Decatur IL Move or stay away? (Chicago, Peoria: middle-class, home, living in)

[bls5555]

Originally Posted by Josh1985

I am a 22 year olds and I need to get out NW Pennsylvania
It is a economically depressed area and very rural. I just happened to be looking at a map of IL and saw Decatur .

What kind of Jobs are there. I will need to rent so what the rental prices like. How about shopping,entertainment,etc.
How large is it I am looking for a small city but not a small town

Any reason you were looking in Illinois? or did you just happen to be looking at a map of Illinois?

[jtjmom]

Yes, it's Forsyth to the north, and Mt. Zion to the south, that are both reasonable places.

We just got away from the Decatur area a few months ago.

I'd go with Bloomington, Champaign, Peoria, Springfield, then Decatur. I lived in Clinton, which is right in the middle. No jobs there, either...

~D

[Josh1985]

No particular reason I want go there I was interested on just getting out of Pennsylvania just kind of wanted to know some info of that area
Thanks for the Reply

[NoLove4MO]

Avoid Decatur at all cost! I moved to Decatur after graduating from college at 22 due to my employer. Unfortunately, it was probably the worst experience of my life. There is no culture at all in that town. The only positive I can think of is the low cost of living. Springfield, Bloomington and Champaign are all better options. I would disagree with the statement that crime is worst in Springfield. One must keep in mind that Springfield is a city of about 20k more people than Decatur, and lies on a major interstate between St. Louis and Chicago, so understandably there are more people coming through there which could distort the true amount of crime. Decatur is an island unto itself and has some major crime issues. I also lived on the western edge of town, and smelled ADM every morning I awaken there! Life is too short, and there are too many nice places to even think about moving to Decatur, IL!!!!

[thebootyman]

I grew up in Decatur. I have to agree that unless there is some special reason you're looking at Decatur, it sure doesn't stand out as the one spot you should be looking at. I agree that it pretty much is the worst spot of the central il cities but from what I've heard, the ones commenting about Springfield being worse could be right. Peoria has all the same problems and the school systems are just as bad if not worse than Decatur's. I would look at Bloomington Normal where I live now.

[thebootyman]

Oh yeah. Forgot about the bad smell from ADM and Staley's.

[SocialDem]

Originally Posted by Josh1985

I am a 22 year olds and I need to get out NW Pennsylvania
It is a economically depressed area and very rural. I just happened to be looking at a map of IL and saw Decatur .

What kind of Jobs are there. I will need to rent so what the rental prices like. How about shopping,entertainment,etc.
How large is it I am looking for a small city but not a small town

I, myself, am a 23 year old who has lived in Decatur all my life, with the exception of two years attending grad school in Denver. I agree with the other posters here; moving to Decatur would be a huge mistake. The goal of virtually every young person living in this city is to get the hell out.

Decatur is a perfect example of a dying industrial town. Our poverty rate is currently a whopping 21%, which is astronomical for the US, and the unemployment rate is over 7%, which is quite high as well and partially due to the decline of industry.

The crime rate is also very high, being almost twice the national average. There is little in the way of entertainment and recreation which is probably part of the reason why drug use is so prevalent here. There is little in terms of pretty scenery; we do have a nice little nature preserve called Rock Springs Nature Center, but everything else outside of Decatur is corn and soybean fields. I'm not exaggerating when I say you can drive in any direction out of Decatur for a good two hours and see absolutely nothing but corn and soybeans, with the exception of the occasional town or city.

The city also smells quite bad. You get used to it after awhile, but the two major industrial plants, ADM and Tate & Lyle, are major food processors and create a stench that drenches the entire city. The presence of so much industry also gives the city a very 'blue collar' feel, which isn't bad but something worth knowing if you are considering moving here.

In truth, I'll alway love Decatur because it is my hometown. However, I will never live here again. I'm home for the summer but I'll be moving in August and never plan to live here again. I'll visit to see family, but the city offers nothing anymore. A city that's lost it's way, sadly. And, unfortunately, given recent decisions made by our city council I highly doubt Decatur will begin improving anytime soon. I hate to put down my hometown so badly, but it's the truth as I see it.

Thus, if you have your heart set on Central Illinois I suggest looking at Champaign-Urbana or Peoria. Even Springfield would be a better decision. Another poster here claimed Springfield was worse, but I don't see how anyone can believe that. I've been to Springfield countless times (it's only a half hour or so away from Decatur) and there is so much more to do there than there is in Decatur, probably stemming from the fact that it's our state capital. The other poster mentioned Springfield's crime rate but I assure you, while Springfield's crime rate is high, Decatur's is higher still. Decatur is a more dangerous city.

[Ciaerin]

i agree wholeheartedly dem. i am also getting out of this god-forsaken town. the city council have bungled decatur and now we the citizens are paying for it. its pretty sad that the decatur celebration is now for sale to the highest bidder, it was the only good thing we had going. although i wouldnt want to be in the carnival at night... if your from here you know what i mean.

[mrkool]

Originally Posted by Josh1985

I am a 22 year olds and I need to get out NW Pennsylvania
It is a economically depressed area and very rural. I just happened to be looking at a map of IL and saw Decatur .

What kind of Jobs are there. I will need to rent so what the rental prices like. How about shopping,entertainment,etc.
How large is it I am looking for a small city but not a small town

Yes, I would definitely move to Decatur because you saw it on a map. That's always a good reason for moving to a place.

[mackinac81]

Wow, these postings are so negative. I'm looking at moving to Illinois, and I saw some open teaching positions in the smalller towns outside Decatur. (Mattoon, Clinton, etc...) It looked like a decent sized city and thought I'd use it as a commuting base if I ever got any jobs in the area. But I guess I'll look more at Champaign/Urbana than Decatur.

Decatur sounds like Flint, in my home state of Michigan.