Possible move to Springfield.... (Chicago, Peoria: apartment complex, insurance, crimes)
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Can someone please provide me with family friendly areas?...this includes any neighborhoods that welcome diversity, private and public schools..and any headsup that you may have.
I'm not from Springfield, so I can only provide you with general information. Springfield is the state capital, and it is very much a government town. Being the capital, plus having a branch campus of the University of Illinois, makes Springfield more racially diverse than a town of that size would normally be. There are residents of Springfield who are part of this forum, and they will be able to give you more specific information.
In general, Springfield is a good place to live. The economy is mostly insulated from economic downturns by the focus on government and the university.
I'd like to second this request for more information about Springfield, beyond demographics available on this website or their own city website.
I may move there for a state job. I grew up in the Chicago burbs, and I have lived in the city of Chicago and in several other large urban areas for several years each, as well as in Champaign-Urbana.
I think I've gotten over any interest I had in living in large cities like Chicago, so the Springfield job appeals for that reason.
But what is it like to live there on a daily basis? Is it too much Lincoln, all the time? Or do Spgfld residents obsess about Lincoln, too?
Is the downtown lively? Does the community support local stores, or only chains? Is it terribly depressed? I realize that there is uneven economic development, but... With a university there, and it being the capital city, I'd think it is lively and interesting. It also seems very affordable, with a cost of living even lower than Champaign-Urbana.
My unmarried partner and I do not have kids and probably won't, so schools and the "right" neighborhood don't matter to us. We're in our late 30s and we like to cook, so the farmer's market also appeals, as does a natural foods store. I understand Springfield has one. We like independent bookstores and the like and I understand Springfield has one of those, too.
What do folks like about Springfield? Really now. Any and all input is appreciated....
Well, I dont live there, nor have I been there in a few years, but here was my impression:
Downtown is ok, nothing to write home about. The capitol and Lincoln home are really neat, as is the tomb. The fairgrounds are great during the state fair, easy to find and in a nice neighborhood. The neighborhoods around downtown are depressed, I didnt feel 100% comfortable driving around in them. Theyre not nearly as bad as areas of Chicago, trust me. LOL We also stayed on the southern end of town (forget the name of the road) and that was pretty nice as well. There are two large smokestacks on the SE edge of town, and there is a nice campsite back there somewhere and a big lake, we also stayed there once and enjoyed it. The area around the Crowne Plaza Hotel (awesome place to stay!) was booming last time I went down, lots of new restaurants and the like. Sorry this info is kinda vague, but its the best I can do right now. Someone who lives there will come along Im sure and help you more.
I'll give you the skinny on Springfield as best as I can.
I'm currently a college student in Boston, about to go into my graduate studies. I lived in Springfield for about 16 years with my family after my father got a new job there and we moved there from Peoria.
All in all, Springfield and Chambana are about the same metro size (~215K), but Springfield has a much bigger feel to it, I think. This is chiefly due to the downtown area that Springfield has compared to, say, Chambana, which has virtually none. That being said, Chambana has a lot more to offer for younger people than Springfield because of how large the university is there.
To the poster that said that Springfield is more diverse because of the draw UIS (the Springfield-branch of U of I) has, I'd have to disagree. In fact, I found that over time really there wasn't much of an emphasis on UIS in the city. Sure, it's slowly become a more and more popular school (I think the student body pop. is ~ 5,000 in total), but really the fact that the location is so remote compared to the pop. center of the city means that the university itself isn't integrated very well. I think it'll take a lot longer for the population to spread southward for that to really happen. The doesn't mean diversity isn't present, it's just not prominant.
As for Springfield traffic and transportation, the traffic is quite light most of the time and flows well, save for some disaster or wreck that shuts down lanes. Unfortunately, the bus system isn't very good, so having a car is a must. There are connections to other cities via Amtrak and the airport. The airport has connections to St. Louis, Chi Midway, O'hare, and soon Washington-Dulles.
