Moving to Decatur, help me figure out a good neighborhood? (Springfield: for sale, houses)

[sendmorecops]

My husband got a job in Decatur, so yes, I absolutely have to move there. I looked through a few threads and the main thing people seem to take issue with is schools (don't have kids, so even if I got pregnant right now that wouldn't be an issue for five years) and shopping (which matters zero to me). Here's what I do care about:

1. I have three dogs, I like to walk my dogs, I want to be able to walk my dogs without getting mauled by loose dogs (one of my dogs was killed two years ago, my father-in-laws dog was mauled by a neighbors dog, I do not put up with that crap). If I have a really big yard for them to run laps in, I don't NEED to walk them, so I either need to look at neighborhoods that generally have large yards and/or aren't tightly packed so there's literally less irresponsible people who let their dogs run loose. Or if you live in an area that seems pretty dog free despite having smaller yards/tightly packed houses, let me know. (I do already know about the dog parks which i'm excited about, but getting three excited dogs in and out of the car on a regular basis is probably not going to happen).

2. I don't have to live right in Decatur, but one of the few arguments for living outside of it is the schools, and as I said, that doesn't effect me. Which surrounding towns should we avoid at all costs? We did spend a day driving to some of the small towns around there, and Clinton seemed oddly overrun with cars parked in the street (we had to creep into every single stop sign to see around cars). Cerro Gordo looked depressing, and i'm not sure if we went to Argenta or Oreana (this was during the summer). We even went all the way up to Monticello, but I think that might be a little too far to commute unless we can find a house for sale really close to the highway and not in the middle of town. Even though he has a good job lined up, we are trying to keep our house price range reasonable so almost all of the houses in Forsyth are too expensive. My husband's grandma lives in Mt. Zion, and it seems okay but I haven't seen a house there that I really love.

3. Are all lake-adjacent neighborhoods nice? That seems to be the case in Springfield, but I have found some pretty affordable (under $150k) houses on the lake or very close to it, so i'm wondering if some of those neighborhoods are less desirable for any reason. I don't want a house with a boat dock, but living close to a lake seems novel.

4. I like to garden, how's the soil over there?

5. About how long does it take to get across town, either way? My sister-in-law lives in Bloomington, and I really like Champaign, so ideally i'd like to live closer to one of those (even if it's just on that side of Decatur itself), but if we live south or west is it going to really make a difference in going to either of those places?

6. I really like 50+ year old houses with lots of details like crown molding, etc., which obviously conflicts with my desire to live in a more spread-out neighborhood, but, are there any 'historical' neighborhoods that are decent? I've driven into Decatur enough times to see a lot of houses that look neat on the outside, but they're clearly in an awful neighborhood. Google street view isn't available for most of Decatur, or i'd utilize that to check out the conditions of some of the neighborhoods myself.

Thanks in advance for any help! I know some of these questions are oddly specific, but there are a lot of houses for sale in and around Decatur, so I have quite a few that I really like that look vastly different and are in very different areas, so i'm trying to narrow down my options a little bit.

[illstate89]

It sounds like either the far west end or the South Shores neighborhood would be what you are looking for. Anywhere west of Fairview Avenue is very nice. The homes are very historical, it is very neighborhood-y and all in all a neat section of town. There is also a huge park called Fairview that has a dog park within it. South Shores is also a very nice area. It is very affordable as well. A lot of young couples live in South Shores. South Shores is pretty close to Nelson Park, which is along the lake front. Since schools aren't an issue for you, you probably would be better off IN Decatur because the houses are cheaper because of the schools. I really have no idea about the soil.

[sendmorecops]

I thought I would update this thread for future people looking for info on moving to Decatur:

We found a nice house, built in the 70's, with a really big yard. It's not in Forsyth, but it's about as far north in Decatur as you can get. Most of my neighbors are retired so it's REALLY quiet and hardly anyone else has dogs. I've noticed a lot of houses going up for sale around here recently (and really, there is nothing wrong with this area so I assume it's coincidence) so if you aren't worried about school districts and don't want to commute for work, check out the far north side!

[Stankonia]

Originally Posted by sendmorecops

I've noticed a lot of houses going up for sale around here recently (and really, there is nothing wrong with this area so I assume it's coincidence) so if you aren't worried about school districts and don't want to commute for work, check out the far north side!

I'm guessing the spike in houses going up for sale might be related to the Caterpillar layoffs that were announced a couple of months ago.