Divide Illinois in 2 (Chicago, Peoria, Champaign: insurance, income, jobs)

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Miserable in Florida

Hey Steve-O,

Any advice for a couple of (almost) empty nesters? We are in our early 40's and have a daughter that needs to finish-up high school (schooling is very important to us), but my husband and I are looking to move to the city. We love the beat of the city, and quite frankly being from Florida for so long....we are done with the "burb" life style. Any advice on an area that is considered "the city", but will not sacrifice the safety and well being of a teenager?

Oak Park and Evanston are two of the most "urban" suburbs and both are extremely close to Chicago. I cant speak for their schools but Id imagine theyd be pretty good.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

I'd be for this as well, but mostly because of the opposite of what you're saying. The Chicago area highly subsidizes downstate, and I'd love to have that money spent on the area where 75% of the people live in the first place.

I love how we give out all this money, but then when we try and do transportation and transit projects/funding - the rest of the state throws a hissy fit.

Can you point me to any information regarding how the Chicago area subsidizes the rest of the state?

[Manigault]

Income taxes (both individual and corporate); highway tolls, airport expansion costs, university systems both public and private, water and electric. Did I miss any? Oh, yes -- major sports teams.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Manigault

Income taxes (both individual and corporate); highway tolls, airport expansion costs, university systems both public and private, water and electric. Did I miss any? Oh, yes -- major sports teams.

I'm having a hard time following what you are trying to say in this post.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Manigault

Income taxes (both individual and corporate); highway tolls, airport expansion costs, university systems both public and private, water and electric. Did I miss any? Oh, yes -- major sports teams.

Separate and equal!

Here's an idea for a downstate football team: the Springfield Homers!

[irish setter girl]

Why is it that there isn't a tollbooth south of I-80? ( might be slightly off on the esact location). When I visit Dh's family in central and southern IL there are no tolls. Why?

[Manigault]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

I'm having a hard time following what you are trying to say in this post.

The north provides the listed objects for the whole state -- all the way down to Little Egypt.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by irish setter girl

Why is it that there isn't a tollbooth south of I-80? ( might be slightly off on the esact location). When I visit Dh's family in central and southern IL there are no tolls. Why?

"might be off" what? The I-294 co-signed section of I-80 is the southernmost segment of toll road in the state. There is no reason why THAT part of I-294 needs to be still tolled; Eric Peters wrote in the American Spectator that it's a scam, where the state collects 80 cents from everyone going to/from Indiana and Iowa. Illinois is not a good neighbor to Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, or Wisconsin, and these states are trying to lure away people and economic activity to their cities.

I received my paper copy of the Illinois Tollway System Map in the mail today. It'll be a great souvenir after I move out of the state (maybe the region?) again someday. I may or may not keep my "I-Pass."

I like to say that the reason why there is no tollbooths on I-74 in Champaign-Urbana is because the city councils still can't figure out how to put up stop signs or stop lights in the appropriate places.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Manigault

The north provides the listed objects for the whole state -- all the way down to Little Egypt.

Newsflash! Much of downstate loves the St Louis Cardinals. If there are Indianapolis Colts fans, they're in hiding.

[Jons99]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

Can you point me to any information regarding how the Chicago area subsidizes the rest of the state?

Check out the ISBE website, look at the percentages of school district revenue that comes from state dollars..Most of the suburban districts get between 10%-30% of their revenue, most of the southern schools are between 50%-80%..