Moving from CA to Cairo...Where and what kind of work is available? (Chicago: loan)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by arpschneider

Any number of small towns throughout Illinois have buildings such as that ripe for re-development. What I don't understand is why a group of people from Chicago, who are sick and tired of the rat-race and 2 hour one-way commutes don't leave en-masse and export their economies to under-served areas like this, rather than continuing to live like crowded rats in a cage? Everyone would benefit: the crowding around Chicagoland would be reduced and the under-served areas would have some much-needed economic development!

Who makes these kinds of "decisions" anyway??

The people who decide for themselves where they want to live and why, that's who. For anyone in Chicago who is "sick and tired of the rat-race and 2 hour one-way commutes" (as if all or even a substantial portion of us sit in our cars for 4 hours a day), there are about two million better options for relief from those maladies than Cairo. Such as Pyongyang or Antarctica or Ganymede.

[arpschneider]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

Yep. They'll just need to bring the magic pots of money that leprechauns fill up while they sleep and they'll be all set to create Utopia.

LOL!!

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

You know. Unless they LIKE where they live.


and their jobs.


and... having stuff to do.

Which is my point exactly. Seems to me that some of those things could be spread-around to other, less concentrated areas. After all: Chicago at one time was a community that was thought to be "going nowhere" and the movers-and-shakers weren't willing to invest in it either, but look at things now.

Wouldn't you think a bunch of folks could make a decision to do the same thing elsewhere less congested, rather than piling more and more into such a tightly concentrated area?

That was my point. . .

[Drover]

NOBODY in their right mind has ever thought "Chicago is going nowhere" ever since it became a stockyard town. It's been nowhere but up ever since.

Folks who want to "to do the same thing elsewhere less congested, rather than piling more and more into such a tightly concentrated area" already have many other options to do so that make a lot more sense than picking up and going to Cairo -- in essence, starting from scratch. They can move to less congested cities where the market for their goods and services already exists, such as Milwaukee, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, Twin Cities, Indianapolis, just to name a few obvious candidates in the Midwest region.

[sunshine girl]

Back about 10 years ago now (wow) when my kids were in jr high and senior high school and playing in sports, we did play some Cairo and its neighboring towns teams. And many of the kids playing were actually grandkids or "nephews" of the folks in the stands. They said they were actually sent there by their parents from Chicago to "escape" the gangs, crime and drugs of the big city. I'm not all that sure that those Chicago transplants have actually added to any revitilization of the area once grown up. I do have respect for the older folks of Cairo who remained there because it's home for them and they would not give up on "her". Unfortunately, it seems the town will die with them. The previous posters are correct, the town has been left for dead. Few jobs are available for those with any inclination to work. For the folks who think they can come in and "revive" this area one by one need to see if they can stay for a few days in the area (are there any hotels there anymore?) first. It's location on the river and it's history are priceless, but that doesn't change what it has become. The internet is a great tool, but sometimes the pictures you see are carefully chosen to minimize any negatives. Sometimes there's a good reason that land and housing is so cheap in an area. This is one of those places. If you are truly interested in So. IL look north of Ullin or if you really want river property, look along route 3 up the Mississippi side. Keep in mind that both the mighty miss and the ohio do flood every few years. When you drive on the roads down there and the road is raised noticeably higher than the ground on either side, there is a VERY good reason for that.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by arpschneider

Who makes these kinds of "decisions" anyway??

The Trilateral Commission and the Freemasons.

[jojojohnson76]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

Yep. They'll just need to bring the magic pots of money that leprechauns fill up while they sleep and they'll be all set to create Utopia.

You know. Unless they LIKE where they live.


and their jobs.


and... having stuff to do.

I love the suggestion that people should move from Chicago to do this.

"Hey, I like living in Chicago, and have 4,000,000 other towns that I *COULD* move to, but choose not to, but this guy on a random internet forum says we should invest in a miniature-East-St.-Louis in Illinois! Load up the U Haul!"

[arpschneider]

Originally Posted by jojojohnson76

I love the suggestion that people should move from Chicago to do this.

"Hey, I like living in Chicago, and have 4,000,000 other towns that I *COULD* move to, but choose not to, but this guy on a random internet forum says we should invest in a miniature-East-St.-Louis in Illinois! Load up the U Haul!"

The only reason I'm suggesting it is that it would seem to me that the quality of life would improve for everyone if the economics were spread-around a bit more, rather than nothing in many places and way too much (like mercenary rats in a cage) in other places. Take it for what it's worth (or it may be completely worthless, if that's how you feel about it) There's no need to poke fun at the idea . . .

All I know is that they couldn't possibly PAY me enough to endure daily commutes anywhere in or around Chicago or the "collar" counties.

I have created a situation where I can walk TWO BLOCKS to work at my place of business. Oftentimes, I can even "telecommute" from here at home since I have the home and shop computers networked VIA LAN, so I can write Proposals in the comfort of my home office if I so choose.

Nowadays, so many things are technologically possible that the idea of enduring the high stress of getting logjammed in crawling traffic for hours at a time on a daily basis just has no appeal to me or my family whatsoever.

And I was a former "burbs" boy; born in Elmhurst and having grown-up in Roselle and Deerfield. All I do know is that central IL is a MUCH more friendly, SAFE and enjoyable atmosphere than a lot of places up further northeast in this state.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by arpschneider

All I know is that they couldn't possibly PAY me enough to endure daily commutes anywhere in or around Chicago or the "collar" counties.

Whereas I'd rather wear a beard of bees every day for a month -- with a matching bee merkin no less -- than live just about anywhere downstate ever again. But hey, everyone has their preferences.

[cp8983]

I've never been to Cairo, but a good sense of the problems and possibilities can be gleaned from "Far From Home," a journalist's account which examines the fate of small towns in America through the prism of two (and Cairo is one).

But to reply to the original post: why not move to Carbondale, which looks within easy commuting distance and is a college town with all the amenities? You could probably get a job there and still investigate Cairo.

[arpschneider]

Originally Posted by cp8983

I've never been to Cairo, but a good sense of the problems and possibilities can be gleaned from "Far From Home," a journalist's account which examines the fate of small towns in America through the prism of two (and Cairo is one).

Is this account available online somewhere, or is part of a book to be purchased?

Thanks!