Nice family town in southern IL? Not too small? (Chicago: real estate, insurance)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Stiery23

Wow, I would have to say that I disagree. Having lived in the Metro East for nearly seven years, I can tell you that it is one of the hottest spots in the St. Louis area right now. I live in O'Fallon and it is a great community. High quality of living- great education, shopping, cultural attractions (Downtown St. Louis is 15 minutes away), and nice subdivisions. O'Fallon is one of the nicest places in the country! There's a quaint side to it, where you know your neighbors and feel a sense of community, but there is also a progressive feel to it with all the growth we are experiencing! It's the best of both worlds. The I-64 corridor is hot right now...all kinds of retail developments going up. St. Clair Square Mall, the largest mall in Southern Illinois, is in nearby Fairview Heights. In the past couple years, it's undergone major upgrades, and an open air "lifestyle center" called The Shoppes at St. Clair was recently built, offering shops like Talbots, Coldwater Creek, Banana Republic, and Barnes and Noble. I can't say enough about how you need to look into the Metro East! There are other great communties besides O'Fallon as well, such as Shiloh, Edwardsville, Troy, and Highland to name a few. Yes, it's true that East St. Louis is 15 minutes away, but O'Fallon is a very safe community. Pretty much anywhere east of route 159 is a safe bet! I would highly recommend O'Fallon.

I think you're misreading and sensing disagreement where there is actually agreement. What he's saying is that the eastern St. Louis metro area is the EXCEPTION to the notion that there's mostly just small towns and rural areas in Illinois south of Springfield.

[Stiery23]

Could be, it just seemed like he was saying there's only the ESL metro area (which isn't very good) in that sort of way, you know, and being from here I was just a little offended, but you're probably right. Thanks for pointing that out!

[Drover]

I don't think he's referring to ESL proper. I think he's referring to the entire metropolitan area east of the river, which of course would include O'Fallon and all the places you mention.

[waldo]

need opinions: better quality of life (schools, low crime, etc) in Chatham, IL near Springfield or in the areas of Troy, Edwardsville and others near St. Louis?

[AnonymousCoward]

There is nothing wrong with the "metro east" areas you mention, but as long as you don't mind being away from a large city I'd think the area just outside of Springfield would be better. Just my overall impression.

Originally Posted by waldo

need opinions: better quality of life (schools, low crime, etc) in Chatham, IL near Springfield or in the areas of Troy, Edwardsville and others near St. Louis?

[Stiery23]

No, I think the Metro East has more to offer than the suburbs of Springfield; I have family and friends that live in Springfield and when they want to really go out they come down here for shopping, entertainment, dining, etc. Springfield is nice, but the Metro East is larger and more refined.

[brightmidnight]

Originally Posted by waldo

I haven't heard any good things about East Metro either. I'm sure there are nice towns there but you're right next to East St. Louis.

That doesn't matter. What happens in East St. Louis, stays in East St. Louis! Belleville, Edwardsville, O'Fallon are all very safe towns with lots to do. There is much more to do there than in Springfield.

I grew up in Illinois and now I live in Chapel Hill, NC so I can perhaps give you the best advice. where do you live in Charlotte? Do you live downtown or in the suburbs? The quality of life that you'll have in any of the above towns is the same as in the Charlotte suburbs. It's not a "rural" area although you may see a cornfield. Living in Chapel Hill, I can drive two minutes and see a field filled with cows, so you should be familiar with this anyway in a big ag state like North Carolina (unless you never leave Charlotte).

Anyway, in O'Fallon, Edwardsville (my personal recommendation) or Belleville, you'll be 20 or fewer minutes away from St. Louis, which has almost everything Charlotte would have and more (minus all the NASCAR-related activities). There's LOTS more stuff to do there than in Raleigh. There's one of the world's best zoos, a light rail system that you can just take from O'Fallon or Belleville, great malls, not as much traffic as Charlotte, and a great downtown area with lots to do and lots of sports. It is not as rich a downtown area as Charlotte without all the banks, but there's definitely lots of unique and interesting stuff to do. The Cardinals are the world champions. The Rams are doing well. There are always so many concerts. Check out the City Museum-- absolutely one-of-a-kind experience that cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the world. The best Fourth of July fireworks that you'll ever see (I've seen Miami's, NYC's, and Washington DC's and they looked amateur compared to the St. Louis celebration!) It has the Muny, many times bigger and more impressive than Springfield's Muni, which is one of the largest outdoor summer ampitheatres in the nation. It has Forest Park, which is bigger than Central Park and one of the largest city parks in the country. It has the St. Louis Art Museum, with world-renowned art and exhibits. It has the Science Center, great for kids. I could go on. But DO NOT DISCOUNT this area because of ESL. You can just completely avoid it unless you want to go to a casino. There will be more to do in this area than in Springfield.

