Illinois does not = Chicago!! (Peoria, Springfield: relocate, insurance, broker)

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by StPete2Charlotte

I will never visit Central Illinois, what a waste of time?

Youd be missing out then. Youve got Springfield and Peoria, which are unique, Lincolns tomb, Lincolns New Salem, Starved Rock State Park, Matthiessen State Park, the beautiful drive along the Illinois River, Nachusa Grasslands, Kankakee (not so "south", but hey) sand prairies, etc, etc.

[Scribbler]

Originally Posted by equine75

I'm located in one of those "cheesy" towns in west central Illinois- Rushville. Population 3300. People in the smaller towns don't require museums, festivals, sports (other than our local teams), and 5 star restaurants to make them happy. What makes me happy are simple things like the smell of fresh cut hay, or sitting out in my yard in the morning with my cup of coffee and that wren singing her heart out over my shoulder. I look with pride at the beautiful stands of corn and beans or the herd of cows along the roads that my friends and neighbors have raised.

Preach on, I'm with ya!

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by StPete2Charlotte

Yeah, but truthfully. No one cares about those places.
I will never visit Central Illinois, what a waste of time?
However, I want to visit Chicago really bad.

Basically, I look at it this way.

Imagine someone from say Denver or Seattle (the only big cities in Colorado and Washington respectively) saying: "Whats with these people, why do they make such a big deal about those mountains, forests, canyons, etc. Seriously, you could see that stuff in Idaho or Montana! Really why don't people go see the coffee shops in Seattle or see a Colorado Rockies game at Coors Field. They got all kinds of nightlife, museums, etc. Are mountains just big hills, I just don't understand it."

Of course they wouldn't say that. People who live in cities like that, are usually made up of people who value the outdoors more than the average American. Now, I know thats comparing apples to oranges. The nature in Washington and Colorado obviously is absolutely breathtaking, and the cities don't have quite as much variety as Chicago, the point is this:

Illinois still has nature that counts. Have you ever seen a prairie in July in full blooming wildflowers? Or the Indiana Dunes (yeah, I know they're in Indiana, but their so close, and the people there identify with Chicago enough, that I can claim them as kind of my own). Or the other places that Stev-O mentioned.

While I do love Chicago, part of the reason why I like it, because I can hop in my car and go not that far, to see towns that look like they did years ago. (It takes and further and further because of sprawl), but you get the idea. While I am partial to a few major Chicago institutions, I just don't care much about things that Chicago has that don't have an equivalent to 20 something other major American cities over 1/2 a million people. But thats fine. Anyways something to think about.

[KerrTown]

Why does almost everyone in Illinois have to live in Chicagoland? Is it because of the lake or something? Why does everyone crowd up in that corner of the state? This state is very long--there are many other places to live in Illinois like Peoria for example--what did Chicago do early on to have this happen?

[Drover]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Why does almost everyone in Illinois have to live in Chicagoland? Is it because of the lake or something? Why does everyone crowd up in that corner of the state? This state is very long--there are many other places to live in Illinois like Peoria for example--what did Chicago do early on to have this happen?

Location location location. Chicago became a major city basically because it is the epicenter of the nation's interior waterways. Chicago is the entryway from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River system. Today this is courtesy of the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal, but it started out when a young member of the Army Corps of Engineers named Robert E. Lee suggested a canal be built between the Chicago River and the Des Plaines River. From Chicago you can ship to any Great Lakes city (Cleveland, Detroit/Windsor, Erie, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Buffalo, Toronto, Duluth), any city on the river system (Minneapolis, Dubuque, Memphis, New Orleans, Quad Cities, Cincinnati, Louisville, Pittsburgh), plus it provides access to the Atlantic via the St. Lawrence Seaway. From there it grew to also become a major railroad hub -- to this day there are more miles of railroad track in Illinois than any other state because of Chicago's history as a transportation hub. Once it became a hub, it made sense to build a lot of industry around the hub for ease of shipping. Then support industries developed around the manufacturing industries: banking/finance, insurance, legal services, consulting services, etc. 150 years later... voila, you have Chicago.

[Drover]

To drive home the point of Chicago as a major railroad hub, check out Amtrak system map. (CAUTION: Link is a pdf) Check out how many routes radiate from Chicago versus any other city.

[Scribbler]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Why does almost everyone in Illinois have to live in Chicagoland?

Jobs. When people leave my small rural hometown for suburban Chicago, as many do, it's overwhelmingly for the more diverse job offerings. Particularly for college educated people, as the bulk of the jobs in many small towns are fairly blue collar ag/industrial. The jobs in my hometown requiring an education higher than high school involve medical positions at a small hospital, teaching at one of three elementary schools or one high school, working at one of three small local banks (no corporate banks), law enforcement on a very small local force, or opening a law practice (no firms to join). And generally, anyone with the education pertinent to any of these jobs can command a higher salary doing these jobs in a larger city.

[mad2306]

I'm sorry, but really, what else is there? You have family and friends. That leaves the rest of us with corn and cow ****. I mean poo.

[chi-town-my-town]

Yea I bet that could get really annoying to have people assume things. I live in a Chicago suburb, and since I live so close to the city, I just tell people I'm from Chicago when I'm in a different state. I've gotten weird assumptions from people, my favorite being, "Oh so have you ever seen anyone get shot?" Huh? Um no.

[Rockrocks]

No way, we got PEORIA.. lol