Is Kankakee really that bad???? (Chicago, Aurora: transplants, gated, jobs)

[nickz]

herscher isn't a bad place? i live there. its certainly better than limestone. and the people are nice. it also has one of the better school systems in my opinion...it beats kankakee in low crime and kinder people. but it also has a very small population of about 1700.

[Elliot Ness]

Do not move to Kankakee. It is a very corrupt atmosphere - you know,
a bunch of good ole boys. The City Attorney even tried to prevent citizens from taping public meetings. Can't do that!!!!! He was stopped by the
Attorney General's office. The City also allowed a landfill to be sited in a 100-year floodplain. What do they care?

The whole county is backwards - still living in the 1950s. Downtown
Kankakee is dirty, filthy, crime-ridden and the housing is falling apart.

The county board is a bunch of old farmers who don't want progress, are afraid of progress, are afraid of their own shadows. The States Attorney runs the county, not the county board members.

The countryside is beautiful - but what good does that do you when you
have an inept, backwards county board?

If you are an intelligent, college-educated person who is used to the 21st century, do not move to Kankakee County.

[Jons99]

When I drive around Kankakee County I see a LOT of progress. All sort of retail development along Rt 50 in Bradley and now even at exit 308 in Kankakee, a couple of new Wal-Marts, Kohl's, Dick's, Circuit City, Best Buy, Wild Wings, Chilis etc.. Is that not progess? Residential development continues in Bradley, Bourbonnias, Manteno and Limestone, did you miss that?

Or are you upset that that those "backward farmers" are opposing a few landfills?

How many other downstate areas are growing at a faster rate? Only ones I can think of would be Bloomington and possibly Champaign.

[M TYPE X]

So Kankakee is getting freeway sprawl big-box stores... big whoop, Danville has chain restaurants too. The real notes for downstate Illinois are Bloomington, Champaign, and Peoria.

[Jons99]

Those are areas that are twice as large as the Kankakee area, not a real great comparison.. My point was that Kankakee County is doing awfully well.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Jons99

Those are areas that are twice as large as the Kankakee area, not a real great comparison.. My point was that Kankakee County is doing awfully well.

I am sometimes surprised by the number of chain retail and restaurants available in the Flint and Saginaw corridor up I-75.

There's money in them thar 'depressed areas.'

[Jons99]

I was in Orland Park today, saw those same national chains, that must be a depressed area as well..

[jared791]

Kankakee.. bad place to live..

However, as soon as you hit the city boundaries to the west leading into what is called Limestone township, the environment is completely different.

It's just little, quiet subdivisions from there.. and about 20 miles to the west and a little south is Herscher.

Small town, great place to raise a family. Great school districts.

The school district is also one of the biggest (if not the biggest) in the state, which means that pretty much anywhere west of the city of kankakee will go to Herscher schools (Limestone Grade School, Reddick, Bonfield, and obviously Herscher)

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Jons99

I was in Orland Park today, saw those same national chains, that must be a depressed area as well..

Orland Park is depressing because it's so boring compared to other suburbs, but people choose to live there (for the lower costs and easier chance of finding land to build.) It's not economically depressed, unless you're comparing it to Dupage or North Shore.

You didn't read my post well. I said that Kankakee has a lot of chain stores/restaurants WHEN you consider that it's an economically depressed area. I guess the small Bradley/Bourbonnais appendage, plus travelers driving through, sustain it. There are a lot of chains in Danville and Decatur, but I can't figure those out. There are a number of restaurants and stores in north Danville that I was surprised to see. There's very little along I-74 itself.

[Jons99]

To clarify, the growth and the stores I mentioned are in Bradley and Bourbonnais, was speaking about Kankakee County has a whole.. Kankakee itself is doing better, but has a long ways to go..

Those comments were made after someone thats obviously ill advised described the county board as being anti-growth..