postapocalypso

Hah, I just happened by this post; I live in IC for the moment and went to undergrad here!

Do your best to avoid the rental company Apartments Downtown, aka Apartments Near Campus. They are, sadly, ubiquitous and notorious for shamelessly gouging their tenants' security deposits (it took a threat of involvement with one of my roommates' lawyers to get them to return most of ours) and were recently involved in a lawsuit for mistreating their tenants.

It'll be tempting to get an apartment downtown, as it is more interesting and pretty much on top of campus, but just remember that the rent will be higher, the nights will be noisier, and you may have to pick your way through pools of vomit and broken glass in the morning.

As for the winters, just know that you will suffer. Your snot will freeze, your eyeballs will threaten to, and you'll lose feeling in your extremities. As the season wears on, you'll notice more people hobbling about on crutches after slipping on the ice, sometimes because they were in a rush after failing to factor in how much longer it takes to trudge through snow, sometimes because they inexplicably insist on wearing high heels on the weekends, but mostly because ice hates you and yearns for your pain (and because most people use sand instead of salt in an effort to melt it).

We have thundersnow. We have deathcold. It will be bad, and you will cry, and then native Iowans will scoff about how this is nothing compared to the Winter of Year X and laugh at your tears (which will of course be frozen to your cheeks). I recommend a heavy coat, snow boots, thermal underwear, gloves, an extra warm muffler, hat, the whole caboodle. You'll be able to find these things here in abundance at Goodwill. Keep a safety kit in your car in case it stalls on some godforsaken stretch of road.

HAPPY THINGS ABOUT IOWA CITY = great restaurants, a fantastic library, a fair amount of diversity, a kick-ass used bookstore (The Haunted Bookshop has kitties!), excellent walkability, live theatre, friendly folks, and the New Pioneer Co-op. It's also America's only UNESCO-designated City of Literature -- woohoo!

Hah, I just happened by this post; I live in IC for the moment and went to undergrad here!

Do your best to avoid the rental company Apartments Downtown, aka Apartments Near Campus. They are, sadly, ubiquitous and notorious for shamelessly gouging their tenants' security deposits (it took a threat of involvement with one of my roommates' lawyers to get them to return most of ours) and were recently involved in a lawsuit for mistreating their tenants.

It'll be tempting to get an apartment downtown, as it is more interesting and pretty much on top of campus, but just remember that the rent will be higher, the nights will be noisier, and you may have to pick your way through pools of vomit and broken glass in the morning.

As for the winters, just know that you will suffer. Your snot will freeze, your eyeballs will threaten to, and you'll lose feeling in your extremities. As the season wears on, you'll notice more people hobbling about on crutches after slipping on the ice, sometimes because they were in a rush after failing to factor in how much longer it takes to trudge through snow, sometimes because they inexplicably insist on wearing high heels on the weekends, but mostly because ice hates you and yearns for your pain (and because most people use sand instead of salt in an effort to melt it).

We have thundersnow. We have deathcold. It will be bad, and you will cry, and then native Iowans will scoff about how this is nothing compared to the Winter of Year X and laugh at your tears (which will of course be frozen to your cheeks). I recommend a heavy coat, snow boots, thermal underwear, gloves, an extra warm muffler, hat, the whole caboodle. You'll be able to find these things here in abundance at Goodwill. Keep a safety kit in your car in case it stalls on some godforsaken stretch of road.

HAPPY THINGS ABOUT IOWA CITY = great restaurants, a fantastic library, a fair amount of diversity, a kick-ass used bookstore (The Haunted Bookshop has kitties!), excellent walkability, live theatre, friendly folks, and the New Pioneer Co-op. It's also America's only UNESCO-designated City of Literature -- woohoo!

Hah, I just happened by this post; I live in IC for the moment and went to undergrad here!

Do your best to avoid the rental company Apartments Downtown, aka Apartments Near Campus. They are, sadly, ubiquitous and notorious for shamelessly gouging their tenants' security deposits (it took a threat of involvement with one of my roommates' lawyers to get them to return most of ours) and were recently involved in a lawsuit for mistreating their tenants.

It'll be tempting to get an apartment downtown, as it is more interesting and pretty much on top of campus, but just remember that the rent will be higher, the nights will be noisier, and you may have to pick your way through pools of vomit and broken glass in the morning.

As for the winters, just know that you will suffer. Your snot will freeze, your eyeballs will threaten to, and you'll lose feeling in your extremities. As the season wears on, you'll notice more people hobbling about on crutches after slipping on the ice, sometimes because they were in a rush after failing to factor in how much longer it takes to trudge through snow, sometimes because they inexplicably insist on wearing high heels on the weekends, but mostly because ice hates you and yearns for your pain (and because most people use sand instead of salt in an effort to melt it).

We have thundersnow. We have deathcold. It will be bad, and you will cry, and then native Iowans will scoff about how this is nothing compared to the Winter of Year X and laugh at your tears (which will of course be frozen to your cheeks). I recommend a heavy coat, snow boots, thermal underwear, gloves, an extra warm muffler, hat, the whole caboodle. You'll be able to find these things here in abundance at Goodwill. Keep a safety kit in your car in case it stalls on some godforsaken stretch of road.

HAPPY THINGS ABOUT IOWA CITY = great restaurants, a fantastic library, a fair amount of diversity, a kick-ass used bookstore (The Haunted Bookshop has kitties!), excellent walkability, live theatre, friendly folks, and the New Pioneer Co-op. It's also America's only UNESCO-designated City of Literature -- woohoo!