looking for information on Clinton area (Springfield, Decatur: houses, movie theater, school district)

[immster]

My husband may be getting a job in the Clinton area. I would appreciate any information pro and con on living in that area. We would be interested in Clinton itself and about 30 to 40 minutes drive from there. How is housing? schools? and medical. Also, we have a middle school and high school aged sons so are interested in activities for them and sports. Thanks in advance for your input.
Blessings!
Lisa

[doll lady]

Sorry no one has responded. I live closer to Springfield, but I have a brother-in-law and sister-in-law who live in Clinton. The schools are good. School sports are big in this town. There is a small hospital which is pretty good and both my in-laws are affiliated with it....There aren't a lot of shopping and good dining places there but at least Clinton is centrally located at almost equal distances from Decatur, Bloomington, Springfield, and Champaign....and all of these cities have many shopping and dining opportunities as well as excellent medical care and access to universities.

Clinton hosts the Apple Pork Festival in the Fall which is just a wonderful craft fair which has block after block of vendors and entertainment and great food. There is a great antique mall as well as a craft mall which houses many vendors.

My in-laws have always loved living in this town. I just have never found the ideal restuarant there tho.

All of the cities I mentioned would be within 30 to 40 minutes.

[immster]

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like our kind of town. We are used to shopping being about an hour away so that won't be a big deal. The restaurant thing will be more of a challenge. I do like the fact that there is so much that is close enough to get to but not right in your back door.

[doll lady]

ooooooooops I forgot that I saw one restaurant advertised on TV the other day called Ted's Garage that's new. Supposedly it is a good place to eat. and I forgot to say there are some pizza places and other fast food places. And I know there is one other restaurant where we have eaten....it wasn't the worst food I've ever had.

Also Clinton Lake (near the nuclear plant) is close by. Unfortunately just a few days ago there was a tragic accident there....two men and an 8 year old son were out in a new boat on a test drive and ran out of gas near the lake's dam/spillway. The flow of the water carried them over the dam. The men's bodies were found the next day but they are still looking for the 8 year old's body. Just a tragic... freak accident.

Also I forgot to say there is a Walmart.

[ndb]

I was born in Clinton and lived there for my first 20 years. It's a small[er] town but there is *some* stuff to do, and there are several good places to eat. The school was good, I graduated in 1993, it has grown substantially in the last 10 years. Sports are pretty big in the schools, especially wrestling, track and football. There isn't a lot for young people to do if they aren't involved in sports, no movie theater (although rumor has it that there is one coming), no skatepark, a few good bike trails if you know where to look.
My younger brothers and most of my family still live there. Weldon Springs is fun every once in a while but it's pretty small and you can do almost everything they have to offer in a day.
Good places to eat are Ted's Garage, Sorrento's Pizza (I worked there for a while, it is still my favorite pizza of all time), Monical's Pizza, The Shack and Soto's Place. There are also the standard fast food/pizza places, Hardee's, McDonalds, Jimmy John's, Subway, KFC and Pizza Hut.
It is pretty much in the middle of Champaign (East), Bloomington (North), Decatur (South) and Springfield (South West). Many people live in Clinton and Commute to one of those larger towns, especially State Farm in Bloomington and the larger factories in Decatur.
There is also a top notch Dry Cleaner on the square (my father owns it) =) and some little shops and stuff. It's not a bad place to live at all. It is a little conservative for my taste and doesn't have much as far as diversity, but hey, no place is perfect I guess. I had no real complaints growing up there.

ndb

Originally Posted by doll lady

ooooooooops I forgot that I saw one restaurant advertised on TV the other day called Ted's Garage that's new. Supposedly it is a good place to eat. and I forgot to say there are some pizza places and other fast food places. And I know there is one other restaurant where we have eaten....it wasn't the worst food I've ever had.

Also Clinton Lake (near the nuclear plant) is close by. Unfortunately just a few days ago there was a tragic accident there....two men and an 8 year old son were out in a new boat on a test drive and ran out of gas near the lake's dam/spillway. The flow of the water carried them over the dam. The men's bodies were found the next day but they are still looking for the 8 year old's body. Just a tragic... freak accident.

Also I forgot to say there is a Walmart.

[jkessin1]

My older brother lives in Heyworth, and has two sons and a daughtor. One son graduated from Heyworth, and the other is a Freshman. They love the school. The only bad thing is that you pay very high taxes if you live in Heyworth, so If you can find something out side of town, but with the school district of Heyworth you will get all of the benifits. Taxes in Mclean County are very high compaired to DeWitt County which Clinton is in. They are high also compaired to where I live, but much better then Mclean County.

On another note, I have a yonger brother that lives in wapella, and they will go to school in Clinton when they are of age to do so. Nice area, Schools I have only to say that I have heard that they are fine. It will depend on where you currently live, and where your boys go to school now. If they are in California, then you will most likely like the change. ( I do live in California, and am working on moveing in the next 2 years. My daughtor will go the Clinton schools unless we home school. Most schools in that reagon of the country are very active in their sport programs, so I do not think your boys will be dissapointed.

Good Luck!

Originally Posted by immster

My husband may be getting a job in the Clinton area. I would appreciate any information pro and con on living in that area. We would be interested in Clinton itself and about 30 to 40 minutes drive from there. How is housing? schools? and medical. Also, we have a middle school and high school aged sons so are interested in activities for them and sports. Thanks in advance for your input.
Blessings!
Lisa

[Switch625]

There is a very nice artificial lake near Clinton called Clinton Lake. It's great for picnicking, boating, and anything else outdoorsy you might want to do in a place like that. As long as you don't mind the nuclear reactor, it's very nice.

[Salty Strings]

We are also looking for personnal opinions about the Clinton area. Like jkessin1, we too live in California and are moving back to the midwest. It's too dang expensive out here, and we have family near the Macomb area, a couple of hours away.