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hi guys. i planned for the longest time to try to live in vegas for the whole month of july. it is only recently that i finally decided to try to live in the "small town" cities within IL.... looking at craigslists... i have this cities to choose from:
champaign urbana - not as boooming as peoria or bloomington? decatur - i learned from the posts here that this is a bad choice. rockford - so is this springfield - no jobs?
i chose peoria or bloomington coz as from the posts here.. this 2 are "more" developed in a sense that jobs are not scarce. that is my MAIN concern. job availability. i am not picky with jobs. as long as it pays my rent, food and bills. that's the most important for me. i currently live in lake county IL. i just honestly need a new environment. i am burn out with my job and living with my sister. i wanna try and be a self made woman on any of these towns i chose to try to live for a month.... so i really need your expertise to decide where i wanna live. i am heavily looking at peoria or bloomington... which from craigslist has as low as $285/month rent... but i think those are for the students...
guys i would appreciate links to where to find jobs in the city you think has a "future" . for me and for its residents. and also affordable townhomes/apartments/condos... thanks.
First of all, you won't know much about either town in 1 month and you will spend a lot of money to learn this. Six months is a more realistic living experience. Illinois is an economically depressed state like the rest of America. Secondly, Business Week or one of the other national financial magaizines is predicting Bloomington- Normal will be one of tne economically hardest hit areas because roughly 50% of the population is employed in Real Estate or Insurance. Third, $285 monthly rent will put you in housing in an area that is the equivilent of Chicago's south side. Realistically, to live in a safe area, unless you find a studio unit, you can expect to pay upwards of $500 a month plus utilities. As a single young woman new to Peoria I suggest you contact the YWCA as they do have a Director of Housing. 309-688-7655.
I like the Peoria area. I've lived in, lived nearby, or visited four or more times a year for longer than I care to remember. With the exception of Peoria, the other towns you mentioned are more compact and they are surrounded by farmers and ranchers. No town in central Illinois is more safe or more crime free than another. All cities have their share of crime related issues. If you go into a smaller town near Peoria there could be less issues. Maybe.
Illinois IS a flat, farming state with pockets of rolling hills and forested areas.
I lived in Chicago. I spent some time visiting Fox River around McHenry. It was a beautiful area not overly developed that reminded me very much of a smaller scale Illinois River in Peoria.
Peoria is a river city and it sprawls like Chicago. The economy is slow. If you do not have a degree or marketable skills, your best bet for emplyment is in the hospital, child care and restaurants. A recent poll of employment agencies seem to suggest manufacturing, medical and construction offer the best emplyment opportunities. Check the Peoria Journal Star and Pekin Daily Times newspapers plus the WEEK TV, WMBD TV and WHOI TV websites for job opportunities.
Peoria has a large park system that offers low-cost learning opportuinites for a variety of subjects, and if you are well versed in a particular area, you may well be qualified to teach a class if there is an interst. Peoria does have three hospitals and a medical school as well as a privae university and college. There are scenic views from the bluffs on both side of the river, riverfront plaza, public events all year and most of the box stores in Peoria are also in Chicago. Your surroundings will not be enotirely unfamiliar. Peoria is also progressive, but underneath the glitz, it is a big farm town too, just as is Bloomington, Champaign and Springfield.Statistically the Peoria MSA is larger than Bloomington, Normal or Champaign. The downside is you will not find Trader Joe's, Costco or Whole Foods in central Illinois, but you will find Warlmart and Sam's Club in Peoria.
is peoria flood/tornado prone or what natural disaster is a common ocurrence there? like earthquake for LA... i dont mind walmart.. that's where i shop here. i dont care about Costco or Whole Foods... i will miss Trader Joe's though.
the YWCA number u gave might be helpful if i can't find a good deal when i get there. do they give safe places to live i mean like studio apartment?
I live in Champaign and have never lived in either Bloomington or Peoria, but I'm familiar with both towns, having visited both of them a great many times.
A couple quick opinions:
Bloomington seems more educated and has many more transplants (which also is a very dominant characteristic of Champaign). Bloomington has more of a modern feel and is more heavily rooted in the new economy. The downside is Bloomington, in my opinion, is not as physically attractive as Peoria. It has a drab downtown area and the general area is sort of flat and featureless.
Peoria seems like everything is home grown. Most people in Peoria seem to have actually grown up there; Peorians seem to have deeper roots. Historically, Peoria is a manufacturing town, and still has that sort of feel. The Peoria area is rather attractive, given that it lies in the heart of a major river valley. I always love the view of Peoria that one gets when driving in on I-74 from the east.
Another poster mentioned the economic prospects in Bloomington are bleak because of the meltdown in the financial industry. I suspect that could be true, although the meltdown in manufacturing is likely to hit Peoria just as hard. Indeed, the January 2009 unemployment rate (by county) for the Peoria area is about 30% higher than the unemployment rate for the Bloomington area (7.8% versus 6.0%), and the unemployment rate for Bloomington is still one of the lowest in the state.
hi thanks! i needed that. ya ive heard about the low unemployment rate of bloomington.. so i actually am more likely to try bloomington. tell me about champaign and what to expect.
what do u think of this area?
