Iowa City, Iowa

zenobe1
6mo ago
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I'm not familiar with any other cities where you can attend a drag brunch, drive 30 minutes in one direction to see horses and buggies on the highway, and 40 minutes in another direction to be in a quaint (touristy) old German settlement - all in one day. I love it here, there's always something to do (people who say otherwise are often younger and don't know what to do outside of going to bars, but there is a LOT more to Iowa City than that). A bazillion hidden gems if you know where to find them!

Fartologist
2y ago
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I moved from Los Angeles to Iowa City to get a PhD. I was there from 2013-2019. Before I interviewed, I could not have even pointed to Iowa on a map. Living in Iowa City and going to grad school there was one of the best decisions of my life. I really loved it there. The campus/city is very beautiful with lots of history, at least compared to where I was from. There’s a lot going on and you can find fun activities all over. As another poster noted, rent is high for iowa standards, but you can manage. I had a great one bedroom for many years and I was only making 20k per year from grad student work. Lastly, as someone who is coming from a warmer state, winter is no joke! You’ll need to buy a legit coat, gloves, scarf, hat, and boots. You will fall on the ice.

Anonymous
2y ago
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I think one thing that comes as a surprise to people is that IC is actually more of a small city (coming from a larger city myself). It's missing some things you'll find in larger places (some types of food, e.g.) but has some surprising things (I still can't believe this place has a Trader Joe's given that some larger places I've lived didn't).

I'll add another thing--the rents are astronomical for a place this size as someone else said below. Depending on how much you have saved, it can be wise even for a 3-5 year grad program to buy a small house or apartment and sell at the end. This is based on doing some calculations for an expected five-year stay (that has become longer) and it would save us quite a bit of money because rent vs buy is so out of whack here.

All that said--it's a nice town. We're in what I think of the doldrums right now. Winter has been going on a bit too long but it's wonderful at the start. When things start warming up, the town is magical in the warmer side of spring, summer and fall. Lots of festivals, kids out playing, decent farmers market, arts events, etc.

RunThisTown1492
6mo ago
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Have lived here as university employee for 4 years. I agree with a lot of what you said. It's a lovely town--solid B+ / A- college town with free transit and, most importantly, affordable houses to purchase still. My wife and I bought a gorgeous, remodeled 1400sqft house that is walkable to downtown for low $200,000s. There are good shows that come to the Englander theater throughout the year, and if you're a big reader, the Writers Workshop draws a lot of literary types to the city regularly. In the summer, there's a great farmers market.

The downside is that the city is in a constant battle with the super conservative state legislature, which is hell bent on taking apart the university piece by piece. The one thing I disagree with you on is the restaurants--it punches below its weight for a college town. If you want pub food, you'll have your choice, but a lot of the non-pub food leaves a lot to be desired. You can find mediocre versions of some types of food, but it doesn't compare to other college towns like Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill, New Haven, etc. Another problem is that it can be a challenge after four years to find exciting things to do nearby. The landscape has its own simple beauty, but the hiking and nature opportunities in a 2 hour radius leave a lot to be desired (never mind how much Iowa has allowed its natural habitats to be destroyed by industrial farming). All the closest major cities are 4 hours, which makes it hard to make them regular trips (Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City).

Living in Iowa City