r/coralville

Looking for recommendations for local places with a really good white pizza. I’ve got this hankering for a delicious white pizza with ricotta, fresh basil and sliced tomatoes.

Hey guys, I will be moving to Iowa City at the end of October. I will be working in the Northgate Dr / N. Dodge St area. I am leaning towards living in Coralville but have had absolutely no luck finding an apartment. Looking to keep it under $1,800 for a 1 bedroom and want something more updated with in unit washer and dryer and preferably a balcony/outside area. It seems the entire city runs on an August-July schedule which is new to me. Not sure if there are any recommendations for complexes, companies, or resources. Thank you!

Costco in coraville is a disaster, over a hour to leave parking lot

Below is the text of an email I just sent to our mayor, Laurie Goodrich, and city council. I hope you will join me in asking them to reinstate community comment. Additional context can be found in the other recent post here, or in the /r/IowaCity thread.

I wrote the bulk of the below prior to learning of Coralville Mayor Goodrich's decision to strike the public comment portion from our upcoming city council meeting's agenda, so I will leave it intact and add this prelude: I am extremely disappointed at this undemocratic action and I urge the mayor and city staff to reconsider. It is the responsibility of all elected officials to be accountable to the public and this was a mechanism that allowed for us raise concerns and share our vision for the city publicly. The public is barred from participation in work sessions and several of the council are unresponsive to private inquiries. The removal of this portion of the meeting cuts off a vital part of the process of organizing as a community, and further sequesters its officials from valid criticism that should be shared.

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Folks around the country are growing frustrated. Frustrated at many things, but also at a system that no longer seems to be able to hold elected representatives accountable and that makes individuals feel more and more powerless. As the economy worsens, financial constraints surround people, and as social conditions worsen for the vast majority of Americans, that frustration is going to take many forms.

All around this country we have frustration, and it is growing. It could be frustration at a federal government that seems unwilling to hold elected representatives accountable. It could be from a state that seeks to privatize systems meant to support its residents, to remove entire groups from public life, and to hinder future leaders from correcting their intentional sabotage. It could be frustration at a county that allows private, for-profit conglomerates to capture their resources and poison their land. It could be from a city that has a mountain of debt, but seems to dole out tax incentives that further burden our future city while our most vulnerable are struggling.

Whatever the level of government that it is, as more people reflect and ask what they can do to effect change or to help change course and make a better world for their friends, neighbors, and selves, many will begin to turn that anger and frustration into action. This means more people will show up to meetings. Some may run for office, or look to get selected for various boards and committees. Some will look towards mutual aid groups, some to party politics: what is important is that they are trying or supporting others that are. This action is rooted in a frustration, so there will of course be moments where opinions and personal beliefs about the best course clash. We've seen it in Coralville, at the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, and in the hall of our legislature in Des Moines.

When residents and neighbors come together at these meetings to voice concerns, many times that frustration is not diminished. I can confirm that coming to our city council meetings week after week to remind the council how AI surveillance and ALPR systems actually function was an exercise in frustration. I felt like the community had to constantly repeat itself and reassert facts over corporate propaganda. Of course, when it comes to public comments, not every comment is as constructive as the last. Criticism can take many forms and can contain a wide range of emotion, especially when we are talking about frustration. There are times when I have been more harsh in my language, and others where I was able to remain more measured in my approach. Not everyone with a need or a frustration will have the patience or desire to express it in a way that the council or mayor may find acceptable. In some cases, a speaker may not quite have the vocabulary or the comfort in speaking publicly in the first place to articulate something appropriately. I know that as I have sat through meetings, I have heard many comments that I thought were disjointed, maybe were overly critical, or just flat out incorrect, even if I supported their general aim. But it is not any official's place to bar them from their right to partake in the process: unfortunately part of being an elected official is to be yelled at sometimes. As someone who has started attending more types of local meetings for the first time, some newcomers may also not fully understand the processes of that meeting, which leads to more confusion and can lead to more frustration. Dissent is not inherently inappropriate. Criticism is not inherently inappropriate. If your reaction to any criticism is to shut down discussion, then you are failing as an elected official.

Voices will find there way, going beyond the election of a representative to lend their voice to this democratic project. Whether you approve of the structure or language of their concerns or not is immaterial. Whether their concerns are coherent or not is immaterial. The ability to share our voices publicly and to demand better of our representatives is key to the survival of any democracy and is key to civil life.

Ryan Swenka Resident of Coralville