peoria

[alymaibra]

I've lived around the Peoria area off and on my whole life. Personally, I would not choose to live there but there are alot of availabilities there that you do not see offered in the many, many small towns surrounding it. lol Practically the whole central area of the state.

Comparing Peoria to places like Springfield, Peoria would come out on top in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I am partial to being a city-dweller, but I've found there are less unclean areas of Peoria then say in Springfield. The homeless rates are not as high in Peoria as they are in Springfield, but then again, Springfield is larger.

Since I am just stating my opinion, If I had the choice at the moment, I wouldn't even be living in the state of Illinois. Comparing the state of Illinois to the rest of the U.S. would be no different then comparing Peoria to Springfield. Again, that's just my own personal opinion.

But on a more positive note, I've found many pleasant things in the state that I know I haven't found in other states I've lived in, or even overseas. But I can also state the reverse as well. There's many things elsewhere that you will not see within the state of Illinois.

It's all simply a matter of opinion.

[PtownGuy]

I've lived in Peoria for 10 years and after this time I've found that most people who write glowing reviews about Peoria either a) lived there some time ago, but not now or b)actually don't live in Peoria, but live in one of the surrounding metro communities (e.g. Dunlap, Morton, Washington) and only come to Peoria to shop, dine and for entertainment (e.g. sporting events, concerts etc.)

The fact of the matter is, Peoria is an old industrial river town that has seen better days. While city really does try to improve and make itself a better place to live, the 1980's took a baseball bat to this town when the glacier of heavy industry began receding, something that the city has never fully recovered from. While not a horrible place to be, Peoria will neither win a best place to live award any time soon.

Some good things about Peoria:
1. Cost of living is low (there's a reason for this)
2. Traffic is light and commute times are short
3. This city has some real gems and there are some very interesting things to do (if
you look under enough rocks)

Some bad things about Peoria
1. For no larger than the city is, the crime rate is bad
2. For no larger than the city is, there is high poverty
3. The economy is not diversified enough. If the largest employer would fold, so would
this city. In addition, the city hemorrages it's educated young adults for lack of
sufficent decent wage jobs.
4. There is a large outflux of families of means from Peoria to neighboring communities
(Dunlap, Morton, Washington etc.), mainly to get out of Peoria's many failing district
150 schools. Unforuntately this is emptying out Peoria's older neighborhoods (about
2/3 of the city) of decent residents and stagnating the city's population.

Peoria is a city with alot of potential (more so than many other central Illinois cities) and alot of problems. Unfortunately, I don't think it will live up to it's potential until it can seriously address it's key problems (jobs & schools)

[linicx]

Peoria isn't any worse than any other city its size, The park district manages 68 parks, golf cousies, a marina, plus it sponsors learning events all year. Peoria has a Montessori and a gifted student school. Peorians see national acts like Blue Men and Dancing With The Stars. Peoria has a wide range of religious views from Bahai to Greek Orthodox. Peoria County has at least two state parks; in one you can sleep with the wolves. Peoria has Heart of Illinois Fair. Peoria has history, culture,
Bradley Universty, Riverfront park, and its half-way between Chicago and St.Louis. Peoria has the Cardinal's AAA ball club and the Rivermen hockey team, and the "World' most beautiful drive." in the Illnois River Valley. And it also has a US Agriculture lab where many important things were discovered or invented. Willit play in Peoria? If it does, you can probably sell it nationally too.

Don't let naysayers discorage you. It's a great place to live.

[No_Kidding]

Peoria is like any other city in a blue collar market. What does that mean? Union towns have a way of stagnating do to the colaspe of production in the U.S.. Who's at fault? We all are. What were we thinking when we pushed the price of products through the ceiling because of our labor cost - across the board - were driving us out of JOBS. No it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why so many jobs are lost to foriegn "Cheaper" labor.
I grew up around here and watched time after time, union leadership make huge mistakes, most surrounding "as long as it doesn't happen here" well it did folks. And now everyone wants to know why health care promised is beyond reach with all,, never mind. Look at similar cities like Quad
Cities, Quincy, Alton, and so on. Unionville U.S.A. What were you thinking of when you allowed a welder to get paid $50.00 and hour because he's worth it? No one is worth that much money. No kidding folks Peoria is ONLY a good place to live if you are a native in the money - otherwise what do you expect when you let things get out of control

[Drover]

My God. Someone behead this zombie thread before it eats all of our brains...

