Benton, IL here we come! (Chicago, Marion: best city, houses, purchase)

[KK55]

My family is from Benton, and I visit quite frequently, I love it and wish I could move back. People from Benton are country people. Smile and treat them as you want to be treated. They are a very open community that has made great strides in the past several years. My sister married a hispanic; my grandmother who spent her life in Benton encourged it. When they moved back to So IL, I never heard of anything being said because of his race. I heard about how they liked him and how he cared.

Drugs are a problem as they are everwhere. Where's there drugs there will be crime. My parents house was broke into because they didn't keep the doors locked! They left the keys in the car etc.

Benton is a big basketball town. If your kids like sports it will be more fun for them and for you.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
KK55

[Talentscout217]

I used to live in benton in 93'-95' and i was also in a mixed family type situation as my dad is asian while my mom caucation, my dad worked in centrailia as a cook in a resteraunt. I never had any problems making friends (i was only in the 2nd and 3rd grade ) but i definetly remember that there were KKK meetings in the area and even a cross-burning in front of a local black families home. Obviously these facts told to me after the fact years later as i didnt read the paper in 3rd grade. One of my only memories of that school was the end of the simpson trial, they gathered us all in the cafeteria to watch it (i swear to this but i dont know why they did) and i remember seeing the dissapointment on some of the faculties faces when the virdict was given, i had no idea what was going on LOL.

[linnie18gemini]

Well im from the little country area Macedonia on the outskirts of Benton, but went to the Benton schools and now live in Benton.
For the most part people are god about not being too racist but, my cousin has had a few bad experiences with being on the recieving end of racial comments (she was raised in SIL, one of the only mix kids in her class)
the ratio is still pretty low.
and i have also heard that not long ago their was a KKK rally on the square.
But don't let this sway you, for the most part i love this little town and as long as you are friendly people are friendly back.
Welcome to the area and good luck maybe well be able to get our football team back up to par its been a few years since we had an awesome team.

[MO_CPA]

I may be relocating to the Benton area in the near future with my wife and two grade school children. I'll be moving into an apartment by myself for awhile until the kids finish school and my wife finishes a teaching contract this year.

New2SouthernIL: Is everything still going well with your move to Benton? I drove through yesterday and it seems like a nice community.

Replies from anyone would be appreciated.

[whatever you want]

Originally Posted by MO_CPA

I may be relocating to the Benton area in the near future with my wife and two grade school children. I'll be moving into an apartment by myself for awhile until the kids finish school and my wife finishes a teaching contract this year.

New2SouthernIL: Is everything still going well with your move to Benton? I drove through yesterday and it seems like a nice community.

Replies from anyone would be appreciated.

My mom lives a bit northwest of Benton and I've worked utility construction jobs there many times and from everything I've seen and ever heard about it it is a decent town.A bit rednecky but that's this area in general.I live about 45 miles southeast of there and our major "crime wave" is methheads and for some reason you don't see them as often anymore.Dying off maybe?? I don't know.You should really like it in Benton especially if you like fishing,camping and other outdoor activities.Enjoy and good luck to you.

[Mamama Mia]

Best of luck in your new home!

[New2SouthernIL]

MO_CPA: All is still good! We are currently renting and when the time comes to buy or build, we are keeping our options open but will consider Benton when the time comes. Good Luck!

[AJohnston_STL]

Just an fyi to the comment that "crime is non-existent." I laughed out loud at that. Benton has a higher crime rate than the national average (454 vs. 320). I was raised in Benton (out in the country), and moved to town when I got married. Within 6 months, we had both cars broken in to and my bike was stolen from our patio. Crime was anything but "non-existent." And to the poster who said that a cousin from Du Quoin said that Benton is stuck in the old days, they were absolutely right.

Last time I was in Benton I went to Applebees and saw an old friend...he couldn't live in the city (where we live), "it's a little too dark there." When a distant family member who is black (and only 11 years old) moved to town, he was called the N word at school within the first week. The kid was suspended, but I got thinking. He probably has some idiot redneck dad who was angry that he was suspended, and proudly told his buddies about what his son had accomplished in school.

I was riding in a truck with my friend one day when we drove around the "Square," and saw a black man driving. He yelled the N word out the window at him. Reason? None.

When someone from Benton visited me in Fairview Heights, a town that is about 70% white, she immediately exclaimed "You live in the ghetto!" when she got out of her car because she saw black kids in the neighborhood. I lived in a great area in Fairview Heights, but it was admittedly "a little dark." I don't see a problem with that, but the average Bentonite probably would.

When the Super Wal Mart came to town, I heard AT MINIMUM 5 people say they were afraid that the blacks would start moving in...because we all know that Super Wal Mart stores attract blacks...huh?

If you hate diversity, and think you are in the "ghetto" when you see a black face, Benton is definitely the place for you.

Jobs there are in education and healthcare. Beyond that, you can score a job building boats for $8.50 an hour (seriously, I worked at a boat factory in the front office, and the jobs were for under $10/hr).

I'm glad people like living there, my parents and sisters and whole families still live there. I just can't see me going back to that town. If I were coming back to so. Ill, it would be Marion. It continues to grow and is a safe, fairly diverse town...plus for decent shopping and big chain restaurants, you're going to have to go to or through Marion any way.

The schools in Benton are safe, but not good. The schools in Benton could just as easily be in an inner-city like St. Louis or Chicago academically, but are safe, unlike public schools in STL or Chicago. So, that's where the position that the schools in Benton are "good" comes from. GreatSchools.net, on a scale of 1-10, rates the following schools with the following scores;
Benton Grade School K-4 : Score 3
Benton Middle School 5-8 : Score 4
Benton Cons High School 9-12 : Score 4
My last couple of years at the high school were a joke. I wish I had known that you could take courses for college credit BEFORE the last 2 weeks of my senior year, but apparently that information is only shared with the "popular" kids. I remember one semester in particular I had 3 art classes and a study hall. Pretty much after your freshman year you coast on out the door.

I loved the prevalence of Confederate flags in Benton, mostly because I chuckled every time I picture the idiots answering on a test that Illinois was a southern state, because the uneducated morons have no idea. "Heritage NOT HATE!" But whose heritage?

As you can find in every copy of the Benton Evening News, several residents would still swear there is nothing in the world outside of Franklin County. Just read the "letter to the editor." One of my favorites is Albert Smith. Every time I pick up a paper in Benton he has a LTTE about some money that some politician making $70 a month for their role in city hall isn't being honest with. Arguments like "If they don't want me to burn my leaves on the curb of the street, then blah blah blah." Who cares?

Now for my pro-Benton words; I'm painting Benton with a broad stroke. Not everyone is like that. If you don't mind the lack of entertainment/dining/retail, etc, I guess it is an okay place to raise your kids.

[MO_CPA]

Thank you all for your comments, both positive and negative. I live west of St. Louis, so a rural setting and dealing with Meth-heads is nothing new to me and my family.

My potential position is in McLeansboro and I'd like to stay west of there for travel back to St. Louis, so the logical choices appear to be McL, MtV, or Benton. Schools are important, so I'll look into that. Does anyone have a concise comparison of these three school systems?

Again, any thoughts would be appreciated! Have a great new year!

[New2SouthernIL]

You can compare schools easily on schoolmatters.com. It's a good site. Others to look into are greatschools.net, iirc.niu.edu and isbe.state.il.us. Good Luck in your move.