Iowa Residence Halls

ssckelley

Well-Known Member
Just moved my son into Stanley Hall yesterday and I walked away impressed. The room he got was a decent size, it didn't feel cramped, huge bathrooms just a few doors down that had both private showers and toilets. Later in the day we decided to take advantage of my sons meal plan, which comes with guest meals, so we went across the street to Burge Market Place and I was blown away at all the food options. It reminded me of a buffet you would expect to see at a casino, not in a dorm room. They had shrimp, chicken breast, pulled pork, fish, a build your own pasta station, build your own wrap, salad bar, deserts, all kinds of different drinks. Even vegan options for those that prefer that. They didn't have every station going, there were not many staff or students but there was a pizza station and a international food station. It blew me away, I would pay to eat there.

Anyone else have similar experiences at these resident halls? Any tips? Is one market place better than the others? I don't have much to compare it too, I've seen the set up at UNI and that never left me all that impressed. I expected cramped living areas and passable food options. My biggest gripe is the parking, to park on campus my son would have had to put his car in the Hawkeye lot which is clear on the other side of the campus, a lengthy bus ride to get there. Fortunately we found street parking about a mile away, fingers are crossed his car will be ok.
 
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Just moved my son into Stanley Hall yesterday and I walked away impressed. The room he got was a decent size, it didn't feel cramped, huge bathrooms just a few doors down that had both private showers and toilets. Later in the day we decided to take advantage of my sons meal plan, which comes with guest meals, so we went across the street to Burge Market Place and I was blown away at all the food options. It reminded me of a buffet you would expect to see at a casino, not in a dorm room. They had shrimp, chicken breast, pulled pork, fish, a build your own pasta station, build your own wrap, salad bar, deserts, all kinds of different drinks. Even vegan options for those that prefer that. They didn't have every station going, there were not many staff or students but there was a pizza station and a international food station. It blew me away, I would pay to eat there.

Anyone else have similar experiences at these resident halls? Any tips? Is one market place better than the others? I don't have much to compare it too, I've seen the set up at UNI and that never left me all that impressed. I expected cramped living areas and passable food options. My biggest gripe is the parking, to park on campus my son would have had to put his car in the Hawkeye lot which is clear on the other side of the campus, a lengthy bus ride to get there. Fortunately we found street parking about a mile away, fingers are crossed his car will be ok.
I think you said on here at some point but I don't remember...did he make the band?
 
Burge is the best option for food. Hillcrest is okay. The schools are in an all-out recruiting war for customers, err, um students and the improvements they have made as they built new dorms or renovated existing dorms show that. The rot gut food service is long gone. Sodexho and one other massive company have completely revamped their offerings to comport with a litany of dietary restrictions and to provide more international options, which have the added benefit of giving kids something to complain about and protest because a large faceless organization serving pad thai or chicken tikka masala is obviously cultural appropriation and by extension a heinous crime against humanity.

I probably would not recommend street parking. There are all kinds of parking restrictions and I wouldn't be surprised if the street you are parked on has a designated time for towing all the cars for revenue generation, err, um, street sweeping. And snow plowing is another major cluster.
 
For parking, if he doesn't need is car every day, just park it in one of the downtown ramps. If you tell them you lost your ticket, they charge you for one day. So if he goes to get groceries on the weekend, then parks it Sunday, and leaves it there until the following Saturday to go to the store again, he'll pay for 1 full day of parking, which used to be $20 but maybe it's a little more now? Not a bad monthly rate for covered, safe parking.
 
I probably would not recommend street parking. There are all kinds of parking restrictions and I wouldn't be surprised if the street you are parked on has a designated time for towing all the cars for revenue generation, err, um, street sweeping. And snow plowing is another major cluster.

We got a tip from one of the other band members of a street that doesn't have restrictions. Otherwise he would have been forced to move his car every other day. We made sure to check there were no street signs.

The only other option was to store the car in the Hawkeye lot, which clear on the other side of the campus and is long bus ride to get back and forth too.
 
For parking, if he doesn't need is car every day, just park it in one of the downtown ramps. If you tell them you lost your ticket, they charge you for one day. So if he goes to get groceries on the weekend, then parks it Sunday, and leaves it there until the following Saturday to go to the store again, he'll pay for 1 full day of parking, which used to be $20 but maybe it's a little more now? Not a bad monthly rate for covered, safe parking.

Here is one thing I would advise him against doing. Do not pull out of those garage at 2:30 AM without your headlights turned off after you have been drinking. Maybe it's not as a big of a problem with the advent of the auto headlights, but back when I worked in the legal clinic that was the number one fact pattern for people getting DUIs. It's lit inside the garage so people forget to turn their lights on. They pull out and turn onto the street, whoop whoop.
 
For parking, if he doesn't need is car every day, just park it in one of the downtown ramps. If you tell them you lost your ticket, they charge you for one day. So if he goes to get groceries on the weekend, then parks it Sunday, and leaves it there until the following Saturday to go to the store again, he'll pay for 1 full day of parking, which used to be $20 but maybe it's a little more now? Not a bad monthly rate for covered, safe parking.
They'd probably catch on if he "forgot" his ticket 3-4 times a month, though, right?
 
They'd probably catch on if he "forgot" his ticket 3-4 times a month, though, right?

Even my backwater town has license plate readers when you pull in. "I forgot my ticket." "Oh, no problem, what's your license plate number and I'll print you a new one."
 
They'd probably catch on if he "forgot" his ticket 3-4 times a month, though, right?

I don't think they track the cars inside the ramp. I've never noticed cameras upon entry, but maybe they track license plates? But even if they did catch him, they'll probably just tell him to stop. Maybe I'll mosey past the ramp when I'm downtown this weekend and look. :)
 
We made our way down to IC yesterday and was able to check on his car. So far so good, fingers crossed. I also drove by the Hawkeye Lot, it appears not many students use it.
 
I don't think they track the cars inside the ramp. I've never noticed cameras upon entry, but maybe they track license plates? But even if they did catch him, they'll probably just tell him to stop. Maybe I'll mosey past the ramp when I'm downtown this weekend and look. :)
With the parking mafia around big schools even back in the 80's, let alone today I wouldn't bet on anything like that happening. Too much revenue to be made off college kids.
 
I worked in food service in college. Would occasionally work with local legend Gary (Smiley) Bloore. That guy could tell stories faster than you could keep track of them, had all the sports sections from every newspaper available in Iowa City, and made the work shift fly by quickly.

On a sadder note, student coordinator Val Smith got into dorm food service management full time after college, started her career at U of Missouri in Columbia, and sometime in the nineties was involved in a car wreck that forced her to disability. I liked Val. She loved to bake and was known to bring cupcakes to my apartment for my roommates and I.
 
How do you F up a Maid RIte?
Tasted flat, no spice or pizazz to them. Always added ketchup or BBQ sauce.

The food service manager where I worked was also in charge of menus for the entire dorm system, which back then consisted of four cafeterias. First day of the semester was always maid rites.

She had about a three week rotation so maid rites would pop up about five times a semesfer.
 
I worked in food service in college. Would occasionally work with local legend Gary (Smiley) Bloore. That guy could tell stories faster than you could keep track of them, had all the sports sections from every newspaper available in Iowa City, and made the work shift fly by quickly.

If you're interested in seeing where he's at now, check out https://www.facebook.com/SmileyFansIC

He's living at an assisted living facility in Maquoketa now.
 
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