Female living alone in Peoria, safe apartment suggestions?? (Springfield, Champaign: fit in, apartment complexes)

[mariahsdlmir]

Hi,
I just got a new job and will be locating to Peoria in May. I'm really excited to be moving, but I know nothing about the city except for there are some parts I need to stay out of! I'm currently apartment searching, but I don't want to end up in the ghetto. I'm a young single female living on my own; a recent college gaduate. I wouldnt want to spend more than $650 monthly on rent. If anyone knows of a safe area, I would greatly appreciate any knowledge you may have. Thank you so much

[EyesInTheSky]

Originally Posted by mariahsdlmir

Hi,
I just got a new job and will be locating to Peoria in May. I'm really excited to be moving, but I know nothing about the city except for there are some parts I need to stay out of! I'm currently apartment searching, but I don't want to end up in the ghetto. I'm a young single female living on my own; a recent college gaduate. I wouldnt want to spend more than $650 monthly on rent. If anyone knows of a safe area, I would greatly appreciate any knowledge you may have. Thank you so much

Hello- I don't live in Peoria but have visited there a great many times and sort of know the city. There's another thread on this forum that probably has some helpful information for you at: http://www.city-data.com/forum/illin...ington-il.html There's a participant in this thread named "linicx" that seems very knowledgeable about Peoria and hopefully this person will respond to you.

Peoria is a river town and is situated right on the Illinois River (I've boated the area many times). It has a lot of natural beauty (at least by Illinois standards) and in many ways seems like a decent place to live.

However, Peoria does have a notable amount of violent crime and you need to be careful where you live and go. I know there's a lot of public and low-income housing that immediately abuts the north and south ends of downtown (actually I'm not sure it's literally "north and south" from downtown; a better way to describe these areas might be up-river and down-river from downtown). Anyway, obviously these areas have a lot of violent crime, and I suspect it spills into the downtown area to some extent (for example, they had to move the riverboat casino from the downtown area to the opposite side of the river in large part because of the crime). Although it seems Peoria has a large and proactive police force and tries to protect the downtown area, there's only so much the cops can do. If you go approximately west from downtown, toward Bradley University, I think it gets a lot better after a mile or two. Or if you live at least a few miles further out in any direction it seems the area is generally safe.

If you are working downtown, one option you might want to consider is East Peoria, which is directly across the river from downtown and would be a very easy commute. East Peoria seems like a very stable and safe community and is buffered from the criminal elements in Peoria by the Illinois River.

I think you should be able to find safe and nice housing in your target price range without too much difficulty. Hopefully the forum member named "linicx" will weigh in and can provide you much more information.

Good luck!

[mdand3boys]

North and West are the best areas. However, where is you job located? Do you have your own car? Would you like to use the bus? Provide more specifics and we can help.

[JerichoHW]

I am sure a Central Illinois expert, or Peoria local will come around and help you. Based on my knowledge of the area and prior visits I would say immediately North of downtown should be avoided and also anything in believe a good part of the south namely the area south of Lincoln Avenue is a no-no.

Here are some street views of different sections of the city:

Apartments immediately north of downtown:

Adams at Hancock
Eaton at Hancock
Adams at Eaton

Okay I believe those are not the best areas to look in but that gives you an idea of the near north side, once again check with a local.

General Downtown Area:

Adams at Hamilton
Adams at Main

Okay, this area in my opinion is nicer, probably more expensive but it is an idea you may wish to consider.

Bradley University Area:

Frink Street
Main at Glenwood

This area is probably one of the nicest spots in the city, so I agree with EyesInTheSky on this one.

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Hopefully this is some help there are plenty more street views around but that gives you an idea on some neighborhoods to look at or avoid. But if you really don't need to live in the city definitely check out the suburbs as a possible option.

[linicx]

There are obvious palces in Peoria that are safe and then there are pockets.You must live in the area for a while to learn where the pockets are.

Peoria is not more crime ridden than any other City of its size in America. Bloomington, Champaign and Springfield have their share of crime too.

