Jacksonville vs. Quincy (Chicago, Peoria, Springfield: houses, employment, buying)

[Alexva]

What are the relative merits of Quincy vs. Jacksonville?

I now live in Washington D.C., but am originally from the midwest. I would like to move to small town Illinois. Two towns I am considering are Jacksonville and Quincy. I have a job I can bring with me, so employment is not an issue (I just need high speed Internet access). I may end up buying a place on the edge of town or just outside, depending upon cable TV availability, so I can get a few acres.

Which town is best, Jacksonville or Quincy? (Or another?)

My wish list:
> small town (5k to 35k pop.)
> near a large city with decent airport and hospital (within 100 miles if possible)
> college town
> good high school
> reasonable property taxes
> entertainment; golf course, plays, theaters, bookstore(s)
> must have a Lowes/Home Depot or comparable
> plus given for quaint/historic buildings, attractive downtown

Are there other Illinois towns that fit the bill? Thanks in advance.

[jessiegirl_98]

I grew up in Quincy, so I can talk about that one:
-Quincy is no longer below 35 K. It's more 40K now, however, there are small towns on the outskirts of Quincy that would be smaller
-The largest city around Quincy is really St. Louis (about a 2 hour drive). It is also 1.5 hours from Springfield, but I would just say they have OK hospitals and an OK airport. Quincy does have a very small airport and hospital..... Jacksonville would be close to Springfield.
-Neither Quincy or Jacksonville or in anyway college towns. With a pop of under 35K you are not likely to find that. That being said, Quincy does have a University, I am just thinking of places like Champaign/Urbana, that are true college towns.
-Quincy has an excellent public high school with a great music department and great sports teams.
-I can't really answer about property taxes, you can probably google this, but I always here that they are high in Quincy (this might just be IL though)
-Quincy definitly wins on entertainment, but that's not saying much. There is always a lot going on with the arts (theater, music, etc) in Quincy. There is at least 1 public and 2 country club golf courses in Quincy, and well, for the bookstore, there is a Waldenbooks.... That's about it.
-Quincy has both Lowes/Home Depot
-Quincy has a lot more quaint/historic buildings. The downtown is being reonnovated, but still has a way to go.
-It would also be really easy to get several acres on the outskirts of town.

I curious as to how you chose Quincy. I would DEFINITLY recommend it over Jacksonville. If you haven't been, you should come and visit to see for yourself.

[Alexva]

Originally Posted by jessiegirl_98

I curious as to how you chose Quincy. I would DEFINITLY recommend it over Jacksonville. If you haven't been, you should come and visit to see for yourself.

Mostly by looking at info/images on the Internet. Quincy seems to have a nice looking downtown—lots of grand old brick structures. Plus, both Quincy and Jacksonville have small colleges. It’s hard to find all the things I want in a small city. I will visit several of the towns I am considering, as I grow closer to a decision. Thanks for your input.

[dmann304]

I lived in jacksonville and liked it for one going to school their and enjoyed memories of it.

Jacksonville offers a decent amount or eating establishments and shopping os so so.

I lived around Morton ave r104, but one of jacsonville's downsides is, no way of getting in or out unless you have a car.

Back in the 20's. Jacksonville was a busling town and had trains going in and out but i died in the 70's.

Yea Jville is good to visit and live if you don't mind small city life.

[Alexva]

How does Mattoon compare to the other two, Quincy and Jacksonville? Anyone care to weigh in on Mattoon?

[Stonewall 67]

I lived in Quincy for 40 years before moving to the Champaign-Urbana-Mattoon area. Quincy is the best place to grow up. The schools are better than most places over here and being on the Mississippi River is like being Tom Sawyer (Hannibal is 35 miles south). Boating from Quincy to Hogback Island for the day is something to experience. My childhood was the best because I was raised across the road from the Quincy bay. If you are married or single with children, in my opinion, Quincy is the place to be, hands down.

