Looking into Danville (Chicago, Champaign, Urbana: apartment complexes, rent, crime rate)

[Switch625]

I, of course, advise moving to Saint Joseph. It is closer to Danville than Urbana, has one of the best school systems in the area, is almost crime free, and the shopping opportunities of Champaign-Urbana are close by. It's a bit expensive for a town it's size, but you get benefits for that cost. Safety, security, and a top-notch school system. There is an IGA grocery store in town, a barber shop, a beauty salon, a Curves exercise studio, lots of little shops which sell antiques and unique things, and a pharmacy (which does compounding on site, so custom meds are done in house). There is a restaurant, a couple of pizza places, and some fast food joints. Lots of rumors of retail expansion on the horizon.

It's a great place to live.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by foster3097

The "Roseane" comment now paints a picture! I wwas looking online and noticed the golf courses, country club area, hospital, community college, Super- Walmart ect... and thought it would be nicer. The closness to a lake, Kickapoo area made me think that this is a place where people would want to live, at least those outdoor type. I guess it is an area that has potential. What is the mayor doing to improve the city? Bulldoze everything yucky down! With real estate so inexpensive there, if the city improved the way it looked, it would attract young people who can't afford to buy in Urbana, to buy in Danville. It is also a great place for businesses, being so close to the railroads, freeway and Indiana.

I do have concerns about having my husband drive between Urbana and Danville in the winter. Are the roads real icy, are they well maintained? Utilities?

The drive isnt that bad. IDOT and The Ill. State Police do a great job to make sure everyone is safe on 74, even during storms. And no, central IL is not like northern IL in getting tons of snow, most of the time its just plain old rain down in central IL. True it's a miserable icy rain, but just rain in any case.

As for Danville, I really just feel bad for the little town. It's kinda like the ugly duckling of IL. People have lost intrest with the town and are flocking to cities like Bloomington Normal and Champaign Urbana. So to answer your question that is where everyone is going and why people are not moving into Danville.

[NoLove4MO]

Danville is a disgusting town, I traveled there alot on business. I must say that I too was impressed with the "Country Club, Wal-mart, etc" on paper, but the truth is that most of the nicer things were directly related to the past when this town was booming. The only nice parts of the town are up north (main street/IL-3). I did notice there is nice looking Catholic high school in that area. There is also a small (very small) mall up that way. The Wal-mart (and a I believe there's a Lowe's) is pretty much at the far northern edge of town.

I can't really speak for utilities in Danville, but having lived in Decatur (about 80 miles west), I don't think they'll be anywhere near expensive as what you're paying in CA. The REAL shocker will probably be the TAX bill!!

With that said, Danville also has some pretty rough areas. Anywhere near Voorhiees and the Quaker Oats plans should be avoided. The gehtto there is comparable to one you would find in a major city (not exaggerating). There is also a prison that lies on the western edgeof the city (right on the IL/IN border).

St. Joseph is probably your best bet if your husband will be working in Dville. The drive is 20mins at the most, and all of that is on rural IL-74 so traffic is no real issue. Champaign is nicer, but it's about a 30 minute drive.

[Purdue1906]

I won't want my worst enemy to live in Danville. I lived/worked there for a year and it is EASILY the most depressing city I’ve ever lived in. DEFINITELY not the place for teenagers, and if you are a professional adult and not from Danville (and professionals in Danville are few and few between), you will find yourself cast as an outsider and treated as such.

Shopping? Forget it, there are nicer strip malls to be found in Danville’s mall. Wal-Mart is the ONLY game in town, and two County Market grocery stores (the one south of Voorhees is disgusting). Dining? Forget it, Garfield’s (a step below Applebee’s) and Applebee’s are about the decent places to go. Garfield's is actually pretty darn good for the price. Lee's Famous is another good restaurant in Danville, but that's it. Nightlife??? HA……the bowling alley (where all the local thugs hangout) and dive bars are all the city has (when I lived there this bar called Cars was the fav hangout of the locals).

Housing? By the lake, north of Voorhees, there are some nice homes to be found, as a matter of fact, EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING nice in Danville is north of Voorhees, which isn’t much. Apartments? Devonshire Village is the ONLY decent apartment complex in Danville (I lived there, it’s the only place that isn’t full of Section 8 tenants, no offense to all Section 8 folks, but Danville’s low-income population is a mixture of locals and folks who’ve come down from Chicago).