What I've basically been told from a lot of people that live in Springfield is that it's a decent enough place to raise a family, but not somewhere that you'd want to spend your teens and twenties. It's quiet; it's peaceful; it's got a lot of parks, some decent biking/running trails, nice places to relax near the lake, clean(er) air than, say Decatur or Peoria, and much nicer water, in my opinion.
So to kind of summarize--
The bad: public transportation isn't very good, there aren't too many lively clubs, the geography outside of the immediate city is very boring, i.e. corn, corn, and corn.
The good: it's peaceful, lots of open spaces, clear skies (I love the view of the night sky from my parents' house), the downtown is getting much better with new restaurants, the new Abe Lincoln museum, downtown park improvements and such, there are lots of trees and the city is beautful in the Fall and Spring, and there are quite a few parks.
Oh yes, and family friendly areas are all over the city, really. The West, South, and North sides are a bit better-developed than the East, but that isn't to say that there aren't decent places to live in the east. You could also check out the suburbs of Chatham, Sherman, Riverton, Jerome, Southern View, or Leland Grove. The best private school I know there is Sacred-Heart Griffin (Catholic), and the best public school is probably Springfield HS (the central one, not really the SE one).
Oh, and one more thing: the farmer's market in the summer/fall is excellent, albeit a bit overpriced. Depending on where you live, you might have more than enough room for a garden of your own, though. Hope this helps!
I have lived and worked in the Springfield area all of my life.
Springfield is a small midwestern city with population of around 110,000. The city is run by a group of city council members who do not want any type of industry or blue collar in the city. These members are rather biased and constantly arguing and turning each other in for violations and such.
Unfortunately, through the years these controlling city fathers have had the chance to make Springfield shine but instead snuffed out happenings which would have been good for the city and the area. A few of these were Street Machine Nationals, Hot Rod Nationals, and the Street Festival. A few years ago a wonderful Rodeo arena was built at the fairgrounds and attracted the Junior rodeo and the city fathers have made some moves to try to get rid of the rodeo. There is still the Route 66 Festival but last year it suffered for some reason. The air rendevous was a great airshow but last year was cancelled due to lack of participation and I understand due to some requirments the city council wanted enforced.
The city has a city wide smoking ban. This has caused some mom and pop bars, grills and lounges to close their doors.
Please don't get me wrong, it's certainly not the worse city to live in, but it could be much better.
Uinversity of Illinois at Springfield is indeed a good school as are the two 2 year colleges... Lincoln Land Community College and Springfield College in Illinois. And of course SIU School of Medicine is a huge factor, with some of the best college professors in the medical field.
There are some good bars, lounges, etc. with active fun nightlife. There also are quite a few good eating establishments that are not associated with chain affiliates. Lots of fried fish is consumed in this neck of the woods. And there are tons of asian food places and a couple of good Mexcian places.
The shopping is so so. The mall is overpriced due to high rents charged to the businesses. There are also several strip malls in various parts of the city. There are some local merchants but a lot of chain merchants are here.
The lake is pleasurable for boating but you don't dare swim in the lake or eat fish out of the lake. For the last several years the bacteria has forced closures of the swimming area many times and in one case swimmers at a meet got very ill. A small zoo is also in the lake area.
The medical atmosphere here is one of the best in the nation. Memorial Medical Center is one of the best burn centers in the world. And St. John's is one of the best Pediatric Neonatal centers in the nation....premature babies are flown in from all over. And Heart patients are definitely have an advantage when receiving care in this area.
I agree with the previous poster about the schools. There are two catholic high schools, a number of other private baptist and lutheran schools and the best public high school is probably Springfield High School.
The mass transit district is a reliable bus service however it doesn't operate late into the night. There are several taxi services. Air service isn't as good as it could be but there are flights out to St. Louis and Chicago and a few other places.
If you want big city living like Chicago then don't move here because you just won't find the diversity of a huge metro area. This city is strictly medium city midwestern living. Peoria is an hour away, with a casino and riverfests and other festivals. And you can get to St. Louis in about 90 minutes. So fun areas are accessible in a short period of time.