These areas will have all of the youth sports activities that go on in Chatham, with even more because of the St. Louis area nearby. Edwardsville has Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville which has all activities that you can expect from a college (I'd estimate it has 20,000 students and growing). They're great places to raise families. Another 20 minutes away, there's Highland, then Greenville, then Vandalia, which are all great places to grow up (I grew up in Greenville), have nice squares and a small town life, and have no crime or any of those problems to speak of.

Anyway, if you absolutely want the best placement for your coverage area, I don't think you can do much better than Greenville (I talk a bit more about it in the next post) or perhaps Carlyle. Look at a map. Greenville is directly on Interstate 70 which takes you either east to St. Louis or west to central Illinois. It's directly on Illinois Rt. 127 which takes you both north to Springfield and south to Southern Illinois. It may be the best-located for you transportation-wise.

Carlyle has Carlyle Lake, the largest man-made lake in Illinois, and lots of fun stuff to do because of that.

[brightmidnight]

Originally Posted by SaintNikkilas

also, if you didnt already know, vandalia is currently facing a major bond refferendum issue.. if the bond is not passed (citizens are voting april 17th) ALL extracirrucular activities will be cut from the school system, this includes ALL sports, band, choir, bi-phy-chem, student coucil, scholastic bowl, National Honors Society, theatre arts, homecoming, and prom (just to name a few): basically anything and everything that goes on after school. if the bond is not passed, i would VERY HIGHLY suggest not moving to vandalia for the sake of your children.
the areas around here (greenville, ramsey, pana, altamont, etc) are not much better. what people are saying is right.. all the areas between springfield, effingham, and st louis are basically just very small farmer towns

good luck and best wishes with your move.

I have to disagree. Greenville is closer to St. Louis, so it doesn't seem as "in the middle of nowhere" as Vandalia. It has an old-fashioned downtown and a college with 1,000 students, so it has more student-oriented activities than Vandalia like a first-run movie theatre. There is a beautiful lake, Governor Bond Lake, outside of Greenville, with all the water sports that would offer. And let me tell you-- $350k would buy you a mansion on the lake in Greenville. It also has a much better job situation, with a federal prison, the college, and world headquarters of a scoreboard company and a band uniform manufacturer. It has a music festival, Agape, that's known nationwide. It's a GOOD place to raise kids. There may be more for them to do in a place like Edwardsville, however. But I would say that the situation in Greenville is much better placed than in Vandalia.

The reason Vandalia has this bond is because there was a bus wreck in which one student was paralyzed and one killed, and I believe the parents of the paralyzed child sued the school district and won a $2 million settlement, which has to be paid from taxes. That $2 million can't be wished up magically out of thin air. That's why the school district is in debt-- it's not anyone's fault. It has good schools as far as I know (but Greenville has a higher property tax base due to higher property values and so it probably has nicer facilities).

[Drover]

Originally Posted by brightmidnight

The reason Vandalia has this bond is because there was a bus wreck in which one student was paralyzed and one killed, and I believe the parents of the paralyzed child sued the school district and won a $2 million settlement, which has to be paid from taxes. That $2 million can't be wished up magically out of thin air. That's why the school district is in debt-- it's not anyone's fault. It has good schools as far as I know (but Greenville has a higher property tax base due to higher property values and so it probably has nicer facilities).

You mean to say the school district didn't carry liability insurance to cover stuff like this?? If that settlement had to be paid directly out of taxpayer funds, that shows a tremendous lack of basic foresight and planning on the part of the school district.

[brightmidnight]

Originally Posted by Drover

You mean to say the school district didn't carry liability insurance to cover stuff like this?? If that settlement had to be paid directly out of taxpayer funds, that shows a tremendous lack of basic foresight and planning on the part of the school district.

I don't know. I'm sure they had umbrella insurance, but the cost of their insurance would have skyrocketed afterward. There also may have been a cap on insurance payouts and that sort of thing afterwards.

http://www.leaderunion.com/articles/2007/04/11/news/01schoolvote.txt (broken link)

That article says that legal fees from the lawsuit contributed to the bond issue.