move around town. Luckily in Iowa City it's just a non-issue.
Anyway, crime can and does happen, but overall you're very safe wandering around in Iowa City. Even if I walk down the street at 8pm on the southeast side it doesn't mean I'm being extremely stupid and putting myself in sudden danger. I have a friend who lives in that area and we walk around all the time. We're aware of our surroundings, but I'm not terrified of walking down some street over by Broadway.
I would agree that compared to Chicago/Atlanta the coralville area is vastly safer and the traffic is so much lighter that the concept isn't even the same. We may just have some small differences of opinion on the relative dangers of a few of the apartment complexes in the areas that we would bother consider to be less desirable. If your comparison is the bad parts of Chicago, and my comparison is the nice parts of Coralville/North Liberty, that would cause us to rate the areas very differently.
I appreciate everyone's feedback a lot! I am actually going to visit Iowa City next week to check out some living options. Since people seem to be somewhat conflicted on where one should avoid, perhaps someone wouldn't mind elaborating on where one will definitely be safe, a bit away from noise and undergrads, but still in somewhat proximity to downtown and buses.
--Note in advance, as I was nearly done with this post I realized that areas I recommend for living and suggest to avoid are not listed in order. Sorry about the poor organization, but I think all the links to places on the map may help.
Some areas that are definitely safe (I'm grabbing random addresses from within the neighborhood)
There is also an area on the southwest side of town. I drove it many times, but can't recall exactly which neighborhoods it is. Someone else can probably point it out. Keep in mind that bus service and the better parts of town tend to conflict. If the neighborhood is one of the better areas, there will not be much demand for a bus route.
Since you may want an apartment instead of a house, you may want to branch out from those areas. Keep in mind that renting in Iowa City sucks. The laws allow behaviors from land lords that would not be tolerated in many states. (IE, someone takes over your lease and you owe a 300 dollar fee to the landlord for him providing a piece of paper. This is on top of any application fees.) These fees are not part of the law, they are simply not against the law. Therefore, each landlord makes up their own rules. Ask about things like that, because most people don't think to ask and it really tells you "When I need to leave, does the landlord plan on kicking me in the teeth?" A high fee is a clear sign you're dealing with someone who will treat you very poorly
The apartments just north of this intersection are a crime infested **** hole. Some people may feel that the SE is okay because they lived there and don't want to admit an area is bad. If any actually tell you that this is a safe place to live, you should be careful around them.
These apartments are close to IC and have a great view (which is VERY rare in Iowa), but the owner has a terrible reputation with the tenants. I have not been personally involved, so I don't know which side is right. They are expensive: holiday inn coralville - Google Maps
When our apartment company started turning to crap we looked for apartments that were closer. This seemed like an okay area, though it was a little expensive. It did have reasonable access to bus lines. One area we looked at was: Mormon Trek Boulevard and westside dr in iowa city - Google Maps
We stayed here for a while. There are some nice places on the OTHER side of 965. This area isn't unsafe, but it went from having a waiting list and great reviews to being undesirable after an employee moved in and started snooping around apartments looking into people's homes for "violations" so they could charge fees. Yes, this ******** was peering into renter's homes. Green Meadow Court, North Liberty, IA - Google Maps
Bad area (in my opinion). Some may feel safe here, but I have a background in housing and these landlords just didn't care anymore: boston way in coralville - Google Maps
These homes are really close in, but demand from people wanting to live near the hospital/va may drive them out of your price range. I don't know how safe this area is because I didn't spend much time here, but if you really wanted to be closer you might ask around about it: woolf ave and bayard street in iowa city - Google Maps
I appreciate everyone's feedback a lot! I am actually going to visit Iowa City next week to check out some living options. Since people seem to be somewhat conflicted on where one should avoid, perhaps someone wouldn't mind elaborating on where one will definitely be safe, a bit away from noise and undergrads, but still in somewhat proximity to downtown and buses.
Look over around Westside Drive on the southwest side of the city. It has good bus service to the hospital and downtown and even a quicker bike-ride in. Very very safe, easy access to Cedar Rapids and Coralville, and a pretty, well-maintained area with some nice parks nearby. Westside Drive is all condos and townhomes, so you'd have rental options there, or there are single family homes in the surrounding blocks.
Iowa City is PERFECTLY fine. There are some less than desirable areas, but that's a far cry from places I would be afraid of traveling through.
People talk poorly about the areas south of Highway 6 in southeast Iowa City, and also maybe of areas in Coralville around 22nd Ave and 23rd Ave north of Highway 6 - but they're hardly scary or dangerous. More just not desirable.
