Peoria, IL - Housing options (East Peoria, Morton: houses, safe area, buying)

[kazimierz]

Hi,

I have moved to Peoria a few months ago with my girlfriend and now we are thinking of buying a property here. I have read a few topics about Peoria neighborhoods, we also looked around a bit and asked colleagues, but any suggestions / advice would be very useful regarding where to buy a house.

Our first priority would be safety, so one can go out to walk in the evening; preferably walking distance to a park/lake; max budget is around 200k; no children. From what we gathered, Richwoods, PH or Dunlap seem like the best options. If you could suggest any specific regions or streets within these areas which are particularly good or areas to avoid, that would be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

[Caglee]

If you must live in the city proper, the old rule used to be "stay north of War Memorial drive". Nowadays, if I had to live there, I wouldn't live anywhere south of Glen Avenue. Look into the surrounding suburban areas as well, Dunlap, Washington, Metamora, Morton may be good options as well.

[Pryde1]

Originally Posted by kazimierz

Hi,

I have moved to Peoria a few months ago with my girlfriend and now we are thinking of buying a property here. I have read a few topics about Peoria neighborhoods, we also looked around a bit and asked colleagues, but any suggestions / advice would be very useful regarding where to buy a house.

Our first priority would be safety, so one can go out to walk in the evening; preferably walking distance to a park/lake; max budget is around 200k; no children. From what we gathered, Richwoods, PH or Dunlap seem like the best options. If you could suggest any specific regions or streets within these areas which are particularly good or areas to avoid, that would be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

In PH, if you can find a home north of Glen (i.e. Prospect around the curve where the tower is) it should be pretty safe and you can then walk south down prospect to the "trendy/hip" stores/restaurants, etc. You could also walk west down Grandview Drive (where the rich folk live) for views, park etc.

If you like Mcmansion suburbia then Dunlap is very safe

If you want a safe small town then Morton is good. The East Peoria rail-trail can be accessed here as well for long walks, bikes, running, etc.

If you want affordable housing and safe then look at Marquette Heights. It is a very small town and blue-collar with a dollar store and not much else, BUT if you are outdoors people the town is sandwiched between Independence and Dirksen parks with over 20 combined miles of wooded trail/singletrack. Perfect if you are an avid hiker or mountain biker and love being in the woods. We raise our kids up here and it is safe and quiet.

[Jacobo1]

peoria realtors are now offering to pay for your concealed carry license

[kazimierz]

Thank you everyone for your input, its greatly appreciated

[martowski]

Look in the Charter Oak area. I know for a fact you can get a decent house for right around $200k... we lived there for 10 years until two years ago when we moved out of state. Safe area, and it's great to go walking up and down orange prairie road. Charter Oak park is within easy walking distance as well if you live in that area.


If you look, you'll probably find some houses near Charter Oak Elementary that are great places in your price range. We lived right near that school and really enjoyed the neighborhood.

[kazimierz]

Thank you for your reply, that is really reassuring as this is exactly the area what we are considering currently. Visited it a few weeks ago and it looks really nice and definitely top of the list at the moment. Thank you!

[kazimierz]

Any opinion on the Uplands? Walked around this week and it looks quite nice and quiet with a park, but the surrounding area was not very good so that made us a little uncertain.

[martowski]

Well, as a long time Peorian who also went to school at Bradley, I personally would not buy there from both a resale and a neighborhood perspective. Don't get me wrong, there are nice places, good people, and nice houses, but the schools associated with that area are not generally seen as the strongest in the district and that will turn off many regardless of whether they have children or not. Certainly, if you are looking for an older home this is a good spot but if you are not then I'd look elsewhere. You will want to be more careful where you go walking as well in the evenings around there.

I'm not putting it down, please, but I am saying that you'll find a lot of folks do not have a favorable impression of some of the neighborhoods around that area.

[kazimierz]

Great point on the resale value and school, and we had exactly the same impression about the surroundings. It is a pity, as otherwise it looked like a nice place, and by far the closest to work (OSF)