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I had a phone interview Friday about a position in Carbondale, IL. The move doesn't require me to be in any one particular location, just in Southern Illinois.
I have two children, one boy who is 7, and will be 8 this year, and a 5 month old little girl.
What kind of youth football programs are there in the area? You know, Pee Wee? He has played two years down here already, and he really enjoys it. How are the schools in the area? Which city has the best grade school system?
I will be making about 55K a year base, not counting overtime and bonuses, probably close to 70K considering. Thats with full benefits. I enjoy living near water, so if I could find a house for a reasonable price around a lake or in the country near a boat dock, that'd be great.
I also enjoy hunting and being outdoors, I know that this area of Illinois has a lot of hunting and wilderness area. I am originally from North West Tennessee, so I'm only about a two hour drive from my home town, and I know that I'm only about two hours from St. Louis. I can also hop the train to Chicago, I have a lot of friends up there that we can stay with on weekends.
So what else do I need to know about Carbondale? I know I'm older then most of the college students in town, but I have lived in Kalamazoo MI for two years, another college town, and I enjoy the arts and entertainment that comes from a college community.
I should know something definitive by Tuesday, I'm hoping for the best. It would be nice to move much closer to home.
You will do fine in Carbondale with a good university. Southern Illinois is rattle snake country. Boots are almost mandatory. There is a rattler round up every year. the Nature Conservancy owns 200,000 acres in the IL Ozarks. You will probably do your major shopping in St. Louis. It has the only Top 25 ranked hospital in the midwest (Barnes-Jewish) outside of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
St. Louis has the closest Children's Hospital with a tertiary unit. The only other chldren's hospital that treats more children outside of Chicago and St. Louis is in Peoria. It too has criticatl care tertiary unit for children newborn to age 18.
here is a link to every thing outdoor Illinois incuding camping, fishing, hunting parks and museums. You can buy your 2012 hunting license as soon as you move and get settled. Illinois DNR : Welcome to Illinois DNR!
The other thing you need to know is about drivers license and new plates. Driver's License
There are some laws you need to know to avoid an expensive ticket:
Scott's Law: Do not pass in the lane next to a stopped emergency vehicle at any time!
Driving in a school zone: No text or cell when school is in session!
Transporting weapons in Illinois: Unloaded, broken down, cased and NOT IN READH of driver or passenger. Ammo must be apart from the guns and also not in reach of driver or passenger
NO Smotking withint 15 feet of any publuc building
You will do fine in Carbondale with a good university. Southern Illinois is rattle snake country. Boots are almost mandatory. There is a rattler round up every year. the Nature Conservancy owns 200,000 acres in the IL Ozarks. You will probably do your major shopping in St. Louis. It has the only Top 25 ranked hospital in the midwest (Barnes-Jewish) outside of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
St. Louis has the closest Children's Hospital with a tertiary unit. The only other chldren's hospital that treats more children outside of Chicago and St. Louis is in Peoria. It too has criticatl care tertiary unit for children newborn to age 18.
here is a link to every thing outdoor Illinois incuding camping, fishing, hunting parks and museums. You can buy your 2012 hunting license as soon as you move and get settled. Illinois DNR : Welcome to Illinois DNR!
The other thing you need to know is about drivers license and new plates. Driver's License
There are some laws you need to know to avoid an expensive ticket:
Scott's Law: Do not pass in the lane next to a stopped emergency vehicle at any time!
Driving in a school zone: No text or cell when school is in session!
Transporting weapons in Illinois: Unloaded, broken down, cased and NOT IN READH of driver or passenger. Ammo must be apart from the guns and also not in reach of driver or passenger
NO Smotking withint 15 feet of any publuc building
Good info. I'm also curious as to where the best school district is in the area. And is there a town or neighborhood I don't want to live in.
2- School starts in one month or less. Your son must have their eye, dental, physical exams and all shots up to date before he will be admitted to class. I found this about the shcools. Education, Schools, and Libraries | Explore Carbondale
I forgot this little gem. If you carry any weapen in a rack in your truck out of season you can lose it. IL Homeland Security is tough. IL is in the Mississippi Flyway; you see a lot of fowl and wildlife on your lakes.
Useful local links
Local radio: WDBX 91.1fm
City utilities: New Residents Welcome Center | Explore Carbondale .
Attucks & Evergreen are two of the many parks in the area. Warning: The City park distric website "cpkd" is "running a slow Adobe 10 script in the background that can cause your computer to stop". It does. it just happened to me 3 times while trying to get useful information for you. I was not successful.
Meet Illinois!
It will be a culture shock to move from Florida to any rural area in America. IL is an Ag state of approximatelu 15M. 2/3 live in or near Chicago. The rest of live south of I-80. Ther are four large communities (90k+) between Chicago and St. Louis: Peoria, Springfield, Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington-Normal. Here is a bit of information about all these areas.
1- You'll find a total of 10 hospitals and 7 malls.
