Relocating to Carbondale, Illinois (Herrin, Metropolis: best hotel, house, job market)

[Ravenwar]

Hello!

My wife and I may be relocating to Carbondale, Illinois (from Kansas City, MO) in October/November 2019. We have a few questions if any of you are willing to help answer. We would sure appreciate your help! Here are our questions:

1. Is the city or area LGBT friendly?
2. How is the job market for psychology/social services?
3. Would you recommend attending SIUC's graduate school (psychology)?
4. Any neighborhood we should avoid moving into?

We are planning to visit the area at the end of August to see if it feels like home to us. We will be there for probably 4 days.

1. Any restaurants that you might recommend (seafood/Asian)?
2. Your favorite hiking trail?
3. Is there an antique store/mall that you would recommend to us?
4. Any historic attractions we should see?
5. Best hotel or Airbnb (dog friendly)?

Thank you all so very much for your help!

-Ravenwar

[Little Egypt]

Others can speak to your first set of questions better than I can.


I'll take a stab at your second set, however. Please bear in mind that in looking at Carbondale, you have to go beyond the city limits and look at the region as a whole. Many of the things you're looking for will be not in Carbondale proper, but in nearby towns or the surrounding area.


1. No seafood restaurants of which I am aware, though we have a few fish places. A number of Asian restaurants, of which the best is probably Hunan, though I understand they've recently sold, and I haven't been there under the new ownership. There are also Thai Taste and Bombay Olive (Indian), as well as the usual run of generic Chinese places. Lots of casual, down-home places, a couple of upscale spots (Tom's in DeSoto and Mary's in Herrin), and quite a number in between.


2. For hiking, we have an embarrassment of riches, with the Shawnee National Forest out our back door. Garden of the Gods, Little Grand Canyon, the River-to-River Trail, Giant City...pretty much depends on your inclination.


3. There are no antique stores in Carbondale city limits, but quite a few in Williamson County, and several in other parts of the area. Google is your friend in that quest.


4. Lots of history in the area, especially from the Colonial period and the 1920's. Fort DeChartes has an annual Rendezvous with French Colonial period re-enactors the first weekend in June (unfortunately cancelled this year due to flooding). Fort Massac in Metropolis (home of Superman, BTW) is a rebuilt fort.



Other sites include Fort Kaskaskia, the Pierre Menard home, The Iron Furnace, the Old Slave House (now closed, but with a fascinating history). John A. Logan was a Union general in the Civil War and a Vice Presidential candidate, and there are a number of sites associated with him. The Union County Museum in Cobden is small, but offers a glimpse into the region's past.



In the 1920's we had the period best described in Paul Angle's book "Bloody Williamson," which details the Herrin Massacre, the Gang Wars, the rise and fall of Charlie Birger, and the war between the gangs on one side and the KKK on the other. Yes, seriously.


4. I can't speak to that, though I know they exist. We also have a number of cottages available in the area, though again, someone else would have better information.


Then, of course, there are the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, the Southern Illinois Beer Trail, the Shawnee Hills Pottery Trail, Sunset Concerts, the Makanda Vulture Festival...lots to see and do in Southern Illinois.

[Ravenwar]

Thank you so very much Little Egypt for your help! You gave us a lot of wonderful information and we sure do appreciate it.

[MikeQBF]

Carbondale, being a college town, might be a little more LGBT-tolerant than the surrounding area, which is very much Southern conservative rural. Friendly? No. Socio-politically the region has more in common with Arkansas.

The only place in Carbondale you could rely on for seafood closed their doors three months ago.

Hiking - prepare to defend against ticks, chiggers, mosquitoes and horseflies/deerflies. The climate in southern Illinois is warmer and more humid than the prairie dryness and harder winters you are accustomed to that suppresses the insects. They are especially fierce this year because we had a milder-than-normal winter. We do have hundreds of miles of lovely trails, but late summer is when the bugs are at their peak.

[Ravenwar]

Thank you MikeQBF for answering some of my questions. After a little more research, we have decided to redirect our focus to the St. Louis area.

Have a wonderful day.

[MikeQBF]

Smart. I happen to like Carbondale, it has a lot to offer, but if you're slightly out of the mainstream sociologically-speaking (as we are), life will... uh... "have its moments".