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Thanks for your helpful information about Naperville, Drover! I will be living with my cousin in the apt about 1.5 to 2 miles south of I-88. I will try it for a semester so if that doesn't work out, I will get my own place closer to NIU in Elburn where I can enjoy country route to Dekalb without having to use toll road plus with Elburn being by Metra rail service to Chicago is a plus! That's my plan.
This is totally off the point for this thread but I had to ask since I am curious.
What is the big deal about Gov. Quinn? Why are the Illinoisans growing unsatisfied and frustrated with him already after impreaching Gov. Bragovich? I am sure I mispelled his name. LOL!
To the first point: if you're less than 2 miles from 88, it may be a little slow getting to the highway during peak hours but otherwise you should be OK.
To the second point: once Quinn took office he promptly vowed to increase the state income tax from 3% to 4.5%. That may not sound like much but keep in mind that depending on where you live the sales tax up here is anywhere from 7.75% to over 11% in some parts of Chicago, and property taxes around here are outrageous too. There's a general sense that we're already paying plenty in taxes, thankyouverymuch. Honestly, any incumbent who has to deal with the budget shortfalls exacerbated by the current economic climate is going to have a tough go of it, but raising taxes on a populace that feels like it's already being nickeled and dimed to death just isn't popular.
Also, they have really yet to bring about the reform they impeached Blagojevich for. We want transparency and to get rid of pay to play. Oh yeah, and that whole "jobs" thing... which every politician has to deal with.
^^^ Thiis is actually pretty common at second-tier state universities. Just in Illinois, I think you'll find Charleston, Macomb, and to a large extent Carbondale are the same way. Same with Whitewater, Stevens Point, and Superior up in Wisconsin, or Terre Haute in Indiana...
correctamundo
and i was guilty of listing Big Ten colleges towns and one (Hyde Park) that was a former one.(and i do tend to define distinct city neighborhoods like Hyde Park or Westwood as "college towns).
Thanks for your helpful information about Naperville, Drover! I will be living with my cousin in the apt about 1.5 to 2 miles south of I-88. I will try it for a semester so if that doesn't work out, I will get my own place closer to NIU in Elburn where I can enjoy country route to Dekalb without having to use toll road plus with Elburn being by Metra rail service to Chicago is a plus! That's my plan.
Just so you are aware; in the middle of winter you will want to take the tollway. Route 38 between DeKalb and Elburn is horrendous during snow events.....a couple of years ago my friends and I decided to go downtown for New Years.....we left DeKalb around 7pm and barely made it to Elburn for the 8:25 train.......traffic was moving around 15mph-25mph for the whole 15 mile trip!
On the plus side; the rest of the year you can zip on out to DeKalb via Keslinger Road (the road the Elburn Metra is on) in about 25 minutes.
Having graduated from NIU this past May, (and living there for 3 years), I can tell you this.....DeKalb, while not collegiate Madison or surburban Naperville, doesn't receive enough credit. The town is pleasant; there are nice parks/trails, historic old homes on shady brick-paved streets, and ongoing downtown revitalization efforts. I personally enjoyed riding my bike or walking through the older (1960's) neighborhoods on the south side of town. While there are some problems with petty crimes, etc., I always felt safe and comfortable when out and about (I am gay btw, fwiw). There are, however, a few run-down areas of town (North Annie Glidden / Greek Row / Pleasant Street), but it kept things interesting haha. Also, there is a lack of shopping choices (not too many mall-type stores), but Geneva, Rockford, and Schaumburg aren't too far away. I enjoyed interacting with the locals at my part time job as well; the locals and the college students get along better than you might think.
As for NIU, I would definitely consider it a suit-case / commuter university. Why wouldn't it be when you have world-class Chicago 60 miles down the road? There are numerous campus groups and activities; concerts, athletic events, music department performances, etc. I was happy with my choice of NIU (having come from Ohio, the state with a college every 10 miles LOL). I met a lot of great people during my time there; best friends, professors, colleagues...
Whoa, this may have been my longest post on the CityData Forum, EVER!
Any questions you may have, I will be happy to try and answer them for you!
Just so you are aware; in the middle of winter you will want to take the tollway. Route 38 between DeKalb and Elburn is horrendous during snow events.....a couple of years ago my friends and I decided to go downtown for New Years.....we left DeKalb around 7pm and barely made it to Elburn for the 8:25 train.......traffic was moving around 15mph-25mph for the whole 15 mile trip!
On the plus side; the rest of the year you can zip on out to DeKalb via Keslinger Road (the road the Elburn Metra is on) in about 25 minutes.