There are several parks and running and bike trails. The Lincoln Museum is here but is very expensive but probably worthwhile. Lincoln's home is here too. I don't feel the people live and breath Lincoln but the tourism is of course solely based on Lincoln. Just about 20 miles away is New Salem where Lincoln grew up. This is a state park with walking trails, bluegrass festivals and artisans. There is a wonderful outdoor theater at New Salem presenting good summer stock. Also in Springfield are the Muni Opera and the Springfied Theater Guild....all very professionally done.
The two smokestacks another poster related too do not put out yuck....they are affixed with scrubbers and the smoke is very white....it is a part of City, Water, Light and Power company.
Illinois of course is faced with the severe rate increases in Ameren's utility costs and around here the electric bills have doubled in all cases and in some cases tripled.
Outside of state employment, hospitals, a couple of fair sized insurance groups, the job market is poor. There are very few blue collar jobs in Springfield. Entry level clerical jobs and those in retail are available but are poorly paid. Employment related to the laborors union nets the highest paying blue collar jobs but hard to get in unless you know someone. Government jobs pay fairly well.
Housing on the west side is pretty expensive. Lots of soccer moms driving vans. Other than that lots of people drive SUVs in the city and a pick-up truck outside of the city because it can be difficult to get around in the winter. However the city does a fairly good job of cleaning the streets.
The rural areas are all small towns. Some have high cost of living while others don't. The cost of living in Chatham and Sherman is pretty high. All of the small towns have good schools. Most inhabitants work in Springfield.
There are a couple of bookstores that are decent. And several coffee houses. Kids are into soccer around here and a lot of softball and baseball summer leagues. Sports are important in this area and the newpaper needs about 3 to 4 pages to report all of the local stuff going on. LOL
Springfield is home to the largest agriculture fair in the nation in August. Produce is available at a farmer's market but also along the roadside in many places. I don't feel it is overpriced. You can also find local farmers willing to sell you a side of beef or pork at very reasonable prices.
If you are an avid hunter, you can ususally find a friend at work who knows someone with a farm on which hunting is available. Deer are plentiful and watch out on the roads....they really like to jump out and get you!
I just want to thank both maintainschaos and doll lady for their informative posts. Of course, if others have more to say, so much the better.
We were there for my interview recently, and while the town itself seemed fine to us--the little we saw of it while there--the job might be a bummer, to put it mildly. I observed the perfect stereotype of gov't. workers, constantly looking at the clock, counting the minutes, stacks of paper that they mocked, yet completed dutifully and without variation.... Several folks in the office seemed very bitter and tired and unenthusiastic, looking to do only the bare minimum needed to comply....
I don't know if I could handle that, day in and day out.
But Springfield's downtown looked pretty good, overall. Of course, I saw Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln impersonators in full regalia walking down the street, where they got into a vehicle with the license plate, "IM ABE." I liked that, actually. Funny.
I've lived all over the Midwest, and this the second time in my life that I've lived in or around Springfield, so my opinions may not be consistent with some of the locals. These are really over-generalizations, but here goes my view of how the city is split up:
North - includes the area in the vicinity of Sangamon Avenue and north. This part of town is economically and to a much smaller degree racially diverse. There is substantial new retail and housing development. It seems relatively safe, I often see children often playing outside in the summer, and many parents spend the money to send their children to a private school affiliated with their church.
East - the area roughly east of downtown. Police seem ignore this part of the city, and because of this the areas poor residents are often victimized by criminals. It is not economically diverse and most people are quite poor. Most people and even some business leave once they can afford to be somewhere else. There have been some efforts at redevelopment, and some areas might be ok, but overall this part of town is best avoided. Most parents send their children to the public schools, because they can't afford to do anything else.
South - includes the area around Stevenson Drive and south. This area of town is to some degree economically diverse, and somewhat racially diverse. The area is relatively safe, despite complaints about about Deja Vu which has been there for years. Like other areas of Springfield children attend a mix of public and private schools.
