How does Illinois change from North to South? (Chicago, Peoria: houses, school)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by artemis

Its hilly over near Rockford too, going into Wisconsin at Beloit.

Southern Illinois to me is I-57, nothing but corn & pine trees. A very dark drive at night.

You know, I've done the drive through Rockford and Beloit a billion times and I never thought to myself, "gee, this is a hilly area." There are some hills right around the Rock River, but at any rate, nobody's gonna build a ski resort in that area any time soon, I suspect.

And funny how associate I-57 with southern Illinois; I associate it with the South Side of Chicago.

[sonicreducer]

The hill question is one that inevitably comes up when people talk about driving through Illinois. Since I grew up in pancake-flat Champaign County, I'm used to this assertion. Some people seem to take the declaration of extreeeeme flatness to be a personal affront for some weird reason. I remember my in-laws commenting in a very cautious way how flat my homeland is when they visited--as if I would disagree and throw down the gauntlet or something. They live in Wausau, WI though--home of Rib Mountain State Park (and the Granite Peak ski place). I was SO impressed with Rib Mt., and just the general topography of Marathon Co. when I went to visit them for the first time. But my better half never considered the hills to be significant at all, so I guess it's a real matter of perspective.

One of the fascinating and strange things about Illinois is the issue of dialects. As someone else mentioned, the further south you go, the more folks will talk with a stereotypical "southern" accent. IL is kind of a meeting ground for different dialect zones. See this link (broken link) for a national map of dialects (with kind of complicated linguistic explanations for the demarcations). You'll see that IL is a border zone--with north and south "midland", and "inland north". Essentially this lumps Chicagoans in with city dwellers from other rust belt cities, and divides the rest of the state with 2 other zones. Champaign is right on the border between north and south midland, which makes a lot of sense to me. I can distinctly remember being confused when people from my school had "southern sounding" accents. My stepdad is from Paris, IL (about 45 mins south of where I was born), and I thought his southern twang was really funny when I met him. In my experience, the central region is really torn about what city to "identify" with in some respects, and this might unconsciously impact language use in some manner. I think some central IL residents identify more with Chicago, some with St. Louie, some with southern IN and KY, some with Indy/Terre Haute, etc. I've observed the "Superfans"-ish Chicago dialect more here in Wisconsin than I ever did in IL. WI seems to be split between that and the more stereotypically MN Scandinavian-influenced accent.

I think geography plays a huge role in dialect, but culture does too (in kind of overlooked ways). In my experience, people who were proud of being a "redneck" were much more likely to have a twang. But a lot of central IL natives who don't have a twang sometimes pronounce certain words in a weird way...."wash" becomes "worsh", etc. I've always been a bookworm and into spelling, pronunciation, etc., so I've always been cognizant of word usage. And maybe that's why I have a "non-regional diction"? Hard to say, I guess. It could also have to do with not growing up with any sort of real ethnic identity, also. I can see dialect being very different if you were to live in a Polish section of Chicago versus a small town with a predominantly Norwegian populace in WI (or something else).

[ozradio]

I read somewhere once that Illinois was one of the three flattest states, with Louisiana and Delaware. Don't know if that's true or not. Seems like it may have been a Trivial Pursuit question.

[Scribbler]

The areas of Illinois being described as hilly, outside of the driftless NW corner, are mostly river valleys. Peoria's not "mountainous." Neither is Rockford. But because they're on rivers, they have the usual bluff-like topography.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by ozradio

I read somewhere once that Illinois was one of the three flattest states, with Louisiana and Delaware. Don't know if that's true or not. Seems like it may have been a Trivial Pursuit question.

Im sure its down on the list, but I believe Florida was the flattest state in the nation.

[Katarina Witt]

I once read somewhere that Douglas County, Illinois (just south of Champaign Co) was the flattest county in the country. Most of the state was flattened with a glacier. It's not bad, it just is.

[Katlakat]

I live in southern Illinois, Pike county side. There are bluffs here, the river, and lots of corn fields. The foliage is beautiful in fall, and we have a few festivals on the square each year. Pig days to the color drive, from Jeepers weekend, to hunting seasons.

Pittsfield is a larger town for this area where most people come from the smaller surrounding towns. I saw a deer in town next to the green acres motel on the main strip coming home from my night job. Along with a few bunnies in the grass beside the motel.

I am not a native Illinois dweller, only been here for the last two years via a family emergency. However, I read about rust belts, and decline-I can tell you that unless you're a farmer, or own a bank or grocery store, or are on well fare-there is no chance of success enjoying much here. Its a nice place to visit, if you want a local community feeling, but to make a living, it is extremely difficult. Businesses are closing, smaller ones, car lots have closed already in the last year, and people are selling lots of houses in town.

I enjoyed the small farm town experience, but because I can't make a living, I have to leave. I will be returning to my hometown in New Hampshire in about 4-6 weeks. Thanks for the thread-

My favorite thing about living in illinois was the weather. Mild summers compared to living in Texas (12 yrs) and milder winters (compared to New England). I loved having my first garden this year, which is still thriving by August. Spring was lovely, and the humidity is even tolerable since a rain shower usually cools off the heat for a few days.

[guvjim]

I was born and raised in Southern IL, as far as you can go on US45. Brookport. Right across the Ohio river from Paducah, KY. I will grant you that the southern accent reigns. As for the flatness, my brother lives in rural Metropolis, which is about 8-10 miles from the river, and going back to his property you will encounter 3 hills that will definitely give you one of the reasons why we might be referred to as "hillbillies". I have been away from there since the early 50s and live in the Chicago suburbs. My wife, being a native Chicagoan, will quickly tell you that anything South of Cook County is "Southern Illinois."

[Katarina Witt]

My favorite thing about living in illinois was the weather. Mild summers compared to living in Texas (12 yrs) and milder winters (compared to New England). I loved having my first garden this year, which is still thriving by August. Spring was lovely, and the humidity is even tolerable since a rain shower usually cools off the heat for a few days.

Wow! That sounds like different weather than Champaign. When it rains there in the summer (to the best of my recollection), it just gets hotter and stickier afterwards, usually. I was a visiting nurse there, was out in all kinds or weather, so I remember pretty well.

[Steve-o]

Sometimes the rain cools things off, sometimes it makes it stickier... all depends.