515 W. Washington (http://chambana.craigslist.org/apa/1084333902.html - broken link)
Affordable Rent, Just a short commute (http://chambana.craigslist.org/apa/1057031454.html - broken link)
$469.00 - $750.00 MEADOWVIEW APARTMENTS (http://chambana.craigslist.org/apa/1058230943.html - broken link)
the last 2 seem to be nearby champaign.. do u have safe places to live to recommend? how about job availability?
hi thanks! i needed that. ya ive heard about the low unemployment rate of bloomington.. so i actually am more likely to try bloomington. tell me about champaign and what to expect.
what do u think of this area?
515 W. Washington (http://chambana.craigslist.org/apa/1084333902.html - broken link)
Affordable Rent, Just a short commute (http://chambana.craigslist.org/apa/1057031454.html - broken link)
$469.00 - $750.00 MEADOWVIEW APARTMENTS (http://chambana.craigslist.org/apa/1058230943.html - broken link)
the last 2 seem to be nearby champaign.. do u have safe places to live to recommend? how about job availability?
Avoid any apartment on West Washington in Bloomington.
Here are my 2 cents (I used to live in Normal):
1. C/U is a college town and that's all it is. Both my kids went there. When school is out the place is a ghost town.
2. Peoria has some very nice areas and I would consider living there. I think the restaurants are way better than B/N. And you have the riverfront.
3. Golf is very cheap in central IL, no matter which city you live in.
4. B/N is a State Farm town. Pretty much white collar but watch where you live. Several years ago, Chicago tore down their subsidized housing and gave out section 8 housing vouchers. Quite a few came to B/N. As a result, crime and gang activity increased in certain parts of B/N - South Adelaide St, Orlando Ave., Turnberry Apartments.
5. Regarding State Farm, they are a bit arrogant. Not sure why.
hi thanks! i needed that. ya ive heard about the low unemployment rate of bloomington.. so i actually am more likely to try bloomington. tell me about champaign and what to expect.
what do u think of this area?
515 W. Washington (http://chambana.craigslist.org/apa/1084333902.html - broken link)
Affordable Rent, Just a short commute (http://chambana.craigslist.org/apa/1057031454.html - broken link)
$469.00 - $750.00 MEADOWVIEW APARTMENTS (http://chambana.craigslist.org/apa/1058230943.html - broken link)
the last 2 seem to be nearby champaign.. do u have safe places to live to recommend? how about job availability?
Personally, I very much like the Champaign-Urbana (C-U) community. It's sort of my adopted hometown, although I was originally born and raised in the south side of Chicago and only settled here because of the university. C-U has everything you need, including outstanding shopping, affordability, active nightlife, fantastic college sports, a highly educated citizenry, an outstanding local and inter-city public transportation system, and easy proximity to Chicago, St. Louis, Indy, and other towns by car or public transit.
The downsides of C-U are violent crime (although they've also got plenty of crime in Bloomington as well, and perhaps even more so in Peoria); the cost of air travel (Bloomington and Peoria have lower-priced air service although their airports are not nearly as nice as ours); and we have extremely activist city governments dominated by university liberals that want to tax and regulate every aspect of our lives (this problem is more severe in Urbana than Champaign, although the Champaign city council has become increasingly liberal in recent years as well).
As for the three apartment options you mention, here are my opinions:
The Champaign apartment on Washington avenue is an excellent location in terms of being close to nightlife, the university, libraries, health care, and so forth. However, it is right on the border of where many criminals live and operate. The further south you can go from this location the better, and you definitely don't want to go north of this location. There are a number of street robberies and assaults in C-U, and many of them occur close to this apartment (and more so to the north). If you are a single woman living alone, you should heed this advice very seriously, as single women are one of the most common targets of the street criminals here.
I would not consider your second option, in Rantoul, which is a severely economically depressed town. Rantoul doesn't have much, and most people living in Rantoul work and shop in C-U. Further, Rantoul established a large amount of new public housing on the former Chanute Air Force base; many people moved into it from the public housing in Chicago, and now Rantoul is experiencing an unprecedented amount of violent crime (we had the same thing happen in C-U except on a smaller scale, if only because it's more diluted because we're bigger). There are some great pockets in Rantoul, but overall it's just not a desirable place to live.
Your third option is in the town of Mahomet, which essentially is a nice suburb of C-U. Mahomet is a very nice town and very safe with almost no crime to speak of. They're rapidly growing with transplants from C-U and I have several friends that live there. If I had kids and needed to use the public schools, I'd live in Mahomet in a heartbeat. You should have no problems at the apartment complex you mention. The downside is you'll need to drive to almost everything. Mahomet has a small shopping infrastructure, but they are building a new grocery store and library; it's a very family-oriented community. But you can drive to Champaign in about 10 to 15 minutes, so all the amenities of Champaign are easily accessible if you're willing to drive.
