Where is a nice place to raise a family IL? (Chicago: job, hospitals)

[jessiegirl_98]

Technically, Naperville is rated as one of the best places to raise a family. I agree though about Bloomington.

[preppyboyofIL]

I love Naperville don't get me wrong, just my point was in order to live there, you better have a really good job because the cost of living is very high. Naperville's homes are very appealing but come with hefty price tags, and the way the city is laid out is very smart, but again comes the whole cost issue. For those that can afford it, they can take comfort in living in one of the nicest burbs in America, but for the millions like myself that barely get by due to prices on everything skyrocketing while salaries are meandering around the same as they were 10 years ago, I can only dream of living there.

[MidwestTexan]

Mahomet, about 5 miles from Champaign-Urbana is a great place to live. I grew up there, and would love to convince my wife to move back. EXCELLENT SCHOOLS!!!! - great summer sports activities, very family oriented community, only minutes from C-U. All the advantages of small town living and urban living all at the same time.

[BLOOMINGTONIAN]

Like all have said before, Naperville is very nice and is a great place to live if money is no object. I agree as I have immediate family in DuPage County and know the area very well. Naperville is the jewel of DuPage County (and probably all of Chicagoland) and has a lot to offer as far as schools, housing etc. Bloomington - Normal is like a downstate Naperville, full of new subdivisions, restaurants, shopping, sporting events, and quality schools. The big difference is that the Bloomington cost of living is like 1/2 that of Naperville. Check out the real estate comparison data on Money Magazine (via cnn.com - money section - real estate). Bloomington has a Cost of Living less than the state average, but a median family income far in excess of the state average. Naperville is well in excess of the state average on both counts. Therefore, the standard of living in Bloomington-Normal is very high and is a great place to live.

[cooldude11]

That's why Naperville was rated in MONEY magazine. You can't believe what you read from those things.

[JvilleTim]

I would think that you would want to check on employment and that would be a big factor on where you would want to move to. I have lived in Jacksonville all my life but have been through and around many of the smaller communities in central IL. I would think that it would depend on if you want to commute to work and how far. There are many manufacturing plants here and a hospital. State schools for the Deaf and Visually Impaired. Two private colleges and a good school district and we are only 30 miles from Springfield. There are people here that commute to Springfield to work because of the short drive. There are also many smaller communities even closer to Springfield than we are. Jacksonville has a lot to offer a young family like the YMCA, recreation, shopping centers and things like a new Home Depot. They are just starting to build a new Super Wal-Mart on the west end of town. Not bad for a small town.

[HOWELL_STREET]

Since you are already in Southern Illinois, why not consider the Illinois Sleeper town known as Nason, IL? It is located about one mile from beautiful Rend Lake and on its northern shore. Nason is about eleven miles SW of Mt. Vernon and a more beautiful town - - you will never find. But it is very isolated and hard to get to, if you don't know the way. It is located in the Waltonville, IL school district. One can buy vacant land (130 feet X 50 feet) for about $1K each lot. Since I own property in Nason, I think I can answer many of your questions about this gorgeous place.
One other very good town would be Sycamore, Illinois since my son owns property near there. It is located near Northern Illinois University.

Best Regards,
Carter Glass

[Scribbler]

Naperville is far too costly, and relatedly, not especially culturally diverse. There is basically one socioeconomic class tier that can live there, and people not especially interested in that type of homogeneity for bringing up their families may choose to avoid that.

I would recommend communities that are identified primarily as homes to colleges and universities, and neighboring communities, as they generally come with cultural offerings to cater to both faculty and student populations, and often boast quality school districts. You can find college towns throughout Illinois of essentially every size and atmosphere, as well.

[acreplus]

You might want to look at Lemont if you can afford it. We live in an unincorporated area of Lemont (Will Co. less expensive than Cook) and have loved it all our lives. Unfortunately, developers (light industrial/warehouse) are pushing us out and soon we will have to relocate too. We can't afford Cook County Lemont (wish we could). Naperville is too congested and even more expensive. Can't stand the traffic there.

[ezcookin]

I agree with the posts about Bloomington/Normal. I grew up in Chicago and have been in Bloomington/Normal for the past 20 years. It is the PERFECT place to raise a family and if you can't find things to do, you're just not looking! We are within a few hours of Chicago, St Louis and Indianapolis. We are within an hour of Peoria, Springfield and Champaign. There is a dinner/theatre in Goodfield (20 min away), which is AWESOME and so well priced with great food. I have met people that come there from Joliet and the suburbs of Chicago since they don't have to deal with the traffic and was told the food was better and the show A+. We have a zoo, great schools, sports clubs (volleyball, basketball, etc), as well as all city wide sports you can imagine....basketball, tackle football, ice hockey, soccer, skateboard parks, gymanstics and dance, volleyball, softball and baseball, etc. I should know my kids have partaken in most of them. We have club sports (volleyball, basketball etc) and many available thru two awesome park districts as well.

We have a new Cultural Arts Center and a new Ice Center/colloseum, which offer concerts, minor league football and hockey team games.

As for colleges, we have Illinois State University, Illinois Weslyan University (both with awesome libraries), Heartland Community College and Lincoln College. The school sytems are some of the best in the country and the Private schools rank high too! Largest Employers are State Farm Corporate office, Country Companies corporate offices, the universities, Mitsubishi plant.

When I first moved here, I agreed to do it for my hubby's job that transferred us to the area with the intention of living here two years before moving back to the city (Chicago). We have now been here 20 years (by choice, my hub changed companies to do it) and have loved it ever since.

It is the fastest growing area in Illinois. When we moved here, there were 70,000 people in both Bloomington and Normal. I believe the number has doubled now.

We have 3 major malls and numerous strip malls with other towns not far away for more shopping. Our two major hospitals are St Joes and BroMenn.

We have a good mix of nationalities and races and MANY churches of different denominations.

I would just say, come up and check us out. I'm sure you'll be glad you did