But if you are married or single without children then I suggest Champaign-Urbana-Mattoon. Quincy is the farthest west you can go in IL without getting your feet wet, when my family was there there was a feeling of isolation. St. Louis is 2 hours away, 2 hours away from professional sports, culture and entertainment. Where I live I'm:

1 & 1/2 hours from Chicago via Interstate 57
1 & 3/4 hours from St. Louis via Interstate 72 and Interstate 55
2 hours from Indianapolis, IN via Interstate 74

Cost of living is almost the same except buying gas. If you decide Quincy, you'll probably be getting your gas over at, where I like to call, Gasoline Alley over in West Quincy,MO. Here in Champaign it runs about 5 to 10 cents cheaper. Internet access is better over here because there is 3 or 4 companies that offer broadband. The small towns around Quincy are nice, Paloma, Coatsburg, Camp Point, Fowler are just minutes from Quincy and are pretty, nice, and quiet. As far as schools not in Quincy, Ursa, Payson, Camp Point and Liberty are the exceptional schools. The Quincy area is a BIG basketball community, The Quincy High Blue Devils have a rich history in basketball including 64-0 in 1981-82. Over here we have the Illini (University of Illinois-Champaign), nuff said!

Quincy has grown and seems to keep expanding in all areas so you might want to think about your business and prospects of it growing. I hope some of this information helps in your decision making. Both places are great places to live and work. It's just a matter of preference that will work for your situation.

[linicx]

I've lived in rural America for 25 years. Unless you are very within 10 miles of a town of substantial size you will not have great interent speeds and you will pay premium prices for a phone line and DSL. I was paying $100 a month for a lot of latency and lousy service. I am still in the same town but I swietched to the cable company and got their VOIP and Interent for less. Right now my down/.up spees are 3x faster than the phone company - and I am 50 miles from the nearest metro area.

There are a lot of ways to skin this cat. The only town I know of that can give you everything on your list -including performeing arts and daily coast to coast flightsl, as well as the small town safe feel, and Lowe's plus hospitals, good schools, history and victorian homes is Peoria Heights. It is a quaint little villlage nestled between the high bluffs above the Illinois River and a common shared border with eiith the Cit of Peoria. On the map it looks like one big town. But make no mistake, PH is self-governed and independent of every other city. It offers all the city services from school to fire, police, etc.. The same telephone, cable, also serves Peoria. Comparedto DC, housing is reasonable.

PH is no more than 20 minutres from: the largest park system outside Chicago, upsacle dining and shoping, seven golf courses, Observatory, zoo, Bradlery U and and IL Central College, semi-pro sports, Lowe's, Menard's and Home Depot, museums, a wide religous, political nd cultural diversty, summer stock, regional state fair, arts, Indie movies and music, Anime, GPS biking, hiking, sailing, river ruises, Riverfront Plaza, two malls, quaint shops, natural foods and health stores, 10 shopping areas, after hour med clinic,medical school, scenic views, festivals and fairs, one of the largest night time Christmas parades and displays in the nation, national box stores and more. What we don't offer is Trader Joe's, Costco, Whole Foods and Ikea.

The park district offers learning classes from A-S all year. IF you are interested you can probably teach one in your specialty. There are several country clugs, fraternal and social orgnaizations. If you are in business, there is a very nice business club with full services that is affordable, and gifted schools.

Peoria has 10,000 years of ancient history. Grocery tax is one percent. Realestate taxes are far less than DC. You'll see four seasons but you won't be living in the commercial walk-in freezer cold that Chicago experiences. The Peoria area is roughly 3.5 hours to St. Louis or Chicago - depending upon how fast you drive.

Illinois is a farming state. You will not drive far to find corn, beans, wheat or cows. Peoria does have a permanent farmer's market in Metro Center. PH is 3 miles from this location. Peoria does have a federal and county courthouses as well as an established financial district. The nearest hospital is 10 minutes from PH.

I suggest you spend 3 days in each area before you move. Read the local papers, shop in the grocery stores, shop in the stores and talk to bankers and realtors and Mayors in each town, and talk to the kids.

The Peoria Metro Statistical Area is composed of five counties. The population of hte combined area is 370,000. The City of Peoriia is a little over 100.000. PH population is 6,700. I think it and the microbrewry are Peoria's best kept secrets.

There is a lot of city pride among the various areas. Keep coming back.

Got questions? Just ask.

[Probender]

I've lived in Jacksonville for the past 10 yrs or so. We have some decent places to eat, two small colleges and fairly cheap housing. Taxes are a bit high IMO. There's a good hospital here. Don't know about the high school. We have a Home Depot plus several good local lumber yards.
IMO the advantage of Jacksonville over Quincy is we're 30 minutes via I- 72 from Springfield that has great hospitals and schools of higher learning. Plus they have a nice airport that's pretty busy and just about any kind of restaurant you would want.
So, with Jacksonville you get a small town feeling with wonderful people and enough businesses to meet a need, plus you are close enough to Springfield to drive over there after work for a nice meal or shopping.