Questions about Carbondale, IL (Chicago, Marion: apartments, rental, co-op)

[ftft98]

I am currently considering moving to Carbondale IL for a job. I wonder whether anyone familiar with Carbondale and IL can give us some honest answers about the area. 1- We are an Asian family - we wonder whether there is a lot of "anti-foreigners" or "you are not from here" mentality. We are mostly worried about the impact on our little son who is only 4 yrs old. 2- Would you describe the local schools, from elementary to high schools, as excellent, good, or average?
3- How is the local economy, and what are the major drivers of Carbondale's economy? 4- Is the population mostly elderly, young families? 5- any personal experience or commentary about Cardondale or that part of IL that you can share with us to give us an idea of what is is like to live there? Thank you in advance for your replies.

[Newtgirl]

I'm pretty new to the area, but I can throw a little bit of my 'outsider' knowlege into the ring.
1. Carbondale seems fairly diverse, given it's the home of a major university (SIU-C). I don't think you'll have any issues based on your nationality.
2. I don't know much about the schools
3. The local economy is sluggish. There doesn't seem to be any major industry around here, and what IS here is based a lot on the college. There are lots of small businesses that you would find in any urban area, but I don't see much that's a major player as far as employees, other than the university.
4. The population is mostly college students.
5. It's gorgeous here, as far as scenery. Living here isn't too bad. People seem fairly friendly. I lived in Huntsville, Alabama for a year, and that was miserable. People were rude, and you could never seem to get 'into' the community; you were always an outsider. But here, it seems a little easier to assimilate.

[tlw]

Originally Posted by ftft98

I am currently considering moving to Carbondale IL for a job. I wonder whether anyone familiar with Carbondale and IL can give us some honest answers about the area. 1- We are an Asian family - we wonder whether there is a lot of "anti-foreigners" or "you are not from here" mentality. We are mostly worried about the impact on our little son who is only 4 yrs old. 2- Would you describe the local schools, from elementary to high schools, as excellent, good, or average?
3- How is the local economy, and what are the major drivers of Carbondale's economy? 4- Is the population mostly elderly, young families? 5- any personal experience or commentary about Cardondale or that part of IL that you can share with us to give us an idea of what is is like to live there? Thank you in advance for your replies.

Hello ftft98,

To answer your questions from first hand experience ........

1. Being Asian should not be a problem in the least. With SIU, the area is very diverse particularly for it's size. I had numerous Asian friends there. There is even a better than average selection of Asian groceries available between the limited grocery chains and the local Neighborhood Co-op Grocery that is in Murdale Shopping Center. The Co-op is exceptional and has a website if you want to take a look.

2. Local schools I would say are excellent for the most part. Again, with SIU being there, the town has a higher level of academia for it's size.

3. Local economy .... well. SIU is the largest employer in Carbondale. SIH, the hospital system is the second largest. From there it gets pretty weak. A lot of industry in the area has shut down, left, or is a fraction of what it was. Tuck Tape, Maytag to name a couple. I have seen postings here that stated Carbondale was 30,000 .......... nowhere close! Carbondale is about 20,000 and barely holding. Also seen people posting here that SIU's enrollment is around 25,000 ......... wrong again. SIU was 25,000 students in the early 1990's and has declined since. It's struggling to stay around 19,000. That's quite a hit on student population that affects everything in the area. There are a lot of apartments and rental houses empty as they are now overbuilt for the enrollment.

The city of Carbondale and SIU started changing some policies, school breaks, alcohol and bar local laws, Halloween celebration, back in the 90's to try to combat the schools "party image". This involved going back and forth with fall break times that would then be different than the other universities in Illinois, closing dorms around Halloween where students would have to leave town or stay off campus with someone. Over the years they made these changes several times causing confusion and more student resentment.

Another factor that seriously hurt SIU's enrollment, is also in the 90's some of the area out of state universities started offering in-state tuition to a radius that was particularly focused at luring SIU students. Murray State and SEMO were 2 that I can remember. I think SIU has recently started offering the same type of tuition, but it took them over a decade to do anything and the damage has been done.

Something else that rears its head every few years is whether Amtrak funding will get through, and will Carbondale still have Amtrak service. Should it ever leave, it would decimate SIU's enrollment because of all the Chicago area students that attend and rely on the train to get back to Chicago on weekends and breaks. Carbondale also does not sit on a major highway or interstate which hurts it, as opposed to Marion, just 20 mins. east does.
Marion is growing by leaps and bounds because of this, and they also have had extremely aggressive city planning ........ some might say "cutthroat", as they take great pride in snagging real industry and jobs and one-upping Carbondale.

4. The population is probably fairly mixed with obviously a larger percentage of college aged. I don't think the city is quite as heavy on the senior end like many towns. But I also think like so many midwestern towns they have a hard time keeping their youth after high school graduation. They also have a hard time with retirees returning because property taxes are pretty high for a small town ........ again loss and lack of real industry and tax base.

5. Carbondale has more to offer in the way of arts, culture, diversity, sports, shopping, mainly because of SIU's presence. The city itself is not particularly pretty. Not an abundance of great architecture, attractive buildings and streets, the parks are average. It's history is that of a coal mining town. There are numerous lakes within a 1/2 hour or so drive that are quite nice though. It's very near the Shawnee National Forest which is wonderful. Almost as soon as you drive south out of Carbondale, you hit hilly terrain that is basically foothills of the Ozark Mountains ........ it's really very pretty and just driving south a few miles is a nice way to spend the day.

Hope this sheds some light.