Peoria vs. Rock Island????? (Chicago, Bloomington: best city, real estate, 2010)

[TootsieWootsie]

What is the difference in living in Peoria and Rock Island, which is part of the Quad Cities? I've heard that Peoria is the second best city to live in after Chicago, but have no real knowledge of that myself. Both seem relatively similar when you look at the statistics--other than Peoria is just a tad closer to Chicago.
Is there anyone on this board that is realllly familiar with both Peoria and the Quad Cities and can give a really objective answer as to which city is more livable?
Single female, 64 y.o. with no desire to quit working (but probably will build some sort of small business again), looking for companionship and very active?
Love cultural activities, but Chicago is a mere 3 hours away from both cities and, heaven only knows, there is enough there to satisfy anyone. Love to travel, so airport closeness is a consideration.
And want to keep those costs low including not only cost of living but taxes.
Any information is helpful. Thanks very much!

[Chicago_Illini_26]

Peoria is going to have a lot cooler of a downtown atmosphere. Both have very "urban" areas that you might want to avoid, but the nicer areas of Peoria are extremely nice and probably a lot better than Rock Island's. The Quad Cities and Peoria are about the same size, but Rock Island is just a part of the Quad Cities so Peoria will have a lot bigger of a feel. There is a lot more to do in Peoria, I'd say, and like I said earlier, you'll enjoy the lifestyle a lot more. And I don't know if you're an Illini fan, but they're top priority in Peoria and second fiddle to Iowa in the Quad Cities!!!!

[linicx]

I lived in one and spent a fair amount of time in the area when my children were young. Then, there was a friendly rivalry between John Deere and Caterpillar. Both are river cities. The Rock faces the Mississippi River whilst Peoria faces the Illinois River- a Mississippi River tributary- Both share a rich Native American history. Both have access to nearby Interstate routes.

Peoria is the oldest settlement on the Illinois River, having settled once and moved to its present location before it was founded. When Peoria voted for statehood Tazewell (County) was not yet formed as it was still part of Peoria County- and as such it had no vote in the statehood question.

US Bureau of Statistics Rank Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area as the third largest MSA behind Chicago and East St. Louis, Illinois. In reality it is very difficult to compare the Quad Cities to the City of Peoria as there is no clean line of demarkation between the QC except their river boundary One city is in central Illinois the other city is in Northern Illinois, and excepting the waters, both are surrounded by farm fields. Iowa and Illinois are the number 1 and 2 corn producers in the U.S.

I do not know how to compare real estate taxes except to say it is plenty, and it is based on a number things including the location, improvements, physical property size, city services and the enumber of public schools in a school district. Peoria also has a Park Tax. If a property is in any of the many park districts in the City, residents pay a park tax to help defray the cost of maintenance. The Peoria Park District works hard to provide space and activities for families and children at no or low cost. The three largest parks, not including golf courses or venues, are well over a thousand acres.

Living in a county, that is outside a city boundary, is always less expensive but there is a caveat. It is a trade-off. Less money = less services. One of the things i find most usual is within the City of Peoria is a Village and a second City that are [1] in the county and [2] are surround by the City of Peoria, yet neither are part of the City of Peoria.

Depending upon the source of statistics viewed, a case could be made that either area is better than the other. I am partial to Peoria as it has a very diverse religious community and a diverse culture which gives residents an opportunity to learn through a variety of mediums.

[TootsieWootsie]

The Quad Cities has LOTS of festivals. I am wondering if the same is true Peoria?

[QuadCityImages]

Edit: Off Topic

[linicx]

Rock Island and Peoria are both in Illinois as is Moline. The other cities are in a different state.

[linicx]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

The Quad Cities has LOTS of festivals. I am wondering if the same is true Peoria?

Peoria and the surrounding areas have many family events.