2- The Peoria Park District is 10,000 acres, zoo, botanical garden, 4 hospitals*and two malls Take a river cruise, sleep with the wolves or find a water park and kids farm nearby.
3- Springfield: Henson Zoo, Lake Springfield, Knight's Waterpark, 3 hostpials, and two malls. First night starts on New Year's Eve and ends the next day is a huge event that is very popular.
4- C-U Flagship university (35,000 students and teachers), mall, parks; no zoo. The hospital is in Urbana.
5- B-N: Mall and hospital in each town. Miller zoo and park in Bloominton. There was a rock climbing wall.
Scovil Zoo is in Decatur. You'll also find 2 zoo (Brookfield and Lincoln Park) and botanical parks in Chicago plus a zoo and botanical park in St. Louis. Grant's Farm (home of the Budweiser horses) is outside of St. Louis.
B-N and Peoria are about 35 miles apart. Between the two areas you will find more than a 15 grocers/specialty vendors (meat/fish marekt), two civic centers, 4 malls, 6 hospitals, free family movies at the park, and all types of events. It includes the oldest Santa Parade in America, one of the largest night time Christmas Parades and displays in Ameirca, and one of the oldest Juried Art Fairs in Illinois. These events draw thousands of visitors every year. BUT, it is quite a drive from Cabondale. To give you some idea, Peoria is 90 miles north of Springfield and B-N is about 65 miles NE of Springfield. There is so much for kids to to see and do in the two ares it is more practical to drive up Friday and go home Sunday.
The only place you will find Trader Joe's, Costco and Whole Foods is in St. Louis or Chicago. TJ's at Brentwood in St. Louis is the largest in this city. When Tj's opens at 9am on Sunday it is easy in and easy out as there is no appreciable traffic..
I have lived here for a year AND I work for the Forest Service, so I spend every day in the woods. I've yet to see a single rattlesnake. Copperheads, sure. But timber rattlesnakes are threatened in Illinois. Protected by law. There is no 'roundup'.
I don't do any major shopping in St. Louis. Carbondale's not some tiny, podunk town. I've never been like "aw crap, now I have to drive 2 hours to St. Louis to pick up something!" At most, you might have to drive to Cape or Paducah for specialized, major purchase (like... I don't even know. Maybe a wedding dress? A car? You can even find those in Carbondale), both of which are far closer than St. Louis.
As a native Michigander, I can say that Carbondale's a LOT nicer than Kalamazoo. There aren't really any terrible neighborhoods, not like Kalamazoo. Some are nicer than others. If you're looking for a small town feel, Anna is nice, as is Murphysboro. There's lots of little subdivisions around lots of lakes.
I have lived here for a year AND I work for the Forest Service, so I spend every day in the woods. I've yet to see a single rattlesnake. Copperheads, sure. But timber rattlesnakes are threatened in Illinois. Protected by law. There is no 'roundup'.
I don't do any major shopping in St. Louis. Carbondale's not some tiny, podunk town. I've never been like "aw crap, now I have to drive 2 hours to St. Louis to pick up something!" At most, you might have to drive to Cape or Paducah for specialized, major purchase (like... I don't even know. Maybe a wedding dress? A car? You can even find those in Carbondale), both of which are far closer than St. Louis.
As a native Michigander, I can say that Carbondale's a LOT nicer than Kalamazoo. There aren't really any terrible neighborhoods, not like Kalamazoo. Some are nicer than others. If you're looking for a small town feel, Anna is nice, as is Murphysboro. There's lots of little subdivisions around lots of lakes.
Thanks for the info.
This is more in line with what I was thinking. I should hear something about the job within the next day or two.
I doubt I'm going to head to StL unless there is something I want to do, like catch a ball game or hit six flags.
I grew up in the woods of West Tennessee, so the snake situation isn't much less then what I am used to. I do work outdoors for the job I'm currently doing, and the one I've applied for.
Is there any one school in the carbondale area thats better then others? What neighborhoods aren't "that nice"? I wasn't sure if they had a student ghetto like Kzoo did, but I do know there are a lot of rental homes there. I have a 7 year old and a baby. While the baby won't be going to school for some time, its a distinct possibility that my 7 year old may go to school this year. Checking the Illinois school grades, all of the elementary schools in Carbondale (I count 4) all have better then average grades. I think I've read there is only one high school in the area, but I have time for that.
I live in the boonies now, Freeport has a population of under 3000, with a small grocery store. We only have one red light.
I have lived here for a year AND I work for the Forest Service, so I spend every day in the woods. I've yet to see a single rattlesnake. Copperheads, sure. But timber rattlesnakes are threatened in Illinois. Protected by law. There is no 'roundup'.
I don't do any major shopping in St. Louis. Carbondale's not some tiny, podunk town. I've never been like "aw crap, now I have to drive 2 hours to St. Louis to pick up something!" At most, you might have to drive to Cape or Paducah for specialized, major purchase (like... I don't even know. Maybe a wedding dress? A car? You can even find those in Carbondale), both of which are far closer than St. Louis.
