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Old 11-12-2007, 10:09 PM
 
4 posts, read 27,079 times
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My family and I are moving to central IL in January'08 from Michigan and we have narrowed it down to either Monticello or Mahomet. Both areas seem to be what we are looking for, but I really want to know if there are any real advantages/disadvantages to either town. We are leaving all of our family and friends, so I would like a town that will be welcoming to new people. I want to make which ever town we choose to eventually be our permanent home and somewhere nice (& safe) that we can raise our two kids at, so the elementary schools (& beyond) are going to be the #1 factor. I have done some research online about both areas and their schools, but they seem to be about the same. Does that sound about right? Any information good or bad from people that know or live in the areas would be great and helpful.

I look forward to reading any and all comments. Thanks!
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Old 11-12-2007, 10:55 PM
 
Location: Midwest
1,903 posts, read 7,874,140 times
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Monticello's landscape has no real hills, whereas Mahomet has the couple of lakes and a little elevated terrain. Monticello has more people, but is farther from Champaign-Urbana.

Both cities kind of remind me of Adrian, Chelsea, Clinton, and Tecumseh, but neither are that large. Wait, I take that back, C-D stats give me less population for Chelsea than either Mahomet or Monticello.

Mahomet "feels" much smaller to me. I don't know anything about Mahomet schools; one of the junior professors in the department lives in Monticello with four young children. I spoke with his wife at length (they moved from Savoy to Monticello earlier this year) and they are VERY happy with Monticello. I would assume that they could have found the same size house on the back streets of Mahomet, but the main streets of Monticello have some very large houses.

Another professor lives in Sidney. I don't think he internalized what Karl Marx said about "the idiocy of rural life." Then again, I don't think Marx did either.
I'm not a fan of St Joseph, Sidney, Tolono, etc so basically it IS Mahomet vs Monticello. I wonder if they have some kind of rivalry...

Basically it comes down to Rick Ridings Ford's mascot, Topkick the Horse. Topkick is a winner and can get you "a great deal on a great Ford, only a few minutes' drive away. Rick Ridings in Monticello!"
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Old 11-13-2007, 08:48 AM
 
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M TYPE X,

Thanks so much for the reply. You sound like a transplant from Michigan to Illinois too. I'm coming from Royal Oak, which is not a small town by any means, so I'm excited about getting a change of scenery.

We found a house in both towns, but the one in Monticello is 3x the size, a lot older, but a little cheaper. My husband is going to look at the house this week. I have visited Mahomet and love the landscape with a little water in the area and that small town feel, but I have not been to Monticello yet so it's hard for me to compare. We considered Savoy, but looks like I would have to put the kids in private school to get the quality that I want that is already in the Mahomet or Monticello school districts.

From what I know already, it looks like I'm going to have to drive to Champaign to get any shopping done, so the fact that Mahomet is closer does play a small part. Having to drive 30 mins to get to any larger stores or restaurants is going to be a huge change for me.

Thanks again for the post! Any one else know anything about the Monticello school district?
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Old 11-13-2007, 11:40 PM
 
Location: Chicago
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Mahomet may have been smaller than Monticello in the 2000 census, but that does not appear to be the case any longer. Mahomet is growing like a weed; Monticello's growth by contrast is slow and steady.

Between the two, I prefer Monticello. It has more of a community-centered feel to me, maybe just because it has a town square that is the central focus of the city's layout. You get a lot more house for your money in Monticello, and lower taxes too (Piatt County versus Champaign County.) The schools score above the state and national average in test scores and they have a very high satisfaction rate on greatschools.net. But mostly I like the people better. Mahomet seems to have gotten a little full of itself lately as it looks to be the "upscale" alternative to life in the big bad Champaign-Urbana. Monticello has no such pretension.

But if schools are your #1 concern, I'd look into St. Joseph. I'll warn that it's not particularly cheap for a small town surrounded by corn, and the schools are the main reason why. Lots of professionals have moved and continue to move from Chambana to St. Joe because of the highly regarded schools. That means it is also developing some of the same pretensions as Mahomet, but it's not intolerable just yet. As for shopping, you're a 10-minute straight shot down I-74 directly to the primary shopping area of Chambana.
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Old 11-14-2007, 08:58 AM
 
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Heather~

We are looking to relocate to the monticello area from MIchigan. I was thrilled when I saaw your thread. Like you we are leaving family and friends so this will nbe a big adventure for us. One of the mom's at my sons school said that the monticello area is wonderful. I have done some research and look forward to seeing what else I can come up with. Right now I am looking at houseing. I look forward to talking with you. We have thre boys. Our last was just born on the fifth.

