Liberal Southern Illinois Cities? (Peoria, Champaign: rent, low crime, hotels)

[LynnMac89]

Thinking of moving to Southern Illinois. I’ve heard most of the southern part is conservative & red. Which cities in the southern part are more liberal (Democrat or other left leaning parties)? We don’t care about job selection as we work remotely. We are a childless by choice couple in our early 40s. Good healthcare & educated doctors are important since we have complex health issues. An area that respects immunocompromised people & wears masks (at least during high Covid transmission) is preferred. It would just be an improvement to not have people looking at us like we are aliens or morons when we wear N95 in public. Will need stores that offer curbside pickup & doctors that offer telehealth. We are fine w/ college towns. It doesn’t matter. Needs to offer low crime neighborhoods because we like to walk at night. We currently pay $2200/mo for a well kept older, 1600 sq ft 4 bd/2 ba in a good neighborhood. Would prefer to keep it under $2500/mo. for something similar. Would choose somewhere further north, but need to stay as close to FL as possible, as we have family there.

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by LynnMac89

Thinking of moving to Southern Illinois. I’ve heard most of the southern part is conservative & red. Which cities in the southern part are more liberal (Democrat or other left leaning parties)? We don’t care about job selection as we work remotely. We are a childless by choice couple in our early 40s. Good healthcare & educated doctors are important since we have complex health issues. An area that respects immunocompromised people & wears masks (at least during high Covid transmission) is preferred. It would just be an improvement to not have people looking at us like we are aliens or morons when we wear N95 in public. Will need stores that offer curbside pickup & doctors that offer telehealth. We are fine w/ college towns. It doesn’t matter. Needs to offer low crime neighborhoods because we like to walk at night. We currently pay $2200/mo for a well kept older, 1600 sq ft 4 bd/2 ba in a good neighborhood. Would prefer to keep it under $2500/mo. for something similar. Would choose somewhere further north, but need to stay as close to FL as possible, as we have family there.

Not sure how "liberal" southern Illinois is. You would need the area from Mt Vernon to Marion with Carbondale & Centralia in the mix. With your other needs these seem to be the most vibrant communities. Small dying towns like Metropolis you can avoid. Don't even look at Cairo. From this area you will take I-24 to I-75 to get to most places in FL. Depending on your final destination you may have to look further south to meet most of your other needs.

[Bluefox]

I think your only realistic option would be Carbondale which is somewhat more on the liberal side and a college town with SIU located there.

Beyond that, maybe one of the nicer/safer burbs on the Illinois side of the St. Louis metro.

[OyCrumbler]

Carbondale seems to be your best bet for Southern Illinois.

Could you do a bit more to the north with either of the set of twin city college towns of Urbana-Champaign or Bloomington-Normal?

[BLS2753]

Originally Posted by GWoodle

Not sure how "liberal" southern Illinois is. You would need the area from Mt Vernon to Marion with Carbondale & Centralia in the mix. With your other needs these seem to be the most vibrant communities. Small dying towns like Metropolis you can avoid. Don't even look at Cairo. From this area you will take I-24 to I-75 to get to most places in FL. Depending on your final destination you may have to look further south to meet most of your other needs.

Agree with you on everything, except Mt.Vernon and Centralia. Was you go beyond the chain restaurants and hotels along the Interstates, and get into Mt. Vernon proper, you will find the town full of vacant storefronts and dilapidated housing.

Centralia is an old railroad town that once had a large number of related maintenance shops that supplied the town with good jobs. Everything is gone except the tracks and trains that clog the grade crossings in town. Unemployment is high, with mainly life long seniors on Social Security making up the population. The town is relatively isolated, with a minimum of a 45 minute drive to larger population centers.

Metropolis meets the same fate as the other towns mentioned. But one thing you overlook, is that it's 10 minutes from Paducah KY, which has a CSA of 150,000 people, 2 decent sized hospitals, and every chain restaurant and big box store that would satisfy most people.

One mistake people make, is you can't view any of the states in this region in isolation. The population centers are generally within commuting distance. It's just that they're not necessarily in Illinois.

[DannFrankenstein]

I second Carbondale and the East St. Louis area


In addition to Champaign and Bloomington, Peoria is pretty liberal too. Northern IL is just generally more blue, as far as I know

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by DannFrankenstein

I second Carbondale and the East St. Louis area


In addition to Champaign and Bloomington, Peoria is pretty liberal too. Northern IL is just generally more blue, as far as I know

Highly recommend East St. Louis. You won't be bothered by a horrible police presence there as they pretty much vacate the town after dark. Very strong Democrat stronghold with plenty of liberal policies to keep the city from changing from how they are now.

Only problem is for you to go out for walks at night. I hope you're capable of running as well.

[DannFrankenstein]

Originally Posted by jmgg

Highly recommend East St. Louis. You won't be bothered by a horrible police presence there as they pretty much vacate the town after dark. Very strong Democrat stronghold with plenty of liberal policies to keep the city from changing from how they are now.

Only problem is for you to go out for walks at night. I hope you're capable of running as well.

I should’ve been more specific. I meant the area around East St. Louis but hey if you’re tough, East St. Louis proper probably has some great low rent deals

[BLS2753]

Originally Posted by DannFrankenstein

I should’ve been more specific. I meant the area around East St. Louis but hey if you’re tough, East St. Louis proper probably has some great low rent deals

The proper term is "Metro East". A collection of St. Louis suburbs that happen to be in Illinois.

Belleville, Collinsville, Edwardsville, are some of the more desirable ones. On the southeastern fringes are Columbia, Mascoutah, and Waterloo, which are more like hybrid small towns/suburbs.

[DannFrankenstein]

Yes, and Belleville looks great. It’s got the Metrolink you can take to St. Louis and a decent downtown of its own.


(Now that I think of it, East St. Louis is so desolate, you might not have any reason to run at night if you’re the only one out)