Then there is the area near Lake Springfield, and UIS. The growing student population that lives near campus is relatively diverse. Some of this area is in either the Chatham or Rochester school districts, which many parents seem to prefer over District 186 (Springfield).
West - the area west of downtown. This part of town has had substantial growth and construction, particularly on the far west side. This largely middle class part of town is relatively homogeneous racially and economically, but this is starting to change. Closer to downtown there are some run down houses converted to apartments which are best avoided, but in other areas there are interesting older and friendly neighborhoods with lots of character. There is also a particularly troublesome apartment complex (which the locals call "Seven Crimes") that is best avoided, despite being in an area that looks quite nice. Overall this west side is family friendly, but more geared toward soccer moms and the middle class lifestyle. The further west you go in general the larger homes get, and the more suburban it becomes in both appearance and lifestyle. Like other areas of Springfield children attend a mix of public and private schools.
Suburbs - the very middle class areas close to Springfield such as Chatham, Rochester and Sherman. They are very family oriented, not diverse at all, but are very safe and have generally desirable school systems. I've heard that Sherman and Rochester tend to provide a better education than some of the other suburban school systems.
Of course not all of the city fits into those neat little categories, and you can find plenty of exceptions to my generalizations. I'm sure plenty of people will disagree.
The east side is probably considered the area with the most black neighborhoods but I would not consider the people living on the east side as poor. There is a small section of the east side with houses that need repair but otherwise the houses there are generally smaller than the west side but are nice and not run down at all. The tornado last year did a lot of damage on the east side so a lot of houses were destroyed but those which were repairable have been fixed. I personally know more than a hundred families living on the east side and they are very well to do. The majority of them send their children to private/parochial schools. My brother lives on the east side of town, retired at age 50 and has several hundred thousands of dollars in several local banks. His house is very nice and completely paid for which is pretty uncommon on the west side.
I believe the majority of east siders have fairly large bank accounts primarily due to the more advanced age of the east side residents. A lot of the younger black population has moved to apartment complexes on the west side such as Seven Pines and Chatham Hills and other various complexes scattered on the west side. All of which also house families of all races.
I sold insurance for years and became pretty familiar with the population. I sure made a lot of heavy commissions from the east side people with money to invest in annuities and large insurance amounts. The people on the west side were heavily mortgaged and most had to pay by the month and could not write a check for a three month insurance premium.
Regarding SHERMAN SCHOOL SYSTEM.....Sherman doesn't have a school system....the children who live in Sherman go to Williamsville schools (all levels.... elementary, junior and high school). Just wanted to clarify that so it is not misleading to anyone reading that Sherman has a good school system.
Rochester does have a good school system as does Riverton, Chatham, Willliamsville, Athens, Petersburg, Greenview, Virden, Kincaid, Divernon, Auburn and New Berlin....all which are within a half hour of Springfield. These small towns surround the capitol.
The next time you travel through Sherman, you might want to take a look at 312 South Street, there you will find the Sherman Elementary School (part of Sherman/Williamsville School District #15). However, you are correct that students living in Sherman travel to nearby Williamsville for junior high and high school education.
While a lot of the suburban communities have good schools, some definitely appear to be better than others. For example, greatschools.net ranks gives Divernon High School an overall rating of 6 out of 10, and Rochester 9 out of 10. If you look at test scores for different subjects, you will find even more dramatic differences between different schools and school districts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by doll lady
Regarding SHERMAN SCHOOL SYSTEM.....Sherman doesn't have a school system....the children who live in Sherman go to Williamsville schools (all levels.... elementary, junior and high school). Just wanted to clarify that so it is not misleading to anyone reading that Sherman has a good school system.
Rochester does have a good school system as does Riverton, Chatham, Willliamsville, Athens, Petersburg, Greenview, Virden, Kincaid, Divernon, Auburn and New Berlin....all which are within a half hour of Springfield. These small towns surround the capitol.
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