Where you live is dictated by where your meployer is located and whether or not you want to use public transportation, and how well you like to drive in ice and snow. Basted on practical experience, I like Rolling Acres, Peoria Heights, Brimfield and Dunlap - all of which are North of War Memorial Drive. And possibly West Peoria. Metamora, Germantown Hills, Washington, Morton, Farmington and US 150 Between East Peoria and Morton. East Peoria: Springfield Road, Fon du Lac Drive and the top of Highview Road to Washington Road. Sunnyland but not Beverly Manor and Eureka.

Generally speaking any place in Peoria bounded by War Memorial, Prospect, West US 160, and Northmoor Road; also Allen Road area. Also Detweiller Drive. I don't particularly like Pekin or Chlicothe but there are some very nice pocket ares there, to, as there is on North Galena Road.. ,

[odanny]

I would suggest you look towards north of Peoria, in the direction of Dunlap. That is where all the new growth is occuring, and the apt. complexes are being built at a fairly rapid pace in this direction. At the intersection of War Memorial Drive and Allen Road is a nice apt. complex called Timberlane. They may be a bit cheaper than living in one of the new complexes north of Peoria, and they are conventiently located near the interstate and the new mall, Shoppes at Grand Prarie.

I would personally avoid anything downtown, and the Bradley area is only good if you are going to school there or will be spending time at Bradley, otherwise, that neighborhood is not good. Outside of frat and sorority row, where there are mainly rentals to college kids, the area is poor and economically depressed

[EyesInTheSky]

Originally Posted by odanny

I would suggest you look towards north of Peoria, in the direction of Dunlap. That is where all the new growth is occuring, and the apt. complexes are being built at a fairly rapid pace in this direction. At the intersection of War Memorial Drive and Allen Road is a nice apt. complex called Timberlane. They may be a bit cheaper than living in one of the new complexes north of Peoria, and they are conventiently located near the interstate and the new mall, Shoppes at Grand Prarie.

I would personally avoid anything downtown, and the Bradley area is only good if you are going to school there or will be spending time at Bradley, otherwise, that neighborhood is not good. Outside of frat and sorority row, where there are mainly rentals to college kids, the area is poor and economically depressed

Thanks for the clarification on the Bradley area. I did not realize the problem spread that far from downtown and up into that neighborhood. The only times I went around Bradley was to get a bite to eat (and usually school was in session). It looked okay to me, but I never really cruised the side streets of the Bradley area and did not realize that area has problems.

BTW, I have a friend that lives in Dunlap and I've been there a few times. I remember that as a very safe and stable area within an easy drive to the shopping mall and other stores, although for me it would be a little too far from downtown (I like to live close to work). If I worked in downtown Peoria, I'd probably live in East Peoria.

[jwhittak]

I would check out Timberlane apartments. I lived there for several years and enjoyed it. Close to everything and I felt safe. That was 7 years ago.

[trailerguy]

The west side off War Memorial Drive past the mall. My mother (who passed away several years ago) lived out there and loved it. Very safe, nice people, minimal crime and very reasonable prices. Mom owned a house so I'm not sure about rents, but there are several nice looking apartment complexes.

[Scio42]

Hi,

I've lived in Peoria 10 years and know the city pretty well. The suggested areas above are good, stay north of War Memorial and West of Sterling Ave (north of I-74) and most areas are safe (there are a few exceptions be sure to visit the apartment and check out the area first). There are some nice areas south of War Memorial too, but it's better if you know the area first. Some of the bad areas of Peoria south of War are not immediately obvious when you first visit.

Just off the top of my head, below are a few of the better apartment complexes that are in good areas:

NHS Property Management - Welcome to nhs Property Management - A number of complexes all in decent areas. The lower end units should fit in your rent range.

Timberlane Apartments

Hickory Ridge Apartments

Knoxville Point Apartments

Haymeadow Apartments

Timberbrook Apartments - used to be a good deal. Unfortunately I haven't know anyone who's lived here for several years, so I'm not sure how savory they are these days.

Kingston Apartments - Also a good deal, but unfortunately that area is changing, not for the better. Seems to be OK now, but may not be in the near future.

There are lots of others, the above are just off the top of my head.

Hope this helps.