Help smaller towns wanted! (Chicago, Quincy: real estate, movers, low crime)

[lindsayinchicago]

Hi all,

My husband and I live in CHicago (not the suburbs, but in the city) and are currently raising our three children here. Our kids are ages 12 mo, 4 and 5 and we are thinking about trading our lifestyle here for a less complex one a little further south in Illinois. We love the hustle of the city and have any restaurant, shop or museum we want but are thinking it might be a worthwhile thought to consider moving just outside of a small town on some farmland and build an eco-friendly home there. Our kids have always been in the city, but spend time on my husband's hunting land frequently and we stay on lakes for vacation and it seems to suit them perfectly. THere is something very alluring about the idea of clean air and a lot of room to run - any thoughts from anyone about the Monmouth area? Are there any quaint little towns around there? If not, are there any other suggestions?? Thanks for any ideas!

[Scribbler]

I grew up in the type of environment you are talking about, along with my three siblings, and it was definitely great to grow up just outside a small town in farmland. The cultural and educational benefits of cities like Chicago were always easily accessible, and were assuredly taken advantage of, but "home" was always fresh air, cleanliness, and wide open spaces. I've gone on to live in various urban areas including Chicago with no problem, no major adjustment period, but will always be glad that I was raised in rural IL.

[lindsayinchicago]

thanks so much for your response. we are so consumed with the idea of potentially moving and changing lifestyles entirely. our main concern is finding some farmland/timber near a small town with good schools, low crime and some culture so that the kids aren't isolated. I will miss a lot about chicago, but not things like the homeless people scattering the sidewalk, the transvestites that chill out outside of my son's school and the air and noise pollution that we deal with. these are things I am not sure I am comfortable with the children being raised around.

[HOWELL_STREET]

It seems that everyone wants to have some land somewhere out in the 'sticks' but still close enough to commute to one's employment. At this point of the real estate boom / bust - curve, achieving that goal is gone to be very costly. That's because it seems that everyone wants the same things.
For a moment, consider owning land on a former farmstead far away from Chicago. Then as a possibility, your land has contaminated ground water on it due to former livestock. The municipality would make 'you' clean it up as the new owner. Also consider a very old home with Vermiculite insulation. At one time, Vermiculite also contained asbestos. It is not an easy job to determine if a specific home, using Vermiculite, also contains asbestos.
Consider the fact that in a rural area, 'you' may have no PUBLIC transportation to your employment. Consider the fact that if driving to your employment, your driving time could exceed three hours one way. And if driving via a tollway, it could become very expensive for tolls.
There are no bonanza's around popular areas because someone before you - - with the same goals as yours - - has already discovered them. IF someone finds THE beautiful place to live - - the beautiful job - - the beautiful school - - the beautiful house - - the beautiful town - - then they are going to stay put for a life time. So IF you actually seek what you are describing, you are going to have to 'let loose' on your employment associated with the Chicago area.
As an example, a very beautiful farming community is known as Paw Paw, Illinois. It is not south of Chicago, but SW and it would have your qualifications. But the catch 22 of Paw Paw is the long drive to Chicago area employment.
So, YES, seek a small farming community with rural land, but choose it far enough away from Chicago employment so you won't be chasing after someone's dust in your role of employment. Keep in mind that there are 'tons' of shakers and movers in the employment world. So there is also very stiff and tough competition from those people seeking the same things that you look for.

Best Regards,

Carter Glass

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by lindsayinchicago

Hi all,

My husband and I live in CHicago (not the suburbs, but in the city) and are currently raising our three children here. Our kids are ages 12 mo, 4 and 5 and we are thinking about trading our lifestyle here for a less complex one a little further south in Illinois. We love the hustle of the city and have any restaurant, shop or museum we want but are thinking it might be a worthwhile thought to consider moving just outside of a small town on some farmland and build an eco-friendly home there. Our kids have always been in the city, but spend time on my husband's hunting land frequently and we stay on lakes for vacation and it seems to suit them perfectly. THere is something very alluring about the idea of clean air and a lot of room to run - any thoughts from anyone about the Monmouth area? Are there any quaint little towns around there? If not, are there any other suggestions?? Thanks for any ideas!