As a native Michigander, I can say that Carbondale's a LOT nicer than Kalamazoo. There aren't really any terrible neighborhoods, not like Kalamazoo. Some are nicer than others. If you're looking for a small town feel, Anna is nice, as is Murphysboro. There's lots of little subdivisions around lots of lakes.
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Agreed on the Rattlesnakes. Copperheads are numerous in all wooded areas, and so are Cottonmouths around the Cache River area. The Rattlesnakes here are in the minority of local poisonous snakes, and as stated are timber rattlers, one of the least aggressive and venomous of the Rattlesnake family.
The "roundup" is perhaps being confused with the fall snake migration to the LaRue Pines bluff area near the Mississippi River. It is somewhat celebrated by herpetologists, but there is no "roundup" and public display of snakes.
Carbondale's pretty college town. There isn't any one neighborhood that I've been in that has been "omg, lock the doors!". The west side of town, around Murdale, seems a bit nicer. I live on Warren Rd. on the east side of campus, and it's a bunch of trailer parks along there and down Pleasant Hill out to US-51. It's a bit more dumpy looking, but it still doesn't feel dangerous by any means. It's cheap living, though. That's about as close to the 'student ghetto' as it gets.
If you're looking for a good home-town feel, Murphysboro's nice. It's smaller, the cost of living (and housing) is cheaper, and you've got a lot less chance of getting a crappy rental/slum-lord situation because it's not a college town. It's only 10 minutes from Carbondale (I live in C'dale and commute to M'boro every day). Anna/Jonesboro is nice too; it's got a good 'historic' vibe to it. It's a little further away, half an hour or so.
As for things to do, it depends on what you're into. There are tons of outdoor/recreation things to do. The area is gorgeous, surrounded by public land (handfuls of city and state parks, plus the Shawnee National Forest). There are 8 designated Wilderness Areas in Southern Illinois, the only wilderness areas in Illinois! 7 belong to the Forest Service, 1 belongs to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The annual herp migrations on Snake Road that BLS mentioned are a sight to behold, and people come from all around the world to see. I had friends come all the way from Michigan to see (although the floods put a damper on it this spring). There's hiking to be had, boating, fishing, camping. There's a strong Native American background, rock art, historic sites, culture, etc.
As far as festivals, in the tri-state area (Western Kentucky and Southeast Missouri), there are tons. Just locally, Murphysboro has an AppleFest, Cobden has PeachFest, Herrin has Festa Italiana, Du Quoin State Fair, the Summer Sunset Concert Series in Carbondale, etc. There's always something going on.
I can't speak much about the schools, since I don't have any children enrolled in school. The high school looks quite nice (I drive past it on the way to Kroger, which is new).
Hi there,
I was born and raised in Southern Illinois and though I haven't lived there for about 7 years I can tell you a few things about the schools and surrounding towns.
There are several schools around the main part of town, which in the past were K-8 neighborhood schools. Recently (maybe...oh, 10 years ago?), they were consolidated, so that one of the schools became PK-1st grade, another one 2nd-3rd, another 4-5, then they built a new middle school for grades 6-8, and there's a big new high school on the edge of town. They say things like that are more efficient, but in the end it means hardly any kids can walk to school anymore--they're all bussed all over town.
There are a few other options --Unity Point, which is on the south of end town and is just a normal public school and which is still K-8, and Carbondale New School, which is an alternative private school and also K-8. Oh, there's also Giant City School, another K-8 school which is on the edge of town towards Giant City State Park. Don't know much about that one. There's also at least one Christian school and one school for kids with learning disabilities (Brehm).
I would say that Carbondale schools are better than Murphysboro Schools, though which Cdale schools are better I can't really say. I think Unity Point used to be better, but I'm not sure at this point.
Another option is Cobden, about 10 miles south of Carbondale (and 10 miles north of Anna) on highway 51. As a town it's aesthetically nicer than Anna because it's much smaller (no big box or chain stores), though there's no football there I must say. Basketball, baseball/softball, volleyball, soccer. I believe Anna has football, but it definitely is more of a "hick" town, if you know what I mean. Carbondale, with its university, has a multi-cultural and open-minded feel that does not make it 20 miles south to Anna.
The Sunset Concerts are definitely great in the summer, and I believe there's also some kind of Irish Fest at some point during the year. There's a farmer's market open from app. April-Nov, at least one CSA operating in the area and lots of art happening around there. There's a great Co-Op for organic food (sort of a mini Whole Foods), and all your normal big box stores. Check out Harbaugh's Cafe on Illinois Ave, and for deep pan pizza go to Quatro's.
Carbondale is kind of this mix of big box stores and big parking lots (allowed by the city council in order to cater to the hordes of Chicago suburbanite 20 year olds who come to the university) and small independently-owned restaurants and shops scattered throughout the town. There's also the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail down in that area---a dozen or so wineries have popped up over the last 10 years or so, with lots of live music, good food and atmosphere.
Good luck!
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