Recommend a liberal city less expensive than Chicago? (Peoria, Springfield: real estate, employment)

[Hubcap_halo]

Hello,

I'm a New Yorker and former Minneapolitan.
I like the liberal, tolerant nature of both cities and the arts
and the opportunities for both ad professionals and people in
the alternative healing arts.

And trees and grass! I love those.

Are there any cities in Illinois (aside from Chicago, too big and can't afford it)
that I might like?

Thank you!

[Lookout Kid]

Are you looking in the suburbs? Unfortunately for you, the most liberal artsy towns (like Evanston and Oak Park) are among the most expensive places to live in the metro area.

It's strange to me how often this same question comes up on here. Here are two recent threads on the suject...

Where do tree hugging, vegetarian liberals belong in north Chicago?

Democrats in La Grange, Oak Park, Riverside?

[NancyMilton]

If you're looking outside of Chicagoland, think about Edwardsville in Southwestern Illinois. It's a university town (Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville) and a suburb of St. Louis, which offers great opportunity for arts and culture, wonderful and diverse neighborhoods, cool architecture, restaurants that are getting write-ups in foodie pubs and much more.

[ndfmnlf]

Go to the university towns. They tend to be liberal/left of center. The other nice thing about them is that the real estate values tend to hold up pretty well. Universities have a stabilizing influence on local economies. Factories may close down and factory jobs get shipped overseas, but universities never do. They also are a source of an educated work force who may stay put for the long term in the locale.

[breer23]

I would agree with the previous posters (Edwardsville, etc.) and would include that pretty much any larger city in Illinois (Peoria, Springfield, Bloomington-Normal, Champaign) would be tolerant and progressive enough to suit your needs. Of course, now I note that the four I rattled off all have universities.

Depending on your employment needs, I might strive for Champaign or B-N first...and I say this as a Springfield native who lived in B-N about 15 years ago.

[linicx]

If you like the idea of central Illinois, you would probably like Peoria. Gorgeous big parks, lots of trees, history, museums, artsy, etc. Peoria is a sprawling river town area because ot fhe trees, valley and hills, Springfield is political, Bloominton is a flat compact conservative farming area whilst Champaign is more of a traditional university town. Peoria is the only town that has the valley, the hills. the forested areas and the river. Peoria is progressive/ It has a university, medical shcool, junior college, and most types of business you expect to find. Peoria has upscale shopping, symphony, bandshell and live theater as well as downtown hotdogs, awesome riverfront, Jazz club, glassbolwer, hand rolled cigars, carriage rides, and all kinds of events. The Park district manages 60 parks, the largest three are each over 10,000 acres. It also manages a zoological park, botanica, marina, swimming, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, golf courses, theater in the round during th summer, plus it offers classes from A-Z that ae taught by the average joe; you have to be qualified not state certified to teach in the park district.

Peoria also has a very diverse religious community that includes Catholic, Jewish, Greek Orthodox, Federeralist. AME as well as Ba'hai and most of the Christian religions. It offers a diverse lifestyle from conservative straight arrow right wing Republican to ultra lilberal broken arrow non-conformaing left wing Democrat and a whole lot of moderates and inndependent thinkers in between.

I never took a bite of the Big Apple but I spent a lot of years in Minnehaha. I remember when Ann Margaret was a teen age queen at one of the parades. Everyone but me wanted to see her. I wanted to stay home.

I live in a small town that is equi-distance between Peoria, Bloomington and Springfield. The one thing I know from practical experiences is If you are a liberal you will not be happy living in a conservatvie town. Been there, done that.

[steve_holt]

Agree with most of what's been said. If you are interested in suburbs, I really recommend Oak Park or Evanston, in that order.

Central IL can be pretty conservative. This can be particularly true in the areas dominated by manufacturing industries, such as Peoria or Decatur. These areas, while more Democratic than Republican, are not particularly progressive or forward thinking. If you are open to Central Illinois, I would recommend Champaign or B-N, in that order. Champaign in particular has a bohemian, artsy culture that separates it from the rest of Central IL.

[Drover]

Milwaukee. Not actually in Illinois but that's just a technicality. It's close enough, and closer access to all of Chicago's amenities for a Saturday getaway than most of the downstate places people are recommending.

I'd be cautious about Champaign-Urbana. The "artsy bohemian vibe" exists in a bubble on and around campus. The rest of the area is pretty conservative, and that sometimes sets up culture clashes between the "academics" and the "townies."

[PenguinSix]

Most Illinois university towns are liberal, but surrounded by pretty 'red state' voters. The counties themselves may vote blue if you look on the map, but as others have said, it's usually just the overwhelming number of people within that 'bubble'. And those bubble's can get kind of claustrophobic after awhile. You may think they're open-minded but they can get pretty petty about stuff when that's all there is available.

My personal view is find a town you like and then find people you like. You don't have to be surrounded by people that think the same way as you to have a good time. To be honest, that sounds a little boring. Just be confident in your own beliefs, values and views and live in a town where you enjoy yourself. Don't rely on other's political views to make you happy (as half the time you won't be).

p.s. have you considered Madison, WI? Might also be to your liking.

[CarolL]

Also not in IL, but only a few miles into Wisconsin, is Madison. Think: "Ithaca NY of the Midwest."