If you can, live in Champaign and commute, or you could live in Lafayette and commute (I did this for a little while, but half the drive is SR 25 which is two-lanes, full of deer at night, and downright scary in the winter time, a Purdue student just died a few weeks ago on that road in a wreck). A FAR OUT option is to live on the west side of Indianapolis and take I-74 to and from Danville everyday. Crawsfordsville, Indiana could also be another choice, nice, quiant college town halfway b/t Danville and Indianapolis, about a 35 minute drive to/from the East Side of Danville. Finally, if you do move there, get your plates changed to Illinois ASAP...if not, the cops will pull you over for every little reason they can find.

In any event, avoid Danville at all costs.

[cuteazz1]

This thread is CRAZY WRONG.

I was born and raised in SantaBarbara,CA.
Moved to Chicago(burbs) for school and I am now in Danville.

These are the facts as I see them.

#1 I would NEVER compare the "ghetto" side of town here with ANY major city ghetto.That is just not true.To be honest there are 2 housing projects that look dangerous,but they are not.The type of envirnment where you see babies walking around with soggy diapers and no mother.I work at the community college and we go to these housing buildings and encourage the tenants to enroll in college.THEY ARE NOT DANGEROUS.I never see the police there except for couples arguing etc.....

#2 The South part of danville looks rough.There are plenty of houses that look abandoned,but the north part of Danville is nice.I live near the lake and it is beautiful.My neighbors are great and I feel TOTALLY safe.I go out jogging every morning at 5a.m so I believe that Danville is safe(At least the north side is).
I would advise you to look at the commercial news website and you will see how safe this city is.

Housing here is CHEAp.I bought my 4 bedroom house for 85,000.

The bad thing is Danville is BORING.If I were retired then I might like it here,but as a young lady(26)I often have to go to Indy,or Urbana for fun.
There are bars,lounges etc..But there are not many cultural things like art museums,plays..etc.

The mall SUCKS...I have becoma an internet shopper.

4 kids there is YMCA and the boys club,boys scouts and a karate place,dance studio and whatever they do at park districts.I don't think that there are enough activities for kids.

I would advise anyone who is thinking of moving to check out the city themselves...And I would move closer to Chaimpaign if I could.Not because Danville is bad,but because it is BORING......Good luck.

[cuteazz1]

Originally Posted by Purdue1906

I won't want my worst enemy to live in Danville. I lived/worked there for a year and it is EASILY the most depressing city I’ve ever lived in. DEFINITELY not the place for teenagers, and if you are a professional adult and not from Danville (and professionals in Danville are few and few between), you will find yourself cast as an outsider and treated as such.

Shopping? Forget it, there are nicer strip malls to be found in Danville’s mall. Wal-Mart is the ONLY game in town, and two County Market grocery stores (the one south of Voorhees is disgusting). Dining? Forget it, Garfield’s (a step below Applebee’s) and Applebee’s are about the decent places to go. Garfield's is actually pretty darn good for the price. Lee's Famous is another good restaurant in Danville, but that's it. Nightlife??? HA……the bowling alley (where all the local thugs hangout) and dive bars are all the city has (when I lived there this bar called Cars was the fav hangout of the locals).

Housing? By the lake, north of Voorhees, there are some nice homes to be found, as a matter of fact, EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING nice in Danville is north of Voorhees, which isn’t much. Apartments? Devonshire Village is the ONLY decent apartment complex in Danville (I lived there, it’s the only place that isn’t full of Section 8 tenants, no offense to all Section 8 folks, but Danville’s low-income population is a mixture of locals and folks who’ve come down from Chicago).

If you can, live in Champaign and commute, or you could live in Lafayette and commute (I did this for a little while, but half the drive is SR 25 which is two-lanes, full of deer at night, and downright scary in the winter time, a Purdue student just died a few weeks ago on that road in a wreck). A FAR OUT option is to live on the west side of Indianapolis and take I-74 to and from Danville everyday. Crawsfordsville, Indiana could also be another choice, nice, quiant college town halfway b/t Danville and Indianapolis, about a 35 minute drive to/from the East Side of Danville. Finally, if you do move there, get your plates changed to Illinois ASAP...if not, the cops will pull you over for every little reason they can find.

In any event, avoid Danville at all costs.

