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I posted this in another thread, but it also applies here:
There's a little gem of a town called Geneseo, in Henry County, about 20 miles east of the Quad-Cities, that seems to escape notice. Population, about 6,500. Here's some info:
I grew up near there; my mother now lives there, and I have tons of relatives there, so I'm very familiar with Geneseo. Affordable, nice housing, reasonable taxes, very quiet, little if any crime; small but nice downtown, big, old Victorian homes, and the schools have always been thought of as very good.
There is a nice mix of farmers and small business owners. Many people commute to the QC (easy commute, 20 miles straight down I-80). There's a quaint town square, where the town routinely holds ice cream socials and BBQ's and the like. The hospital, altho small, is well regarded.
It's a quiet life, tho: No night life other than a couple of bars and restaurants, one a (family)restaurant that also features some arcade games and pool. One movie theater. A bowling alley. But it's near the Hennepin Canal and Green River, where there are some parks, camping, boating and fishing, and it's only 15 miles or so to the Mississippi River. The QC has the bigger shopping areas with the name stores, plus art galleries, live music, sports teams, et al.
It's one of the last of what I'd call "all-American towns." It's almost a throwback to the 1950-60's. I could go on, but I think if I were looking for a nice, quiet town accessible to a larger metro area, I would definitely consider Geneseo.
Last edited by CarolL; 02-09-2008 at 07:09 PM..
Reason: fixed link
The ONE thing I think a person should be aware of in these small towns in central Illinois is,,,,,,the gossip. There's not alot of things to do in these small towns and I guess people are so bored that all they do for excitement and amusement is to talk about each other and try to mess with other people's lives. Alot of people place prejudgements and "think" they know ALL about you, when they really don't. Most of the men are hard-working and take pride in their jobs. Most boys are raised out on farms and take pride in their trucks. The women tend to go shopping alot in the bigger cities, and are addicted to the telephone. The weekends are made for drinking and ALOT of that goes on in the local nieghborhood dives. Fights break out because these towns are chock full of macho chest-bumpers looking to impress some girl.
Sure, the traffic is no problem and the air is cleaner, but living in a small town has it's drawbacks. Everything is fine, except when dealing with gossipy people. This is Chevy, Ford and Dodge country, so if you drive anything else you'll need to take it to bigger cities for any repairs and parts. The farmers with the biggest barns, newest combines and lots of acherage are pretty much the ones who own and run the towns.
lindsay, I currently live in Sugar Grove and we are about an hour from chicago. population is just under 10,000. just west of us, along rt 30 is big rock, waterman, and shabona, and paw paw.These communities are still close enough that a commute to aurora/naperville is not awful. they are small and quite rural, with larger farm areas available. I can't really say much about their schools etc. As i said, we are about an hour from chicago and the towns i mentioned are another 30 minutes west. Hope this provides some perspective. good luck.
lThese communities are still close enough that a commute to aurora/naperville is not awful.
Just an FYI, Paw Paw to Naperville during rush hour could currently run you 1.5 - 2 hours each way depending on how icy Chicago Road is, and how torn up I-88 is. With gas prices as they are, I strongly urge anyone considering living in LaSalle County and commuting to DuPage to reconsider. I did that drive for 5+ years. It is BEYOND awful.
I posted this in another thread, but it also applies here:
There's a little gem of a town called Geneseo, in Henry County, about 20 miles east of the Quad-Cities, that seems to escape notice. Population, about 6,500. Here's some info:
I grew up near there; my mother now lives there, and I have tons of relatives there, so I'm very familiar with Geneseo. Affordable, nice housing, reasonable taxes, very quiet, little if any crime; small but nice downtown, big, old Victorian homes, and the schools have always been thought of as very good.
There is a nice mix of farmers and small business owners. Many people commute to the QC (easy commute, 20 miles straight down I-80). There's a quaint town square, where the town routinely holds ice cream socials and BBQ's and the like. The hospital, altho small, is well regarded.
It's a quiet life, tho: No night life other than a couple of bars and restaurants, one a (family)restaurant that also features some arcade games and pool. One movie theater. A bowling alley. But it's near the Hennepin Canal and Green River, where there are some parks, camping, boating and fishing, and it's only 15 miles or so to the Mississippi River. The QC has the bigger shopping areas with the name stores, plus art galleries, live music, sports teams, et al.
It's one of the last of what I'd call "all-American towns." It's almost a throwback to the 1950-60's. I could go on, but I think if I were looking for a nice, quiet town accessible to a larger metro area, I would definitely consider Geneseo.
Geneseo is a nice, quiet town. In fact, many of the small communities up in that Henry County/I-80 corridor are "throwback" towns. Many have quaint downtowns and a nice laid back feel. I have a farm near Annawan, IL, and always enjoy my time in town.
That is getting out a bit from the QC, 25 miles or so, so the commute is a bit longer, and the local economies aren't exactly booming in many of those towns, although Annawan did score an ethanol plant that is almost completed.
In close proximity, Atkinson, Galva, and Cambridge also have their charms, with access to the Quad Cities and Kewanee.
All the small towns in IL aren't "awful" asyou so put it! Some of them are boring yes, some are not as high class as you may like and some do have the fresh smell of manuer flowing through it but those are the places some people call home and well if you don't like it then take your high maintainence ass right back to where you came from and don't consider leaving because you don't belong here! Sorry to offend you but you got what you asked for.
The ONE thing I think a person should be aware of in these small towns in central Illinois is,,,,,,the gossip. There's not alot of things to do in these small towns and I guess people are so bored that all they do for excitement and amusement is to talk about each other and try to mess with other people's lives. Alot of people place prejudgements and "think" they know ALL about you, when they really don't. Most of the men are hard-working and take pride in their jobs. Most boys are raised out on farms and take pride in their trucks. The women tend to go shopping alot in the bigger cities, and are addicted to the telephone. The weekends are made for drinking and ALOT of that goes on in the local nieghborhood dives. Fights break out because these towns are chock full of macho chest-bumpers looking to impress some girl.
Sure, the traffic is no problem and the air is cleaner, but living in a small town has it's drawbacks. Everything is fine, except when dealing with gossipy people. This is Chevy, Ford and Dodge country, so if you drive anything else you'll need to take it to bigger cities for any repairs and parts. The farmers with the biggest barns, newest combines and lots of acherage are pretty much the ones who own and run the towns.
This may be true but you know if some of the people didn't make their lives so public and let everyone know first hand what they were dealing with then no one would have anything to talk about. However, about the fact that you think that the farmers with the most and the biggest run the town, that is DEFINATELY not true. It just means your more respected and well known than others but they don't let the smallers farmers feel nothing more than just as respected because they know they were once there themselves. So forgive me if this offends you I don't intend on it, but most of what you said was true, and I take it by the way you talk, that you yourself must be the farmer who owns the town.
Again, sorry to offend you.
there is still a lot of parcels of 1to10 acres in my area 30 min. from downtown.i have 7 acres big house, barn,tons of trees more wildlife than i can deal with at times. you can have the best of both worlds 60477 60478
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