Might move to Marion area, looking for info

[MarionIllinois]

[quote=Juice13610;1140431]By the way, I know many, many people that have moved here from cities and other rural areas who love it here. Me personally? Nope, hate it. Why? Because I'm 22 years old and I have wanted to live in the city my entire life. My parents? Sisters? Wife's family? They all love it here.

If you are outdoorsy, like you say your kids are, they will love it here. I know many people my age (18-24) who have no plans of ever leaving the area.

I can empathize with the nay sayers, but their opinions are extremely bias. You have to take the bad with the good. As far as SIU being a "substandard education," that just shows the poster is a moron. It is no more substandard than any other university. SIU Edwardsville is about a tenth the size as far as enrollment in comparison to SIU Carbondale. Don't worry about these people. And in case you people didn't notice, her husband already took a job in Ewing, meaning she's on the way. He's not going to turn a job down because of some bitter forum dwellers.

Oh, and as far as houses being expensive, WRONG.
Use city-data.com to look up the median house cost here and then look up near St Louis (Belleville, O Fallon, Fairview Heights, Edwardsville). The different is literally about $80,000. Trust me, I was house hunting near St Louis for quite some time and the costs don't even compare. It is MUCH cheaper to live )

Homes sells for approx. $200,000 for a newer 2,000 sq ft BASIC house. Be sure to bring all of your equity from your current home and money down. You will need a low house payment since the average income here is 30,000. Make sure you are related to county and city officials to get a job and make at least $35,000. Or grandfathered in to start your own business. Other wise I hope you are a good doctor ( Heartland Hosp. needs some)or attorney. The information given to City-data is not warranted by the city of Marion. They can present misleading information to make Marion desirable.

[MarionIllinois]

This man knows what he is talking about!

[jmw1994]

SIU at Carbondale actually has a reputation for being a very diverse campus, with many foriegn exchange students. It is generally considered a liberal university. It may not have the reputaion of bigger schools such as U of I in Urbana but it is not academically sub standard either.
At one time it did have a reputation as a party school but in the past few years the university has gotten a new administration that is working to improve the schools image. Carbondale has also gotten in new mayor and city council in the past few years that have worked to make the town more business friendly.
Health care, education and idustry in So. Illlinois is no worse than other areas of the country that compare to it in population.
Its true that in some areas, some of the locals tend to be kind of redneckish and unfriendly to outsiders. However a lot of people move here to get a away from Chicago and there are a lot of transplants to the area also.

[Juice13610]

mirasol - Did I mention that my friend, Mike, is the IT person at Ewing? He recently mentioned to your husband about buying my house in Benton because I moved up to St. Louis

[laurastead]

I know this thread is really old but I had to put in my opinion.

We moved down to Murphysboro IL from the Effingham IL area so my husband and I could go to college at SIU. Wow, what a difference in landscape! I guess growing up around corn fields all my life made me assume all of Illinois is as flat as a pancake-darn glaciers! Anyhow, I was dead wrong.

My husband loves it here and loves his job working with the forest service. The Shawnee National Forest is beautiful. I have never been to California and don't know what all you have to do in your free time, but up in Effingham the only thing to do was go to the bowling alley, the half-empty mall, or the small handful of bars. Don't get me wrong, I still feel warm and fuzzy when I visit there. It's home after all. My point, which I seemed to have lost, is that my options for recreation have expanded since our move to Southern Illinois 6 years ago.

Last summer I went to the spillway every chance I got. Man-made or no, it's the closest thing to a waterfall I've ever been to. And the wine trail.... if you like wine (which I never knew I did until I went on the wine trail) this is the place to be. Alto Vineyards Heartland Blush is tops on my list. Pick it up at the grocery store if you can't make it to the winery. Most of them carry all of the local wines. Make sure to go to Blue Sky Winery. It's like going to another country when you pull up to that building.

I've been on hikes, and rock climbed/rapelled down here for the first time in my life. I've seen so much beautiful nature and animals. Go to Giant City Park and Little Grand Canyon. My husband and I graduated with Zoology degrees so I'd like to think we're no dummies when it comes to nature . Oh, and if you have horses there are alot of trails for that too.

I will say there's more culture here than I was used to growing up. At first I was overwhelmed, but I have since made all kinds of new friends of races non-existent in my hometown. A lot of the local guys my husband has made friends with are just awesome. They say ma'am and have manners. We grew up with rednecks too but they weren't ever this polite. I don't hunt, but some of said friends do on a regular basis and seem to like it.

As far as high schools, I am unknowledgable on that. We don't have any children yet. I will say that SIU is a great college. I think the Zoology program is top-notch. I agree that SIU is full of liberals, but what college isn't? If you have a mind at all you shouldn't be brain-washed by anyone I spent a semester at the junior college, John A. Logan, and loved it. Super-nice instructors and small, personable classroom sizes.

Religion. This one is a toughie. Well, you might be ok in Marion but here in Murphysboro I get semi-regular visits from the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses. I just look through the peep-hole and don't answer the door. Sometimes if I'm bored I'll chat with them. I think that just gives them false hope and they earmark my house for future crusades-haha. Six years and they haven't converted me yet! I am a non-practicing Catholic by the way. There's a pretty little Catholic church here but I've only gone a few times. The people were very nice though.

As far as employment... this one can take work. Not a super job market. College town means high turnover rate. Having jobs waiting for you, well that's just common sense to do anywhere. We were lucky enough to find suitable employment throughout our college careers. Unfortunately, we will probably be leaving the state to secure promotions elsewhere. What I want to do is pretty specific: work at a zoo. So, that means a bigger city. If I could find something even close to that I'd definitely stay here. Medical jobs are aplenty in this area. Lots of opportunity with that.

Congratulations to you both, and I hope you are seeing the diamond in the rough that is Southern Illinois!!

[laurastead]

P.S. We shopped around for houses in DeSoto, Marion, Carbondale, and Murphysboro, and liked the prices here in Murphy (also aka M'boro) best. I wouldn't live in Carbondale. Too much commotion for my taste but good to visit for many other reasons. Housing can be expensive because realtors take advantage of the college students' need. Well, and I'm sure they have to compensate for the damage they leave behind-lol. DeSoto was cheap too but be aware that all the strip clubs are located near there. Unless you're an aspiring "dancer" ;P Murphy has some bad spots, like pretty much anything near the river. Low land means cheap land, so that's where the government housing communities sit. There are 2 of these communities I pass on my drive home and the garbage that litters the stretch of road between them is disgusting. I feel bad for the people that live on that stretch of road because most of them have really decent houses. Downtown Murphy is very cute and has alot of history. The town is fairly quiet, and our street is pretty peaceful except for the fact that we all own dogs. I know more of the dogs' names than the people! Everyone is so nice though. I borrowed an allen wrench late one night from the ladies a few houses down and they gave it to me without a second thought. I'm really going to miss this place!

[dawntaylor]

WOW People are sure passionate about Southern IL. I am married to an Algerian and I grew up in the midwest, but spent time in the Middle East and we get along fine here. Be realistic, though, if you do take the job. We are democrats, liberals and a mixed family and we do fine here. Don't let other scare you away. I too, prefer a large city, but here we can afford a decent house, a large lawn and feel that our 4 kids are safe. I just finished my RN and the hospitals start here at about $19 an hour. That may be a long cry from what you made in CA. But you can do agency work for double that.

If you are looking for a liberal community- try the Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship- that is a great bunch of open minded folks!

danwtaylor@mail.com

[AJohnston_STL]

^ This thread is 2 years old bud.