I have to agree with you on the COPS here.They are super BOREd and will pull you over 4 anything.

[NoLove4MO]

Originally Posted by cuteazz1

This thread is CRAZY WRONG.

I was born and raised in SantaBarbara,CA.
Moved to Chicago(burbs) for school and I am now in Danville.

These are the facts as I see them.

#1 I would NEVER compare the "ghetto" side of town here with ANY major city ghetto.That is just not true.To be honest there are 2 housing projects that look dangerous,but they are not.The type of envirnment where you see babies walking around with soggy diapers and no mother.I work at the community college and we go to these housing buildings and encourage the tenants to enroll in college.THEY ARE NOT DANGEROUS.I never see the police there except for couples arguing etc.....

#2 The South part of danville looks rough.There are plenty of houses that look abandoned,but the north part of Danville is nice.I live near the lake and it is beautiful.My neighbors are great and I feel TOTALLY safe.I go out jogging every morning at 5a.m so I believe that Danville is safe(At least the north side is).
I would advise you to look at the commercial news website and you will see how safe this city is.

Housing here is CHEAp.I bought my 4 bedroom house for 85,000.

The bad thing is Danville is BORING.If I were retired then I might like it here,but as a young lady(26)I often have to go to Indy,or Urbana for fun.
There are bars,lounges etc..But there are not many cultural things like art museums,plays..etc.

The mall SUCKS...I have becoma an internet shopper.

4 kids there is YMCA and the boys club,boys scouts and a karate place,dance studio and whatever they do at park districts.I don't think that there are enough activities for kids.

I would advise anyone who is thinking of moving to check out the city themselves...And I would move closer to Chaimpaign if I could.Not because Danville is bad,but because it is BORING......Good luck.

I would have to disagree with some of that. The gehtto in Danville is really a ghetto. Alot of the people living in the housing projects there are former residents of the infamous housing project- Cabrini Green in Chicago, and were pretty much relocated from there and other housing projects to Danville by the State. I know people tend to over exaggerate the danger poised by lower income neighborhoods, but the ghettos here not unlike others. I happen to be a young black male (24), and consider this area dangerous, so I'm sure most others would. By coincidence, the 1st time I visted Danville the cops had just shot and killed some guy in that area, which was really hard to believe in a town this small.

As mentioned previously, the southside of town is definitely rough. There's a little shopping area close to the courthouse and it is totally disgusting. I wouldn't shop at the country market if my life depended on it. Perhaps my view of downtown Danville was muddled by all the road construction going on when I was there, but honestly there was nothing at all there.

For somebody like myself (college educated professional), you'll definitely hate it here due to the fact that you'll be hard press to find anybody remotely like yourself.

[Animal]

I've been a teenager in Danville. It is sooo boring. Honestly, unless you want to walk around town with nothing to do or wonder around in the wooded areas outside of town that are full of huge turkey vultures, I don't think you'd want to bring your children here.

Give or take, the people are nice. They might not seem like it though. Some of the "rough and tough" looking people are actually the nicest, but that's not to say there aren't crime problems.

I stayed there one summer a couple of years ago. The highlight was driving over to Champigne every couple of days because over there you had things to do.

[Purdue1906]

Originally Posted by NoLove4MO

For somebody like myself (college educated professional), you'll definitely hate it here due to the fact that you'll be hard press to find anybody remotely like yourself.

Check my post above:I was the same way (A-A, under-25 at the time college educated professional) when I lived in Danville. It was the absolute pits. Danville has some good, hard working people, but between the absolute NOTHINGNESS of the City, coupled with the "left-behind" losers (b/c all the young people about anything left for college or the military and never came back), coupled with the influx of former Chicago public housing residents, Danville is and will continue to be a black hole.

Again, I'll say, the best thing about Danville is Garfield's restaurant in the mall. Good food. But other than that, unless you're getting paid top dollar, I'd say get the hell out of Danville. And even if you ARE making top dollar, keep that to yourself, b/c people in Danville talk A LOT and your business will be out there, potentially putting you in an unsafe situation. Lot of jealously amongst certain groups in that town.

[Drover]

I just drove through Danville yesterday. What a sad, sorry place. It just looks like everyone has given up on it -- both those who left and those who remain. What a depressing sight that place is. Danville is in that special category of depressing places because you can tell that it wasn't that long ago when it was a thriving community.