Having graduated from NIU this past May, (and living there for 3 years), I can tell you this.....DeKalb, while not collegiate Madison or surburban Naperville, doesn't receive enough credit. The town is pleasant; there are nice parks/trails, historic old homes on shady brick-paved streets, and ongoing downtown revitalization efforts. I personally enjoyed riding my bike or walking through the older (1960's) neighborhoods on the south side of town. While there are some problems with petty crimes, etc., I always felt safe and comfortable when out and about (I am gay btw, fwiw). There are, however, a few run-down areas of town (North Annie Glidden / Greek Row / Pleasant Street), but it kept things interesting haha. Also, there is a lack of shopping choices (not too many mall-type stores), but Geneva, Rockford, and Schaumburg aren't too far away. I enjoyed interacting with the locals at my part time job as well; the locals and the college students get along better than you might think.
As for NIU, I would definitely consider it a suit-case / commuter university. Why wouldn't it be when you have world-class Chicago 60 miles down the road? There are numerous campus groups and activities; concerts, athletic events, music department performances, etc. I was happy with my choice of NIU (having come from Ohio, the state with a college every 10 miles LOL). I met a lot of great people during my time there; best friends, professors, colleagues...
Whoa, this may have been my longest post on the CityData Forum, EVER!
Any questions you may have, I will be happy to try and answer them for you!
Sandwalk,
I am glad that you did your longest post ever about DeKalb and NIU since you gave me many helpful information and some insight about the area as well. Thanks for warning me about driving on Route 38 during snowy events. No place is perfect because there are both good and bad parts everywhere along with crime rate.
By the way, I happen to be a bisexual myself so I am glad to hear that you had no problems with being openly gay. I can't wait to leave Arkansas to return back to the Midwest that I miss very much; I happen to be from Indiana about 2 hours away from your home state Ohio. My job took me to Arkansas but I am ready for graduate school now. If I think of another question to ask, I will definitely ask in this thread again. Take care!
I have more questions to ask about Illinois I have in mind.
I know the cost of living is lower in DeKalb than other places closer to Chicago. However, DeKalb's cost of living is still 102, which is 2 points above average. Does that make a big difference with my moving from Arkansas?
Is it almost same as Indianapolis at all? I lived there for few years and it was decent.
Isn't it true that Illinoisans are arrogant and not so friendly without that Midwestern charm like my best friend said? She used to live with distant family in Kenilworth every other year throughout her childhood.
By the way, I decided not to live in Naperville since my jobs would be in both Rockford and Delavan, WI along with graduate school at NIU.
From my research, the geographic center of all is Marengo, Illinois. Is it a good place to live or do you have better ones in mind?
Marengo is 26 miles away from Rockford, 28 miles away from NIU, and 34 miles away from Delavan while I am only 45 miles away from Chicago's Loop and Halsted Street whenever I want to go. Also, shopping mall in Schaumburg isn't too far either.
My second choice would be Elburn with the benefit of Metra Rail; however, it's 58 miles away from Delavan, WI though.
Judging all of Illinois based on Kenilworth -- which is one of the wealthiest communities in the country -- is like judging all of Arkansas based on Bill Clinton.
Morengo is a decent if sleepy town. I'd rather live there than DeKalb. But it's substantially further than 45 miles from the Loop. 45 miles to the city limits is more like it.
Welcome to NIU! I got my audiology undergrad degree there in Communication Disorders. Didn't stay there for grad school though, I decided on Rush U. Anyhoo, one inexpensive option for housing (which I did my senior year there) was to rent a room in a boarding-style house. There were quite a few houses set up for this on the east side of campus (which is/where the ComD program was). I think I lived on Augusta if I remember correctly. I'm not familiar with Marengo or Delavan though.
DeKalb is okay. I certainly wouldn't choose to live there outside of going to school at NIU, but Cindy Crawford is a DeKalb native. Who knows, maybe you'll run into her if her family is still in the area. LOL
I have more questions to ask about Illinois I have in mind.
I know the cost of living is lower in DeKalb than other places closer to Chicago. However, DeKalb's cost of living is still 102, which is 2 points above average. Does that make a big difference with my moving from Arkansas?
Is it almost same as Indianapolis at all? I lived there for few years and it was decent.
Isn't it true that Illinoisans are arrogant and not so friendly without that Midwestern charm like my best friend said? She used to live with distant family in Kenilworth every other year throughout her childhood.
By the way, I decided not to live in Naperville since my jobs would be in both Rockford and Delavan, WI along with graduate school at NIU.
From my research, the geographic center of all is Marengo, Illinois. Is it a good place to live or do you have better ones in mind?
Marengo is 26 miles away from Rockford, 28 miles away from NIU, and 34 miles away from Delavan while I am only 45 miles away from Chicago's Loop and Halsted Street whenever I want to go. Also, shopping mall in Schaumburg isn't too far either.
My second choice would be Elburn with the benefit of Metra Rail; however, it's 58 miles away from Delavan, WI though.
What do you think?
Id look into Machesney Park, where the cost of living is very cheap, and the town is growing and coming along nicely. Its right next to Rockford (not so great), which would help you out, as well as close to I-90.
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