Place to live- Working family driving in opposite direction- Peoria & Springfield (Decatur: for sale, real estate)

[livonian]

Looking for a place to live where family members have to drive to Peoria and Springfield in opposite direction.

Lincoln IL is one possibility but crime records for that great. Any recommendations so that one way drive is not more than 50 miles?

[linicx]

Havana. 50 miles either town. No town more central.

San Jose, Bath, Lincoln, Bloomington, Normal, Atlanta, Leroy, Kilborn, Pittsfield, Decatur, Mason City, Middleton, Teheran, New Salem, Williamsfield, are closer to Springfield.

Farmington, East Peoria, Morton, Manito, Washington, Delvan, Pekin, Metamora, Dunlap, Brimfield, Lacon, Creve Coeur, Canton, Lewistown, Astoria, Chilecothe, Eureka, Spring Bay, Germatown Hills, West Peoria, Peoria Heights, Roanoke, Bellevue, Pottstown are closer to Peoria.

You will NOT find any crime free town in America or Illinois. Despite what you read, Lincoln is a nice small conservative town. Its a farm town. It's boring as are most farm towns. .

If you are looking for a small town where it is safe for your kid to walk to the movies after dark, and there is actually something to do besides drugs, Havana is not a bad place to live. The city, the schools and the parents support the kids and the schools.

[AnimalLover]

Have you considered Mason City? 35 miles to Peoria, 40 miles to Springfield. Here's a nice home for sale there:
602 E Chestnut Street, Mason City, IL, 62664 - MLS ID#20090041 - Single Family Home Real Estate - REALTOR.com®

[linicx]

I think Mason City is further to Peoriia than 35 miles. It's 15 to the Interstate in Lincoln.

[linicx]

Originally Posted by AnimalLover

Have you considered Mason City? 35 miles to Peoria, 40 miles to Springfield. Here's a nice home for sale there:
602 E Chestnut Street, Mason City, IL, 62664 - MLS ID#20090041 - Single Family Home Real Estate - REALTOR.com®

The house is 139 years old and its been added on to. For someone who does not understand old houses, they are expensive to repair and they usually need a lot of it, and they are generally drafty and expensive to heat. I had one that was 109.

[Maintainschaos]

Originally Posted by linicx

San Jose, Bath, Lincoln, Bloomington, Normal, Atlanta, Leroy, Kilborn, Pittsfield, Decatur, Mason City, Middleton, Teheran, New Salem, Williamsfield, are closer to Springfield.

Bloomington and Normal are both closer to Peoria than Spfld. I think Lincoln's probably your best bet in terms of splitting the drive.

[linicx]

Originally Posted by Maintainschaos

Bloomington and Normal are both closer to Peoria than Spfld. I think Lincoln's probably your best bet in terms of splitting the drive.

Are you sure? It always seemed it ws 50 m from Springfield to the 1-74 cut off to Peoria. I'm not looking for a fight. I was always anxious to get back to Peoria after a long trip,

[AnimalLover]

I did google maps from Mason City to Peoria, Mason City to Springfield to see what the mileage was.
Yes, some or even most older homes can be a lot of maintenance. That one in particular has been very well cared for and had tons of updating. They also have 'character'.

[linicx]

Distance calculator Mileage Calculator

Bloomington to Springfield 60.7 mi (97..7 km)
Bloomington to Peoria 33.8 mi (54.4 km)

Mason City to Lincoln 18.3 mi. (29.4 km)
Lincoln to Peoria 39.9 mi (64.1 (km)
*** 18.3 + 39.9 = 58.2 miles from Mason City to Peoria
Mason City to Lincoln 18.3 miles
Lincoln to Springfield 28.6 mi (46.1 km)
***18.3 + 28.6 = 43.9 miles from Mason City to Soringfield.
[To reach the interstate from Mason City to drive to either Peoria or Springfield, it is almost 20 miles or two lane roads between Mason City and I-55 at Lincoln. .

Havana to Peoria 36.5 mi (58.8 km)
Havana to Springfield 41.3 mi (66.5 km)
Havana to Bloomington 58.2 mi (93.5 km)

This calculator s pretty accurate. I suspect this mileage calculator measures from county line to county line. In otherwords the southernost county line south of Havana (Mason County) to the northernmost county line in Springfield (Sangamon County).

Morton to Lincoln 32.2 (51.8 km)
Lincoln to Springfield 28.6 mi (46.1 km)
***Morton to Sprinfield 80.8 miles
Morton to Peoria 9.2 mi (14..8 km)

When you factor in an additional 10 miles from the county line to your work place and return to the county line before you return home you will still average 200 miles per day drive time. regardless of where you live.

Something else to consider is weather. Mason City and Havana have two lane country roads to the Interstate. if you travel through Fulton County to Peoria it is also two lane roads.

### Lincoln to Peoria or Springfield is all Interstate driving. So is Bloominton to either city, as is Peoria to Springfield

County roads are messy in the winter. The Interstate is a federal highway and the roads are normally clean. It's the black ice and white outs that make driving dangerous in the winter on every road. Been there done that and almost killed myself on 1-74 one afternoon because of ice I could not see. It is why it is called 'black ice". The icy road looks normal.

[linicx]

Originally Posted by AnimalLover

I did google maps from Mason City to Peoria, Mason City to Springfield to see what the mileage was.
Yes, some or even most older homes can be a lot of maintenance. That one in particular has been very well cared for and had tons of updating. They also have 'character'.

As a realtor you would know things one cannot see. As a buyer I would want to know about the furnace, electircal, roof, exterior and plumbing. the basement - does it flood, and rafters. Has it ever been in a tornado? Who is the insurers agent? And I would never buy a house that old unless it passed a home inspection, mold inspection and radon inspection. Been there and done that with a realtor in Lincoln who tried to force a handicapped friend of mine into a house that did not pass inspection- due to tornado damage in roof and foundation problems - because she owned a section of prime farm land. No papers were signed, and the banker was not going to let her back out of the loan app. Isn't that a banker you'd like to avoid? The loan was approved and written in less than 5 hours after she saw the appraisal. She tried to convince me it was nor reversable. I made it very clear there was no sale and no loan.

I could certainly not allow someone who has never lived in America or owned a house in America to buy a barn tha was nearly 150 years old without a lot of reassurance from professionals - who were not realtors.

The kicker of the story. The agent was the ex-Board of Realtors president. He conveniently lost the contingencies when he had her sign a new contract the day before the inspection report was given to me. By the time I was finished with the broker he was publically embarrased and after six months of arguing he finally refunded her escrow. to this day he will walk across the street to avoid the client. His lawyer gave him good advice.

The last realtor I dealt with held a phony closing to cheat me out of my house. That didn't work either.. We are still in court. The five realtors and title company manager are still trying to weasel out of lies, threats of jail, invalid contracts. stalking and accusations of a federal crime.

I do pretty good for a little country bumpkin who was raised in a realtors house. We talked about bad deals. wny they went bad and shyster realtors every day for 56 years.

Lady Justice is not blind. She's thoughtful..