Marion, IL??? (Carbondale, Herrin, Kansas: for rent, attorney, house)

[Sunshine 12]

Alot of things to do around here is outdoor/nature things. If you don't like the outdoors it might not be the right place to move! Just wanted to warn ya! LOL
Carbondale has the college which is pretty nice. They seem to have quite a bit go on over there. They have several parks, and they even have a neighborhood co-op grocery store which alot of people used to complain about before they got it.
Both towns have lots of Churchs of course with Southern Baptist being the most popular in my option. And the churchs around here are active with the members and eps. the children.
Marion only has an outdoor pool. Carbondale has the rec. center at the college and John a Logan College just opened a small rec. as well but I don't know much about it. I know there was a couple girls on a swim team at Marion when I was in school but they had to use C-dale rec. center. West Frankfort also has a indoor pool now and I think the swim team at marion has to use it. I would almost bet when the new school is built it would have a pool. Well see.....Carbondale does have alot of theater shows and marion has a theater class but I would say Carbondale is more involved in that.
Marions old Civic Center used to be a movie house and it was really old. It got burnt down and they raised the money to build the one you visited. It is really nice....
Marion has extreme sports building for kids to go too. They also have indoor soccer there. The kids also like going to the Mall and the Movies. Carbondale Mall was bought by new owners recently and has really improved.
Marion is getting a new baseball stadium really soon called the SOUTHERN ILLINOIS MINERS and that is a big deal around here.
I would hope you guys get accepted anywhere you go! I know us personally and we treat everyone equally. But some people in Southern IL. are close minded. I think that is prolly anywhere you go though.

The way everything is sounding C-dale might be the better choice for you GLO.......I used to see india couples over in c-dale before when I used to work over there. Like I said before there is def. a variety of people in C-dale.Oh and if I remember correct they have a couple indian resturants as well right on "THE STRIP" which is down around 710 bookstore and the train station. I am sure you can google it if you want.... What kind of food do you guys like?? I might be able to recommend somewhere for your next visit here.It seems like you are a good mother and care so much about your family. I hope this helps!

[Dolly]

We lived about 70 miles north of Marion but did frequent the VA hosptial quite a bit for my husband's medical care. (We didn't have health insurance so it was our only option.) Frankly, I wouldn't give you two cents for the VA Medical Center. Medical care (or lack thereof) is doled out strictly on budget. If you need an MRI (as my husband did) too bad, if you need a specialist, too bad. I know it was frustrating to the staff also to not get what they needed for patients. One nurse was telling us how she had to beg and beg to get this particulary kind of tape that didn't pull on skin. It was only after her supervisor had a loved one use the VA hospital that she changed her mind and let them order the more expensive priced tape. (And that's just tape!)
As far as homeschoolers, Illinois is fairly open on that. Home schooled students are considered to be in private school. You do not need to notify the school district to home school in Illinois, although, there were some problems a few months ago with the Marion school district causing some problems for hs families. My best advice would be to join the Home School Legal Defense Association. They keep up on all the home school laws and will defend you if you ever have a problem in your school disctrict. As far as taking some classes, it depends upon the school disctrict. Our district did allow hs students to take driver education but nothing else. The town over from us (Salem) didn't allow hs students to take anything at all, not even drivers education. (In Wisconsin, hs students are allowed to take two classes per semester at a public school.) You could also check on the web for a home school association in Marion. I am sure they would have something in the area.

[Sunshine 12]

For us that isn't the case......Glo, I know you already checked it out but my father has been in there several times. They have been excellent to him .I also had some uncles,a neighbor and a friend of the family in there and they all go on about that been the nicest Va. My dad had a stroke and they took really good care of him. He also had a MRI done, and he was sent to a specialist in Columbia to have a special heart surgery done that they did not do, but they paid for it. He even gets to see the Dentist there and got new eyeglasses as well all paid for. My uncle had a stroke and they even paid to send him to another hospital for over two weeks to have Rehabilitation done. That hospital has a really good rehab. dept and he is already walking. They have gave my dad a blood pressure monitor, breathing machine, wheelchair, cane, medicines, and just about everything he needs. I am so thankful that we live so close. Alot of veterns have to drive a while to get there. Maybe Dolly had a bad experience....But in our opinion it is a pretty good hospital and it is completey FREE! I have medical, dentist, and eye doctors bills, Plus paying deducts, premiums, and for prescriptions really adds up for our family.
My dad had several problems with his health and luckly they all have been taking care of. I don't know if he had to pay for all those services if he would have been able to get all them done. But since it was free there was no hesitation.

[Glo]

Thanks Bam & Dolly. You guys are good at this.
Dolly, thanks for your input about homeschooling. I am already a HSLDA member. I've not been able to find a homeschool organisation for the Marion area though there is a state one that I'm sure will be helpful. Thanks for the heads up about the Marion school district and homeschoolers. Hadn't heard of that before. I'm going to do some digging to find out more. Sorry to hear of your bad experiences with the VA hospital. Hope things can be improved...
Glad your experience was so positive though Bam. Thanks for the restaurant suggestions as well- we'll check them out for sure. But Bam, here I was almost persuaded by you to chose Marion and then I hear you picking Carbondale for us!!! Is this because Carbondale is more diverse? Do you think we'd have trouble fitting into Marion? Please keep the info coming- I really appreciate it.
Blessings!