[Zina]

I grew up in Peoria and used to return to visit my folks and friends. It's never been much of a city, which is why I left, but the last time I visited will be the last time I ever visit. When we went back to our hotel (Ramada, which also sucks), four Peoria cops put me in handcuffs before throwing myself, my wife, our two small children and our dog out in the middle of the night for trespassing. How we could be trespassing when we paid for our room (Ramada never refunded our money even though we didn't spend the night!) is beyond me.

What was my crime? Wanting to sit quietly by myself (NO booze, no music, no women, no trouble) by the closed pool because I had the hiccups and looking at the water sometimes makes them go away. The little worm of a nightclerk told me to leave immediately and when I tried to explain why I wanted to sit there a few minutes, he instantly whipped out his cell and called 911. And when the cops showed up, they didn't even ask what was going on. They just handcuffed me and threw us all out. We drove back to Chicago thru the night and were never so happy to get home.

Bottom line--Do NOT visit Peoria. You might get handcuffed and thrown out of the hotel room you paid for.

[runninfiend]

Originally Posted by Zina

I grew up in Peoria and used to return to visit my folks and friends. It's never been much of a city, which is why I left, but the last time I visited will be the last time I ever visit. When we went back to our hotel (Ramada, which also sucks), four Peoria cops put me in handcuffs before throwing myself, my wife, our two small children and our dog out in the middle of the night for trespassing. How we could be trespassing when we paid for our room (Ramada never refunded our money even though we didn't spend the night!) is beyond me.

What was my crime? Wanting to sit quietly by myself (NO booze, no music, no women, no trouble) by the closed pool because I had the hiccups and looking at the water sometimes makes them go away. The little worm of a nightclerk told me to leave immediately and when I tried to explain why I wanted to sit there a few minutes, he instantly whipped out his cell and called 911. And when the cops showed up, they didn't even ask what was going on. They just handcuffed me and threw us all out. We drove back to Chicago thru the night and were never so happy to get home.

Bottom line--Do NOT visit Peoria. You might get handcuffed and thrown out of the hotel room you paid for.

Great post! I've long complained that the Peoria PD spend far too much time patrolling the areas hotel pools for quiet, peaceable guests and ejecting them for absolutely NO reason.

Somebody needs to do something about this. Thank you for exposing this horrible epidemic.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Zina

I grew up in Peoria and used to return to visit my folks and friends. It's never been much of a city, which is why I left, but the last time I visited will be the last time I ever visit. When we went back to our hotel (Ramada, which also sucks), four Peoria cops put me in handcuffs before throwing myself, my wife, our two small children and our dog out in the middle of the night for trespassing. How we could be trespassing when we paid for our room (Ramada never refunded our money even though we didn't spend the night!) is beyond me.

What was my crime? Wanting to sit quietly by myself (NO booze, no music, no women, no trouble) by the closed pool because I had the hiccups and looking at the water sometimes makes them go away. The little worm of a nightclerk told me to leave immediately and when I tried to explain why I wanted to sit there a few minutes, he instantly whipped out his cell and called 911. And when the cops showed up, they didn't even ask what was going on. They just handcuffed me and threw us all out. We drove back to Chicago thru the night and were never so happy to get home.

Bottom line--Do NOT visit Peoria. You might get handcuffed and thrown out of the hotel room you paid for.

Ramadas are generally slummy.

[BearCubbie]

I was born and raised in Peoria, and like many kids, I couldn't wait to get out of the "fish bowl." It wasn't until I had a child of my own that I really came to appreciate what Peoria had to offer.
I currently live in Colorado (one of the most beautiful states in the Union), and I LOVE the bigger city; BUT, I still continue to take my son back "home" for a about a month every summer. Not only does Peoria have roots for me, but it has something much more that not many notice. I'm not sure I can put into words what exactly it is. For instance, this past summer my son and I went to a couple of Chiefs games and one of the players tossed a game ball to my son, at another game, Pete Vonachen (the team's owner) walked up to us and asked us if we were having a good time and preceded to joke around with us. In addition, I can take my son to an airshow, go to the store and always see someone I know, take him to a seemingly insignificant festival and have a great time. It's what Peoria isn't to so many outside/ big-city people that makes it so important to me. Because it moves at a slower pace and is on a smaller scale, one can actually take the time to enjoy simpler things and really feel the hometown pride.

[whiteduv]

My family were early Peoria Pioneers. I myself was born there and lived in Peoria until age ten. I now live in a really small town, very peaceful and quiet. When all the Northerners come down I naturally look to connect with people from Peoria. Whenever I mention Peoria I don't get very friendly responses. I don't remember it being that bad but that was in the sixties. I would love to come back and visit.