housing/child care in iowa city (Davenport, Denver: apartments, to rent, day care)

[sashaviasasha]

My partner and I are moving to Iowa City in January so I can finish school. We will probably live there for about 3-5 years as I plan on applying to grad school. We have an 18 month old son and I am interested in living close enough to the university to walk to school/daycare. I also have a 19 year old daughter who is expecting. Any suggestions for housing, day care, or just general advise about moving to Iowa city.

We are very interested in building alternative communities, sustainability, living, writing, literature, film and are looking forward to meeting like-minded people. After many years in Chicago we relocated to Davenport Ia and have been very isolated for several years now. I am very hopeful for a different experience in Iowa City.

[Dogs_in_Denver]

I haven't lived in Iowa City in a while, but I am from there and my mom still lives there, so I've visited recently.

If you are going to be a student, I'd recommend applying to live in Hawkeye Drive apartments when you start (or Hawkeye Court, but these are smaller and even though they are next to each other, Hawkeye Drive kids go to a better public school), which is the U of I student housing apartments. They are much cheaper than most places to rent- I had a one bedroom in 2002, and it was only $363/month with free local phone service (I'm sure it's more now, but probably a much better deal than anywhere else in town). These apartments tend to have quite a few families so there would probably be plenty of kids for your son to play with. They are not within close walking distance of campus, but they have a free bus service that stops quite frequently.

I'm not familiar with the current prices of today's apartments, but I do know they are significantly more than other areas of Iowa (including the quad cities). In 2005 (the last year I lived there) we rented a crappy 2 bedroom house for $750/month, but this was pretty cheap even then.

I don't have any advice on daycare because I didn't have any children when we lived in IC, but there is a free organization (4 Cs) that can help you make your selection. I know the woman in charge of it and she is really nice and helpful.

Based on your interests, I'd say you will like living in Iowa City. It's a nice place to live in general. Good luck!

[iowegian]

To start, I'd avoid any apartments on South Johnson St. or the immediately surrounding areas, those parts are mostly for drunken undergrads.

I think Dogs_in_Denver's suggestion is actually pretty good, but if you aren't going to be in college the whole time, I think I would try to live on the Northside/Goosetown, which is the neighborhood north of Bloomington St. It's a nice, older (many of the streets are brick), somewhat walkable neighborhood and there is a mix of families and students. There is a free shuttle that can run you downtown and back, and the western parts of the neighborhood aren't far from campus.

I agree that you sound like you'll be a good fit for Iowa City. I really hope you enjoy it here!