[tinaaren]

As far as a home over a old mine that is rare unless you buy a home build on old coal mine property. Key is to look at the foundtation and wall in the home. I grew up in the area you need to keep in mind that is is very small town in some parts of the town and some old school ways still exist. But the area around the VA center has lots of old great homes.

[Dolly]

Bam, VA is only "free" if you are considered under income. If you are working, it is pretty hard to be considered under income for VA care so we paid through the nose for it. When my husband lost his job, it was probably the best thing that could have happened for him, health wise. We were able to get medical cards under the Illinois Family Care program, since we have a child under 18. Then it truly was free medical care, close to home and many of the issues that we could not get resolved under VA care, we were able to resolve because we could go to a local dr and get immediate care instead of having to wait like with VA.
No, I have nothing positive to say about VA care (seems like the Walter Reed scandel affirms that). My husband was in the hospital 5 times last year with VA because of an infection in his foot. VA was too cheap to order an MRI or send him out to see a podiatrist (they didn't have one on staff at the time) so they sent him all over the hospital to see every kind of Dr without getting to the root of the problem, which was an infection down deep in the bone of his foot. He almost lost his foot out of the deal but after they ordered the MRI, after his fourth hospitalization, they found the infection, removed the bone and the problem was resolved.
I am not saying the problem is just with Marion VA, it is with VA in general. The whole system needs to be shut down and reconfigured to allow better care for Vets. My feeling is that vets need to have medical cards that allow them to use their regular dr's so they don't have to drive ungodly long distances for medical care. I realize there isn't an easy answer to the health care coverage problem but at least allowing people to go to the dr of their choice should allow problems to be able to be resolved more quickly. It was nuts that my hubby was hospitalized five times in a year at VA.
We live in Wisconsin now and finally have good health insurance but the Illiois medical cards were wonderful and I believe, truly saved my husband's life.

[Sunshine 12]

Like I said Dolly must have had some bad experiences but to get back to the topic I think marion is a nice small town. The reason I thought maybe C-dale for you GLo is because ALL the things you mentioned that I did not know before. I personally would pick Marion over C-dale. However you situation is a little different. My children are very small, I don't home school, They aren't in theater, I don't work, we have family in marion, and it is the only place I have ever known.
I don't want to persuade anyone to move anywhere. I just want to give my opinion of the area. Carbondale is more diverse. Carbondale also is more involved in theater and has the indoor pool for swimming. All things you mentioned. Like if someone else asked me I would prolly say Marion but then if they told me they was a professor then I would suggest Carbondale because of the college. Another thing you guys could do is check out STUDENT HALL....it is right on the campus and anyone is allowed to go in there. Sometimes we would hang out in C-dale on the weekends and we would go over there. They have a couple little cafes, a mcdonald's , bowling alley and a book store if I remember correct. It has been almost 10 years since the last time I was over there but I know anyone can go in. You just park out front and walk across the street to go in. I just thought since your son is older and if he goes to college you might conside SIU and he could live at home for free! lol...
Both towns have nice neighborhoods to live in. And both towns have pretty good school districts. I am not sure about the whole home schooling thing. I used to work in c-dale like I said and used to go over there every weekend to go out, but to raise a family I like Marion better for us. Both are fairly small towns. Carbondale can be somewhat of a ghost town in the summer when the students are gone.....
As far as accepting people from a different country.....I think both towns would be ok with C-dale being a little more open like I said.
We have people from different countries in Marion but not as much as Carbondale does because of SIU. It was actually nice to get to meet people from all over. I hung out with some people from different countries and it was neat to get to learn how they where taught things and how they cooked a little different and just a little part of their culture. I wish more people was like that. My mother in law is from Germany and she has been over here 25 years and loves german foods but it is hard to find in this area. We have to order it off the internet for her or drive to the Saint Louis which is 2 hours away and go to the World Market.
Maybe you could visit the area more and see what you think before you move. I don't know for sure but I think the owners of the hotel in front of the airport in marion are from india It is right on ROUTE 13......There last name is Patel. I used to go to school and work with his son. Maybe you could stay at that hotel and ask them questions from there point of view. I don't know GLO? I am just trying to help you out the best I can....
Are you getting the job at the VA for sure?

Also about the mining land...I think she was right.....That is pretty uncommon.

This link is for SIU but it does have other info on there as well....You might search around alot on SIU webistes to find out more about the area.
http://www.siuc.edu/visitor/index.html

BAM

[Glo]

Thanks again you guys. Appreciate it so very much.
My heart goes out to you Dolly- you've really had a rough time of it. Glad you are in a better position now...
Bam, you have been very helpful- I really appreciate all the time and trouble you've taken to answer my questions. We hope to visit the area next week and like you said, hopefully this will give us a clearer picture of what we want to do. Thanks again for all your input.
If you think of something else please let me know.
Blessings!

[Sunshine 12]

NO PROBLEM.....

Found some more info on the towns and pm you about it. I just read another post about Carbondale this morning. It is very informative and it is 6 pages long. You should read this post. It will give you more insight on the town.

Good Luck, BAM

[dumpstermcnuggets]

Can't really comment on this area(since I've only driven past this area on the interstate, and've sadly never seen any of the towns around the Marion-Carbondale area), but I've always badly wanted to visit this part of the state for myself. I've kept thinking about even doing an Amtrak trip, maybe possibly this summer, so I could finally see this part of the state. Who knows though when I'll ever have the chance to see this part of IL, though....

Murphysboro, IL(just west of C-dale), is also supposed to be a pretty nice town, from what I've read on it. Ditto with Herrin(inbetween C-dale and Marion), too.