I grew up in Quincy, IL about 300 miles southwest of Chicago on the Illlinois/Missouri (and almost Iowa) border. There is daily train serve to Chicago and other major cities, but you are pretty seperate from larger cities (2 hours to St.Louis). Quincy is about 40,000 has good schools, an art culture, and there is plenty of farm land outside of the city. If you are interested in finding out more, send me a PM.

[pwehrs]

Hi,
Dreams are great, however be careful of what you wish for. Vacationing, hunting and hobbies are geat ways to relax, life is not made up of just relaxation. All communities have their strengths, weakness and draw. Find one that is accepting of your needs, culture and is growing that will meet the needs of your children as they develop.
May your dreams come true...Patti

[Scribbler]

To be fair and completely honest, it's lovely to grow up rurally, but you do need to not have rose colored glasses and feel that it's the storybook idyllic place to raise kids, either (although as I previously mentioned, I have no complaints). Some very real things to consider:

-Crime is not a nonissue just because the community is small. It's just a different type of crime (you may not have crack dealers at your kid's school, but you may have a meth lab the next farm over). You may not have gang activity, but teen drinking and driving death rates are ASTRONOMICALLY high in rural areas and small communities (The reason? Ask a teen. "There's nothing else to do" is the answer you'll get).

-Schools aren't generally very wealthy and farmland tax values doesn't necessarily allow for a ton of $$$ going into school districts (which can affect the caliber of educators that are attracted and retained). This isn't to say that schools are bad or that your kids won't excel, but they may lack various amenities and extracurriculars, and they may have a few excellent teachers and a lot of mediocre ones, versus mainly excellent ones.

-Decently paying employment options are few and far between, if you are doing the "real" country, and not a bedroom community that allows for a Chicago commute.

-There is a certain degree of distrust of all "outsiders" and particularly "city people" in many small communities...oftentimes you run into a chip on the shoulder attitude due to resentment of "people moving from the city and telling us all the stuff that's wrong with our town." Not entirely unfounded, but still. It may require some perseverence and patience, as it takes time to get totally accepted by small, tight knit communities. You may feel the stranger for a while.

-And don't forget that amenities are not going to be at your fingertips, which is of course an adjustment. I grew up with something as simple as back to school clothing shopping entailing a min. 45 min drive. Groceries and gas were 10 miles away.

[Jeff Hill]

Boone County is the 3rd fastest growing County in the state. It's 2 hours due west of Chicago and there is still plenty of areas to stretch your legs out in.

Take I-90 west to the Belvidere/Genoa exit one day and take a look around.

[lindsayinchicago]

thanks for all of the responses. I guess I didn't mention that both my husband and I grew up in a small town (Galesburg, IL ) and are familiar with both the mindset and lifestyle. While I can't say I am ready to move back to Galesburg in particular, I can say that the notion of clean air and an organic garden for us city folks who spends fortunes at Whole Foods in the city is a very appealing concept. We've spent a great deal of time in the country, I guess it's just the time to determine whether or not we're ready to make the move and change our lives.

[Schmoo]

Lindsay, I might caution you not to go too rural if you are big into environmentalism and organics. You will get wide open spaces and gorgeous stars, but you will not get any recycling programs, and a lot of studies are suggesting that rural areas may be more polluted than urban. Rural areas have no emission testing, pesticides and herbicides are still sprayed all over in crop dusters. Farm implements are not 'eco friendly', nor are hog farms, everyone drives a pick-up. You won't want to take a big breath of clean air in on fertilizing day when the whole town stinks of liquid pig poop. And last week I came home to a front yard covered in some sort of blue foam agricultural pesticide that blew over & couldn't let my dogs onto the grass for a week.

So if living a green lifestyle is important to you, like it sounds, you may want to look at some larger small towns, or at least take a good hard look at very rural communities. There are certainly perks, but certainly drawbacks too. Good luck to you.