Kelly
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Old 11-14-2007, 06:50 PM
 
4 posts, read 27,079 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover View Post
Mahomet may have been smaller than Monticello in the 2000 census, but that does not appear to be the case any longer. Mahomet is growing like a weed; Monticello's growth by contrast is slow and steady.

Between the two, I prefer Monticello. It has more of a community-centered feel to me, maybe just because it has a town square that is the central focus of the city's layout. You get a lot more house for your money in Monticello, and lower taxes too (Piatt County versus Champaign County.) The schools score above the state and national average in test scores and they have a very high satisfaction rate on greatschools.net. But mostly I like the people better. Mahomet seems to have gotten a little full of itself lately as it looks to be the "upscale" alternative to life in the big bad Champaign-Urbana. Monticello has no such pretension.

But if schools are your #1 concern, I'd look into St. Joseph. I'll warn that it's not particularly cheap for a small town surrounded by corn, and the schools are the main reason why. Lots of professionals have moved and continue to move from Chambana to St. Joe because of the highly regarded schools. That means it is also developing some of the same pretensions as Mahomet, but it's not intolerable just yet. As for shopping, you're a 10-minute straight shot down I-74 directly to the primary shopping area of Chambana.
Dover,

Thanks for all the good information. Funny, I have recently heard that Mahomet's residents were getting a reputation of being "a little full of themselves". I do have to say that Royal Oak is no better, I'm a little use to it. Thanks for the idea of St. Joseph's. I will consider it.
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Old 11-16-2007, 01:43 AM
 
Location: Cleveland, GA
131 posts, read 742,669 times
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Saint Joseph isn't cheap for sure, but it does have about the best school system in this part of the state.

Personally I like Saint Joseph. The "pretentiousness" isn't a big deal, except for the urban professional transplants who tend to segregate themselves from the rest of the town. Crime isn't a major issue, with bored kids being the worst of it.

St. Joe has a huge number of antique stores for reasons I've never understood. They do give the place character, I will admit.
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Old 11-16-2007, 02:11 AM
 
Location: Chicago
38,707 posts, read 102,687,747 times
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I think the antique stores has to do with Clingan Auction being in town and acting as a sort of antique magnet from around the region. He's one of the most renowned auction houses (auction shack, really) in the area. He sells a lot of junk but he also sells a lot of treasure, and he's a major source of the treasures that then end up in the antique shops around town. I was just at one of his auctions last weekend and little flower pots that looked pedestrian to me were fetching 40 to 50 bucks a pop. It was astonishing. It was the ones he described as "McCoy" that were fetching the bucks.
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Old 11-17-2007, 07:52 AM
 
Location: Cleveland, GA
131 posts, read 742,669 times
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I've been to a Clingan auction once. He handled disposing of the contents of my mom's estate after she passed away. The place was packed with people and he had three other estates at the same auction. It was pretty impressive.
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Old 11-25-2007, 07:01 PM
 
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Default Monticello vs. Mahomet

I grew up in Monticello and have lived in Mahomet for 17 years. Monticello is a much more self-contained community. They have a city pool and a nice library and some shopping and restaurants, etc. They also have Allerton Park, a large estate left to the University to maintain as a park that attracts a lot of visitors from the surrounding area. The schools are good and there are a lot of nice larger older homes in Monticello. It is farther from Champaign and some don't want the commute to work.

Mahomet is closer to Champaign-Urbana and is very much a bedroom community. Mahomet has gone through a lot of growing pains in the past 10 years and doesn't have as much to offer as Monticello. You won't find a city pool and town has outgrown it's library. It is a much larger town than it appears. The population sign doesn't reflect the actual population of the town since most of the growth in the past 10 years has been in subdivisions that haven't been incorporated into the village. The schools are excellent and for a small town, the class sizes will surprise you. About 180-200 students per grade. Mahomet has Lake of the Woods Park and with a small lake, museum, botanical gardens, and a beautiful bike path through the park.

I guess it depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for good schools for your children, you will find them in either town. If you are looking for a nice small town close to Champaign-Urbana, go with Mahomet. If you are looking for a more self-contained small town to live in and don't mind the commute, go for Monticello. I don't think you will be disappointed either way.
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