Downtown will have drunk college kids late at night who might be loud or annoying, but I've never once felt in fear anywhere in Iowa City. Crime is normally not an every day issue.
I happen to work in a small business placed on 22nd ave, and know people who live on it. It's perfectly safe and not even really undesirable... The apartments down it are fairly priced and also much nicer and have less Chicago Projects transplants than my old apartment on FREAKING Boston Way... loud, obnoxious, and their relatives from Illinois parked in front of my garage (if you're unfamiliar, the garages are connected on a little lot. Rather than parking in the lot separate or in front of their relatives door, they parked HORIZONTALLY BLOCKING SEVERAL DOORS LIKE THE STUPID JERKS-) anyway...
The best housing I've found in Coralville (under the millionaire range of purchase that is...) is within the neighborhood of Holiday Road... most wonderful houses for usually decent pricing branches off in streets connected to Holiday. I know a family who lives in one such neighborhood, and their children rented on another section... it's wonderful around there, and it has great access to the main roads allowing for easy commuting.
Last edited by Plainswalker; 07-25-2013 at 12:31 AM..
I happen to work in a small business placed on 22nd ave, and know people who live on it. It's perfectly safe and not even really undesirable... The apartments down it are fairly priced and also much nicer and have less Chicago Projects transplants than my old apartment on FREAKING Boston Way... loud, obnoxious, and their relatives from Illinois parked in front of my garage (if you're unfamiliar, the garages are connected on a little lot. Rather than parking in the lot separate or in front of their relatives door, they parked HORIZONTALLY BLOCKING SEVERAL DOORS LIKE THE STUPID JERKS-) anyway...
The best housing I've found in Coralville (under the millionaire range of purchase that is...) is within the neighborhood of Holiday Road... most wonderful houses for usually decent pricing branches off in streets connected to Holiday. I know a family who lives in one such neighborhood, and their children rented on another section... it's wonderful around there, and it has great access to the main roads allowing for easy commuting.
I grew up in that neighborhood, on Valley View Drive. I was just back driving around there last weekend. Certainly does have cheap houses and many of them are very well kept. Strange how you grow up somewhere when it was new 30 years ago and drive around now...wow. Some of the houses on the west side of Valley View Drive (it's a U shape basically connecting to Holiday Road) look pretty run down.
And to your other point, I was thinking of Boston Way, just got a little too general in my description I guess or was off a few streets.
People that think these areas are not dangerous could use more real world experience dealing with bad areas. Experience with someone that can keep them safe so they don't get killed or raped, of course. There are "hoods" in chicago where you can plan to get yourself killed by going there. These aren't that bad but you are putting yourself at significant risk for bodily harm if you go there regularly. In my opinion, having a 10% chance that you'll be a victim of a significant crime by going there each day for a year or two is vastly too high of a risk level for my family. So while others may think "you probably won't die if you live there", I think "that risk is still way too high".
This is so over the top I find it hard to believe that you're serious. If it was true, bad neighborhoods wouldn't exist by now as everyone in them would have murdered each other!
Honestly unless you're a gang member, or have a tendency to do things that make people really angry, then by far the biggest risk factor in going to a bad neighborhood is dying in a car crash when driving over there. In fact, statistically it's safer to live in a high crime dense urban neighborhood where you don't need a car than live in a low crime suburb where you need to drive everywhere.
And applying this to Iowa City... I hope nobody seriously believes that parts of Iowa City and Coralville are unsafe to "travel through", or even visit. This type of attitude is so silly and sad... poor people aren't piranhas. Living on certain blocks may be a bad idea for quality of life reasons of course.
I recommend anyone who likes biking or nature to check out southeastern Iowa City. There are a lot of fun paved paths and nice parks. I used to go there regularly.
To those that said 22nd and 23rd is dangerous... it's far from it. The worst in Coralville I've seen is hooligans on Boston way. Lived there a year and regretted it. Not worth saving a couple bucks on rent. People from Chicago transfer to apartments like those and their stupid relatives who don't know how to park block the garages when they visit. (When there's an open lot right next to them... stupidity.)
Edit: How do I know they're from Chicago? The plates, stickers, asking if I see them or have to knock on doors to figure out which idiot owns the car so I can tell them to move it or *I'll call to get it towed.
*I never actually did that. Just venting at this point...
Never heard of rape murder or anything in Coralville. One of the safest cities in Iowa. Avoid Cedar Rapids and the other large cities though.
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