1- Regional state fair
2- Festival of Lights: One of the largest night time Christmas parades and displays in America. !st Saturday after Thanksgiving to Jan 1, 2010
3- Morton Pumpkin Festival
4- Pekin Marigold Festival and Medallion Hunt
5- Fulton County Spoon River Drive First 2 weekends in October
6- Peoria Area Amazing Race through 8 counties
7. Grand National TT Races
8. Oktoberfest
9. Wine Flight Fridays
0. Brown Bag-It Series at Courthouse Plaza

1. River Front Market
2. Peoria Players
3. Conklin's Barn II Dinner Theater
4, Old Settler's Festival
5. Eureka Sesquicentennial Celebration
6. Corn Stock Theater
7. Summer Music in the Vineyard
8. Riverfront Festival and Taste of Peoria
9. Steamboat Sports Festival with power boat racing
9a. Rubber Ducky Race
0. Maifest

1. Cinco de Mayo
2. Fine Art Fair
3. River City Soul Fest
4. Marshall County Fair
5. Mason County 4 H Fair
5. Fulton County Fair and Races
6. Veteran's Memorial Fair
7. Illinois State Fair - you have to see the life size all-butter cow
8. Erin Feis Peoria
9. St. Patrick's Day Parade
0. Itoo Society's Annual Shish-Ka-Bob

1. Washington Cherry Festival
2. Summercamp Music Festival
3. Canton Friendship Festival and Parade
4. Illinois Shakespeare Festival
6. Oktoberfest Havana 3 days; last weekend in Septemnber
5. Tremont Turkey Festival
6. Hummingbird Festival
7. Tower Park Festival
8. Fireman's Ball
9. Santa Clause Parade
0. Italian Fest

1. Heart pf Illinois Cruise-In
2. Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair
This not all of the events

Also
Wildlife Prairie State Park
200' lookout tower
Dickson Mounds Illinois State Museum ~ the archaelogical park
Jake Wolfe Fish Hatchery
Peoria Chiefs ~ St. Louis Cardinal's AAA Baseball
Peoria Rivermen ~ St, Louis Blues AAA Hockey
Opera, Symphony, Ballet, Civic Chorale
Juried Art and sculpture shows
Planetarium
Museums
Par-A-Dice Casino
Swimming, ice skating, roller skating, golf, sailing, skeet, health clubs, vegan foods, natural foods, walking, jogging, biking, GPS mountain bike races, hunting, fishing, camping, Anime convention, Indie music and new indie theater, one of the largest park districts outside of Chicago, food fairs,

[QuadCityImages]

Peoria Chiefs are low-A, not AAA. If Peoria had AAA baseball I'd be more than impressed.

I never said Peoria doesn't have a lot of stuff going on, just that the QC area has most of the same things, and some additional things.

[TootsieWootsie]

This should have been titled the Quad Cities vs. Peoria. My mistake.
Does Peoria have many outside venues coming in to entertain for low prices like the Quad Cities does? I have seen tickets to rock star concerts here in the Quad Cities for $35--certainly much cheaper than in Chicago or Houston.
Plus, the Quad Cities has 3 gambling boats here, which seems to attract many from the local area that stay in the hotels/motels here that brings in revenue to the city. I guess when your economy has plunged so much as it has in the Quad Cities during the '80's (I think it was), creativity had to kick in and something had to be done. Hence, gambling boats. But they seem to be pulling in some business for the area despite the 23% downturn in gambling lately.

I have heard that Peoria is better from a reliable source, tho.

[Scio42]

I've lived in Peoria for 10 years and spent a decent amount of time in the Quad Cities. Peoria looks more like a city and has more of a built up downtown than the Quad cities. However, the Quad cities are a larger metro area than Peoria. Overall, I'd say the differences between the two are not too great though, they're both post industrial cities working to find their way after the glacier of industry receeded in the 80's. Both cities have a great deal of potential, but also have a ways to go to realize that potential. Having a larger population, there's a bit more to do in the Quad cities, but there's plenty to keep you occupied in Peoria too (if you're willing to turn over a few stones). However, neither place would probably make the top of the list if you're looking for a true urban lifestyle.

I haven't used the Quad Cities airport, but the airport in Peoria is a pretty decent. It has a number of direct flights to major cities (Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, etc.) and you can get to pretty much anywhere you want to go (with an extra transfer or two). When you factor in Bloomington-Normal's airport (only 35 miles away) and free parking, half the time it's cheaper to fly out of PIA or BMI than Chicago or St. Louis.

Since you asked about concerts, yes their are cheap concerts that come to Peoria, generally though, they're not usually leading name music groups, but local groups and groups whose star began to eclipse a few years ago.

Generally, those that are looking for certain things and have reached a certain stage in life tend to like Peoria.