Peoria-walkable urban areas

[Maintainschaos]

Isn't this topic being beaten to death? :\

[Scio42]

Originally Posted by stx12499

I am an urban kind of guy interviewing for a job here. I know it is a small town, and has a bad reputation, but are there any pedestrian corridors along the lines of a Broad Ripple in Indy, or Bardstown in Louisville, or any stores that wouldnt be out of place on Clark St in Chicago?


I will be in town tmrw (Tues and will leave wed). Are there any bars where young professionals hang out on a Tuesday night? Speaking of which, what are the good bars for someone in their 20's? Are there any historic neighborhoods I should check out? Street names would be great. How about a good local coffee shop?

Hey just ran across this post, first sorry about all the static you received for posting your impression of Peoria. Some people are very defensive about their hometown (and it's an internet forum too ). I can sympathize with some of what you wrote. But Peoria also has some charm once you get past first impressions.

Anyway, although it’s well past the day you visited, if you happen to pass through this way again here's a few suggestions:

Historic Neighborhoods & a few worthy sights -
1) High Street - huge Victorian mansions from the rich distillery days and
a 500 year old Bur Oak tree
2) Moss Ave and the area between Moss Ave and Bradley U
3) Downtown - Main St, Madison St (& a few others that escape me)
4) Roanoak and Randolph Ave (Just above St. Francis Hospital). A nice
little historic neighborhood tucked away in an unfortunately blighted
area.
5) Grandview Drive in Peoria Heights (beautiful view of the Illinois River valley, + a few elaborate homes).
6) Springdale Cemetary – Cemetary, I know it sounds weird, but it is a historic cemetery full of 19th century monuments from the days of the rich distillers and German settlers. It’s also in a unique peaceful wooded setting.
6) Warehouse district just south of downtown - although use some
common sense caution in this area.
7) There are some nice older historic houses just north of downtown too,
but again, this area suffers from urban blight so use common sense
caution.
There's a blogger than runs a fun little blog that can show you some of the little gems of Peoria. His blog is Name This Peoria Landmark

Pedestrian Corridors - City hall always has ideas in the works, but so far only there's really only the following:
1) Riverfront walk from roughly Water & Hamilton st to Water & State
street
2) Peoria Heights along prospect.

Local Coffee Shops -
1) One World Cafe - Main & University St by Bradley U
2) Leaves and Beans - Prospect Ave in Peoria Heights
3) 401 Water Street Cafe (address same as name)
4) City News Cafe - Main Street downtown
5) Panache - Sheridan Ave (although more of a stripmall location)
6) Kade's Cafe - War Memorial (although also in a tiny stripmall)

As far as good bars for someone in their 20's, Peoria just honestly does not have the best scene for the young working professional (especially the single young professional), but a few good bars to check out:
1) Kelleher’s – Water Street
2) Martini’s – Water Street in the old train station
3) Jimmy’s – Farmington Road
4) Sullivan’s – Peoria Heights on Prospect
5) Rhythm Kitchen – On Water Street
6) Rhodell’s brew pub – not really a hang out spot, but great beer brewed in house. You can also brew your own beer
7) Eamon Patricks’s – SW Jefferson St.
8)Bar Louie – Shops of Grand Prairie
9)Jonah’s Oyster Bar - 601 N Main St, across the river in East Peoria.

Part of the reason Peoria seemed dead was because you visited on a Tues night. You have to remember, Peoria’s a city of about 120,000. There’s just not enough people here to have a roaring time every night of the week. If you had visited on a Sat night, you would have found a much busier scene.


Peoria’s is not a large city, nor a destination city for those looking to move. It doesn’t have a million art/culture/entertainment opportunities staring you in the face like Chicago. However, when you go out and turn over a few rocks that’s where you find some of Peoria’s charm, there are some real gems just out of plain sight. Peoria is an old industrial river city that’s been trying to remake itself ever since the glacier of industry began retreating 30 years ago. The city’s made some progress and avoided the fate of some other industrial Illinois cities, but still has a ways to go.