Of course I'm biased on this topic, but I think C-U is a much better place to live than either Bloomington or Peoria. But I tend to see the world through the lens of a major research university and all the benefits and activities associated with it, so if such things are not important to you than Bloomington or Peoria might work well for you too.
I specifically mentioned the YWCA as they did have private nousing for single women. I do not know if they do today or not. It is worth a phone call to find out what they can do for you..
Peoria is hiring, but it is slow. The employment agencies added 1400 new jobs in the last year, The unemployment rate is slightly over 7% according to local reports. I only know what I read in naional magazines. None of the authors of these prognostications work or live in central Illinois. But, if you read posts over the last three years in this fourm, you will find the same comments from B-N and C-U students that both areas are lacking a nightlife. I do not know it to be a fact. However, when I lived in Bloomington, there was little nightlife except restaurnats that closed by 9 pm on weekends and some bars that stayed open later. .
Peoria has a diverse nightlife. There were pictures in the newwspaper and on television of college students from B-N that attended the opening of the new Indie movie theater that features not pizza and a bartender; the commented on the lack of nightlife in their area. The regular theaters do not have liquor or hot snacks. There is also indie, jazz, rock, pop and country bands or clubs. A few bamds play until 2am and you still find pizza later than that in some areas. There is also black clubs, gay clubs, strip clubs, sports bars, sports clubs, country clubs and private clubs as well as two semi-pro sports teams. If that isn't enough the Peoria area has golf, bowling, swimming, roller and ice skating, walking, hiking, biking, GPS biking, mountain biking, hunting, sailing fishing and a Skeet club. .
If you like something different you'll find Civic Center with national acts. performing arts, summer stock, dinner theater, art galleries, museums, Observatory, ballroom dancing, symphony, amphitheater, Lookout tower, social and college classes at night, history and historical homes, botanical gardens, social and fraternal groups and free Saturday Night movies in the park during the summer. And of course the Ronald Regan museum and rose garden in Eureka, IL..
Some of the local area annual events include a regional state fair, one of the largest night time Christmas parades and displays in America, Pumpkin Festival, Spoon River Drive, Marigold Festival and Medallion Hunt, Oktober Fest. Irish and Christmas Parades - all of which are more than 30 years old. If you want something that really off the cliff theres a hand rolled cigars, glass blower studio, pottery, wineries, fish hatchery, carriage rides, day and night river cruises, river gambling, NA mustuem and dig - the only one in Central Illinois. There is also a horse training arena, sailing club and marina, award winning zoo, and you can also sleep with the wolves too.
I really did not get into shopping. Peoria has two malls, and at least six strip mall shopping areas that include among others a furrier, upscale clothing, fresh fish markets, natural health food and grocery, computers and supplies, Shoe Carnival, banks, a Fannie May Store and more.
Peoria also has a very diverse religious community that includes, Catholic and Greek Orthodox, Federatlist, Jewish, AME, Ba'hai, Scientology, Universalist, and of course many denominations of the Christian faith including the Salvation Army. Peoria also has a very good city bus schedule that serves all sections of Peoria, as well as a taxi, Trailways, and an airport with non-stop flights to popular destinations.
The Amtrack does not stop in Peoria, but it does stop in Lincoln and Galesburg, And it may still stop in Bloomington and Springfield.
I personally think the five county Peoria metro area as a whole offers its tax payers many choices. in terms of restaurants and shopping and activities for families, singles and seniors.
Be aware that most large college towns are pretty quiet during the breaks and summer. Peoria has the same problem but to a much smalleer degree when Brandley University is on break partly because the local economy is not driven by higher education taxes. It is true that Peoria has always been an industrial area as it does fuel the economy, But Peoria re-invents itself as the economy dictates.. The economy will recover. So will central Illinois economy, as will Central Illinois economuy that includes the B-N. CU and Springfield areas because Illinois feeds the world. .
Maybe the other posters can tell you about the nightlife and other offerings in their respective areas. Bloominton's Miller Park Zoo is on of the two oldest zoological parks in the nation. The other is Lincoln Park in Chicago. Champaign is well known for the Computer Sciences and it does house one of the many arrays that power the Intnernet. Champaign may be the only city in Central Illinois that has an Ikea store = which makes it unique.
so much info... my head hurts. i actually respond yesterday but it never went through coz i was not logged in. how come even if i log in my post never went through? other forums i go through never has that prob. im just annoyed coz it always happens and my posts are always long. enough of my rant.
i am more inclined to try b/n. i read somewhere it is one of great cities to live. and out of my other choices peoria and now champaign.. i think it has more of a future.. and is booming. the low unemployment rate is always a good sign. i never had a night life so it is not a concern. im more into shopping - groceries, malls.. but who knows if u link me more infos on jobs and safe places to live in those other cities i might just change my mind.
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