Decatur Illinois (Chicago, Springfield, Champaign: sales, real estate, house)

[wionee]

Hi, I've been looking at Decatur Illinois for almost 6 months. I'm wondering if anyone has been there or has any opinions about the area. I've never been to the midwest and don't have a clue about anything. I would appreciate any information that you could share with me. Thanking you, Wionee

[Drover]

Decatur is a medium-sized rust-belt city. As with many such cities throughout the central Midwest, it has seen better days since industry went overseas and/or became mechanized. What remains is a tired old city without a particular sense of purpose, yet it soldiers on and refuses to die.

As a Chicagoan I might not be the best judge of its quality of life down there. I find it kind of boring with little original nightlife, few decent restaurants, art scene, music scene, et cetera. If you're looking for an urban experience, look elsewhere. If you're not looking for an urban experience and just want a quiet place to settle down, Decatur may work for you.

Landscape: flat as a pancake. The land around the city and its handful of suburbs is pretty much nothing but corn. There is a man-made lake in town that provides some boating opportunities. Otherwise, not exactly an outdoor recreation area. Someone from Washington State might be a bit underwhelmed by the landscape in most of Illinois.

It's a pretty safe city. It has some iffy areas and "urban" problems but not on a widespread scale.

Real estate is dirt cheap. You can get a lot of house for your money there.

I don't know anything about the quality of schools so someone else will have to fill you in on that.

The job market is, uh, kind of slow. If you do move there, try to line something up first, because otherwise there may be an uncomfortable gap between when you arrive and when secure gainful employment.

[Switch625]

What Drover said is pretty accurate. The city is making some headway in attracting new industry and information technology, so it is not rotting like Danville is. The economy is sluggish, but not face down on the mat. The schools are okay, though not outstanding. That really describes Decatur in a nutshell. Okay, but not outstanding. As Drover said, if you are looking for a quiet place to settle, then Decatur is for you. But if you want the excitement of a vibrant nightlife, Decatur doesn't have it.

[chicagojenny]

I actually was born and grew up in Decatur! When I was 7, we moved to Forsyth, which is the small town just north -- and actually where Decatur's only shopping mall and movie theatre is. I had quite a happy childhood living there and believe I grew up with strong Midwestern values -- however, anyone who grows up in Decatur can't wait to get out!! (Our mall didn't even have a Gap until the mid-90s.) It's very true, there's not much to do there -- and as a teenager, that can lead to quite a bit of trouble -- and getting drunk in cornfields. If you are considering a move there, I would look into the Forsyth area. It merges with the next town, Maroa, for high school -- it's tiny (63 in my graduating class) -- but served me well -- I went on to Northwestern. I also think there are some nicer homes out by Lake Decatur. Good luck!! By the way, why do you want to move there??

[Paxtonian]

Jenny, one can find trouble anyplace if they look for it. I'm a Chicagoan living Downstate, your description of life as a Decatur teen is pretty close to how life was as a Chicago teen (except we had the Forest Preserve instead of cornfields). I too couldn't wait to get out into the greater world away from there, which for me, was a very exotic place indeed- Central Illinois. Anyway, my thoughts on Decatur are as follows: a rather plain place with a sluggish economy AND the smell of roasting soybeans all over town, with some very good points, notably an excellent small zoo, a good small university, and (amazingly enough) a very good museum. Shopping is pretty diverse, there isn't much one could want or need that can't be had locally. Housing is inexpensive there, especially in some areas regarded as unsafe by the locals. Unsafe is a relative term, anywhere in Chicago is more unsafe than Decatur, and I'm including the upper middle class area I'm from. Most of the violence in Decatur consists of druggies offing each other, seldom does it affect the general population. IF I were thinking about a job in the area, I'd pick one of the surrounding towns, Taylorville is a pretty good place to live that is cheap and not too far off. I've a son there, he loves the place.

[NoLove4MO]

Oh My God! I absolutely hate Decatur, IL!!! I lived there for a little over a year (Railroad relocated me here), and it was simply the most miserable time I ever had. The quality of life is horrible. There is absolutely nothing to do in Decatur, and even worst there's plenty of crime. The major employer is ADM, and they pretty much own the entire city. Its unimaginable that a company could get away with totally polluting a city's air and water supply without any penalty. Nevertheless, everyone is Decatur recognizes that without ADM the city would be nothing, so the citizens go about their lives with the smell of soybeans and a heavy steam (they call it steam, I call it smoke) in the air. Its gross. The only positives are Springfield (40 miles west), Bloomington (40 miles north), and Champaign (40 miles east). Many people who work in decatur live in one of these cities and just commute everyday, its not a bad drive considering you're driving through corn fields only.

[Paxtonian]

If anyone wants a look at Decatur (and the surrounding area) news video is available at http://www.wandtv.com .

[wionee]

Thanks to all of you for your comments on Decatur. I appreciate your honest opinions. It's really hard to know where to go, when you have to go somewhere. I've sold my home in Washington, and will be moving out when school is over in June. I was really looking for inexpensive real estate, or a house I could fix up. It's like you said, real estate is dirt cheap in the Decautur area, but whats the point of cheap if thats all there is. The community I live in now is 90% retired people. The weather here is wonderful in the summer, and the winters are gray and rainy. Lots of green and mountains. But....it's not very exciting, and real estate is over the top for most of the working class. The property taxes just keep climbing higher. Thats one of the reasons I sold my house. The taxes were making my house payment almost unpayable. Washington State is an expensive place to live. The sales tax alone is almost 9%. When I sold my home I had to pay the State of Washington money on the sale of this house. Anyway... and so it goes. I'd really just like to find a nice place to occupy, with inexpensive living conditions, and some fun things to do. Maybe someone has some advice that might be helpful? Thanks so much-Wionee

[Paxtonian]

Well, I've been touting Gibson City all day. Look it up and see what you think.
I live in the next town over from it, and have been there quite a bit. On Yahoo Real Estate there's one house there for $45K which looks all right. Look up the videos on the town's website too. Also, do a search on "Harvest Moon Drive-In" if you want to see one of the town's features (there is much more in Gibson than just that though).

[Drover]

You might want to check out the Champaign-Urbana area. The University of Illinois is located there so there's a bit more cultural, entertainment and nightlife options there than in Decatur (though soon enough you'll figure out which places are nothing but college barf-holes and not worth going to). Real estate is more expensive there than in Decatur but still very reasonable by nationwide standards.