Small-town Iowa girl seeks small town in Illinois (Sandwich, Nason: relocate, live)

[artemis]

I agree with Galena. Great town!

[jo_bee]

Originally Posted by stromssa

Hi,
I grew up in a college town in Iowa of about 8,000 people, and now live in a small town of 4,000 people. At some point in our futures, my husband and I may consider relocating, and we were thinking of Illinois. We are in our 30s, married last year, no kids (yet). I am a writer and need "space" around me to feel at home, and yet I still like to be able to go to a coffee shop or downtown area now and then to interact with people. My husband is similiarly introverted.
I have family in the Chicagoland area (surburbs) near Sugar Grove, but I am not particularly interested in living in a suburb, with the pricey homes, commuting, etc. However, I am interested in any smaller towns that might have some downtown "life" to them and perhaps some cultural advantages (or would be near somewhere that would have cultural offerings).
I am not overly familiar with all there is in Illinois; my grandparents lived in Dixon, and while I have a fondness for it based mostly on nostalgia, I think it would be quite distant from any cultural events. Same for Oregon, Illinois, a place I have visited and have enjoyed, but don't know how I would feel living there...
I also really like Galena. My husband's parents live in Dubuque, so it would only be a short drive to see them. Plus, it's kind of an "artsy" town, and, as a writer, I think I would enjoy that..
These are just what I am familiar with, though. Any thoughts or opinions on a smaller town with character?
Thanks!

Sterling, IL has nice houses with low prices!

[cavewoman]

Artsey college towns???

Perhaps Minnesota.....but a good 6 hrs north of Chgo or more., Northfield has an awesome downtown and plenty of homes in the rural areas.
How much money do you have/make. That will make all the differenc ein the world. Oak Park Illinois is awesome and artsey but expensive., some very cute and small towns in St.Louis area. St.Peters and St. Charles sound like it as well. Even St.Charles in Illinois is awesome.

Yorkville and those others mentioned in Will County have few small downtowns

[bobsmith319]

Try Galena, Geneva, Richmond. If you really want to be in the middle of nowhere, try Shelbyville or Findlay.

[jessiegirl_98]

anywhere outside of Quincy, IL would be nice. It is about 40,000 but still has a small town feel. Plus, you can live in small surrounding towns for very cheap and have a lot of land. You are right on the Mississippi and Quincy is pretty artsy.

[bondjb]

My family is from Southern Illinois. Lots of Small towns, many with the Courthouse squares. I like Carbondale, Marion, Salem. Little further north Carlinville is nice. John

[HOWELL_STREET]

Why not consider Nason, Illinois? It is located about one mile from the northern shore of Rend Lake. Although a sleeper as a realtor's dream, the town is somewhat isolated. Its zip code is 62866 so you should be able to find out more information. Vacant lots are available there for about $1K each lot.

Best Regards,

Carter Glass

[sfox]

I just have to say if the small town Iowa girl is cute and single, then please move to Dixon! I am relocating there and need prospects! Haha

[Drover]

Must have missed the part where she referred to her husband.

[qwemmie]

Originally Posted by llama214

The Peoria suburbs can offer a decent amount of what you are looking for. Morton, Metamora, Washington, Dunlap, Germantown Hills, Tremont, Mackinaw, Elmwood, along with countless others have a real sense of self and are just nice, clean towns overall. Certain parts of Pekin and East Peoria are nice as well. Expect to pay more to live in some of these areas, but places like Elmwood, and Mackinaw would have more reasonable prices. The Illinois river valley is so beautiful, if you do a little research, I'm sure you can find the perfect small town for you. These areas all within a realitive distance to Peoria, and Bloomington.

I grew up in Mackinaw and recently moved back (3 yrs ago)....A nice enough community..IF...you don't let the snobs bother you, You don't let anyone be an a** to you....The schools are decent as far as safety...education...Very cli'cky' at times though...always has been...there ARE very nice people though too...it just matters with whom you hang, I guess..

Sports are huge...we love our sports and have a good reputation in F/B and V/B....HUGE parent involvement which is great...The kids thrive on it...

You would do best in this town if you have some money, sad but so very true....Two bars are located on the other side of tracks..Mackinaw is acutally a 'DRY' Town...so bars and selling of alchohol are forbidden...so instead we pour money into the next community which is (as I said earlier) just across the tracks....DUMB IDEA if you ask me...pretend our town doesn't drink as the locals are across the street givng the next town good money that could be used in ours...YEAH..smart ...whew sorry needed to vent.

There aren't a lot of things to do here, however just 15 to 30 mins away offers many different things. (Pekin, Peoria, Morton, Bloomington) VERY safe though...which is one of the reasons we moved back..Plus...NO TORNADOES..WHEW HOO...we live in a valley so they always bounce upward...HUGE PLUS.....

If you are interested just get ahold of me qwemmie in the yahoo community....I can answer just about anything on this little town....

What we do have is three Churches, a Family resturant, an Ice cream shop, IGA (a GREAT FAMILY that owns it), P.O. , Drug store, three banks, Dr's office, Lawyer's office, Library (of course), Video store that also sells pizza and ice cream, Area 52 Paintball !!, Caseys gas station, Auto shop, Hardware, The Tea room @ the old Depot, The Mackinaw Winery..very nice.., Heritage Pool, Henderson and Weir Real Estate & Ins., two parks, Rec. Sports, Brock Lake, two Hair salons...one offers nails..the other offers tanning, Amish Cabintry, Canoe Renting (the river flows through) these are just off the top of my noggin....oh a very good pre-school day care facilty.

Not that bad for as small of a town that it is. Deer Creek is also assc. with us...Deer Creek Mackinaw is actually the school names. Deer Creek is a nice enough town as well...but they DO get tornadoes....

I am done now...feel free to ask me any questions....I hope this helped