Anyone know about Dixon or Oregon? (Chicago, Rockford: relocate, rent , work)

[SRedmon]

We are possibly moving to Dixon or Oregon, IL. Would love any info I can get!

Thanks!

[dubuqueaskme]

First of all, I am EXTREMELY familiar with this area. awfully rural. beautiful. not SO flat. I lived here for a decade, moved to GA, and think about the wonderful times Ive had here.

CONS of Oregon

Incredibly inconvenient for shopping. 35 miles north to CherryVale Mall in Rockford, 2 hours to the Quad Cities, 1.5 hours to Chicago.

If you dont like LAID back, you wont like oregon at all. Hate it in fact.


PROS of Oregon

Small town charm, my second favorite town in the country, second only to Bellevue, Iowa.

Wonderful downtown. Historic. Seasonal parades, awesome spot for children.

Wonderful views. One would not really think of Illinois as bluffs and cliffs, this area is FULL uv em. the further toward Dixon you go, the more you get away from it.

You go to the grocery store and you know someone almost everytime. Hospitable people that are welcoming new people to the area.

Fishing, Hunting, Privacy, Scenery, Quaint, and a little (lot) inconvenient. It depends on what you are willing to substitute.


I dont know much about Dixon. I know its on a river, it has a OK appearance, and it sisters to Sterling, the population and convenience level are higher. POP;14,900 and SINKING. convenience; on interstate 88, thats it, thats all ya need.

[Steve-o]

Id choose Oregon anyday over Dixon. Dixon is tasteless, boring. The only thing that keeps that town on the map is the fact that Ronald Reagan was raised there. Other than that its strip malls, car dealers and homes. Not much to do other than outdoor sports (boating, fishing, hunting, etc). They have made some nice improvements downtown, including a new nice bridge, new downtown stores, etc. There are some nice homes on the eastern side of town, way up on the bluffs, but other than that most homes are very old and falling apart (read: is attracting hispanics, blacks, white trash) and not worth your time looking at IMO. Nothing against that crowd, but its up to you if you want to be surrounded by it and have your children surrounded by it as well.

As for Oregon... nice small town. Dumpy in spots, charming in others. Nice bluffs on the gorgeous river. Nice parks to relax in. Small downtown with not much to do, you get the point. But from a family standpoint, Oregon is a much better choice. Please check the area out before you move there. Just east of town on Rt. 64 are some nice new developments that are more secluded and MUCH nicer than the older homes in town. Scenery is quite nice for mid-state, with rocky cliffs, nice bluffs along the river, and a nice drive along HWY1 (or HWY2, I forget) from Oregon to Rockford.

[james57]

My home is about halfway between Oregon and Dixon. Both towns have their good and bad points as with most places. Oregon is the smaller town , but charming in its own way. I go there to occasionally shop for groceries, and also to get medical checkups. Also my dentist is in Oregon. Very nice small town atmosphere. Low crime rate , but general services are not as many. However, a short ride north to the town of Byron gets you a lot more services.

With respect to Dixon, it is somewhat larger but closer to regional shopping. Dixon has a brand new Super Wal Mart at the south end of town. Also there are new housing developments under construction at both the north and south end of town. Most of the major shopping areas are at the north end of town.

However, if you drive west about 7 miles on a divided four land highway, you get to additional shopping areas near the town of Sterling. There is another Super Wal Mart in that area along with a multiplex movie theatre, and other stores such as Staples and various chain stores. Also more restaurants like Applebees etc.

In my case I relocated to the Oregon Dixon area from the horribly crowded suburban sprawl near Chicago. If you like that sort of thing it is only a hour and a half away via Interstate 88. In my case I avoid the Chicago area except to visit friends and relatives. Give me the rural nature of the Oregon Dixon area any day. One big plus is the Rock River and surrounding areas. You have wooded areas along with the rolling hills . I would never think of moving back to Chicago from where I am now. But then again, that's just me. If you like crowds and driving gridlock don't move to Oregon/Dixon. But if you like the laid back country atmosphere yet not that far from metro areas of Rockford and Moline, then the Sauk Valley area is for you. Its a great place to raise a family. Once again you are away from the higher crime areas of the large cities.

Jim

[SRedmon]

Thank you so much for the info! It has been very useful!

[Sideblinded]

We moved to Oregon 6-7 years ago, and it is a nice town. Great parks department & fitness center. The schools have improved a great deal in the short time we have been here. I have a graduating senior who has been accepted into 3 Big 10 colleges, and has honors and academic scholarship offers from 2 of them.

Housing is really affordable, and the local Dr's are great.

[oldengineer]

I was born and raised in Dixon- and I worked as an engineer in Oregon for about five years.

My sincere opinion about Dixon is that it is a small-minded and dysfunctional back water. Extremely conservative- and if they don't llike you they will arrange it so that you can't find work. Blatent homophobia and rascism but they can get away with that because its "Ronald Reagan's Hometown."

I wouldn't live there again if you gave me one of those crumbling 19th century Victorian houses rent free...

As for Oregon, it is a little more progressive, but you better like binge drinking and crystal meth...

[Sideblinded]

As for Oregon, it is a little more progressive, but you better like binge drinking and crystal meth...

Do kids get involved in drinking/drugs? Yes. Do they in EVERY area of the country? Yes.

Does it make it ok? No. The parents here watch our kids, and we call eachother if we think there is a problem. They also do drug testing at the school. The major problem here is pot. The school and community take it seriously. I have been lucky and my kid has friends that stick together and have not gone there. Do I think this will continue in college? not necessarily, but I am glad these kids have friends that stick together. It is not a church/religious thing for our family, but it is a factor for many of the other kids.

Do we have a huge meth issue? Not to my knowledge. Ogle County (Note: Dixon is in Lee County) was the first to be proactive. The county mandated that all OTC medications that were used to make Meth were put behind the counter and limited quantities that could be purchased.

This is not a community of binge drinking, meth making, pot smoking idiots. Yes there are idiots, but that does not define Oregon fairly.

[oldengineer]

Who is talking about kids? In the plant where I worked nearly every single worker had a DUI- many had lost their licenses. The only social life seemed to be centered around the taverns, except for a church-going minority.

[radicalwanderer]

if you're considering oregon, i really hope you don't have kids.
the school system isn't... er... to put it bluntly it sucks.
i recently graduated (class of '06, booyah!) and in my 12 years in the school district i've had 11 principals.
we've had 2 bomb scares in the past two years. one of them wasn't much of a threat, just a note. the other, however, was a bit more involving. the building was evacuated and the bomb squad came and handled the situation. the bad part, however, is that the school administration covered everything up, denied that there was any danger, and held a teacher's meeting the next day to FORBID the teachers from letting students discuss the 'incident'.
i have been to numerous school board meetings, and had the displeasure of speaking to many board members in person. it is my oppinion that most of them are imbiciles who know nothing about what actually goes on in the schools. and if you go to a board meeting with the intent of saying something, you can be assured you won't get the chance. the public questions portion is conviently placed at the begining of the meeting, and everything is answered with "we'll cover that later." they never do. and when questions are politley raised in the middle of the meeting, the board members call the cops to have you thrown out.
i've seen it happen twice.
when it comes to the schools, they are crap
and the board just. doesn't. care.

by the way, we recently cut 1/4 of our teachers for buddget reasons, but that new football bleacher/press box complex sure is shiny