Sterling/rock falls (Chicago, Peoria, Dixon: for sale, apartments, rentals)

[Kommando]

Hi all,

It is now a fact that my family and I are moving to Sterling in a few months. My wife and I are professionals. Believe it or not, we are going to Sterling for jobs and hope for a good small town life. We do have young children of less than 5 years of age. From what I have read so far on this thread and talking to people who claimed they knew the areas, my wife and I were somewhat discouraged!

Knowing that drugs and crimes are everywhere, is there more secluded/better subdivision that is relatively free of crime/drug problem?

Contradicting information regarding schooling system also arised. We visited the elementary schools in Sterling and impressed with what we saw. Again, knowing that just a snapshot of reality, it is still a snapshot with our own eyes and ears.

Putting everything we learned we made a difficult decision to be in Sterling and experience it for ourselves. I will up date this forum as time goes on.

Wish us luck.

PS: We are Catholics, but not white nor black.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Kommando

Hi all,

It is now a fact that my family and I are moving to Sterling in a few months. My wife and I are professionals. Believe it or not, we are going to Sterling for jobs and hope for a good small town life. We do have young children of less than 5 years of age. From what I have read so far on this thread and talking to people who claimed they knew the areas, my wife and I were somewhat discouraged!

Knowing that drugs and crimes are everywhere, is there more secluded/better subdivision that is relatively free of crime/drug problem?

Contradicting information regarding schooling system also arised. We visited the elementary schools in Sterling and impressed with what we saw. Again, knowing that just a snapshot of reality, it is still a snapshot with our own eyes and ears.

Putting everything we learned we made a difficult decision to be in Sterling and experience it for ourselves. I will up date this forum as time goes on.

Wish us luck.

PS: We are Catholics, but not white nor black.

Again, my sister and her family live in Sterling and do just fine. I live in an *excellent* suburb in the KC area and there is no more crime\drugs in Sterling than here.

The schools are fine. You can also go private-catholic if you are so inclined. (Newman)

You can live in any number of neighborhoods, some that are 2-5 miles out from the town...cost of living and housing are both low. Look around, you will find something you like.

Not sure where you will be working but you could live out in the *country* too if you wanted. You could also live in other nearby towns like Morrison (very nice) or Dixon etc. and have a modest commute.

[Kommando]

Thanks Mathguy for encouraging words. However, the saukvalley.com news about surging gangs activities in the area is just as damaging. I know everywhere has gang problem but if you live in Chicago, for example, you can easily stay away from the trouble area or even never set foot to there. In a small town like Sterling, I am afraid that staying away is never far enough and gangs crime will eventually get to us.

Well, let's see.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Kommando

Thanks Mathguy for encouraging words. However, the saukvalley.com news about surging gangs activities in the area is just as damaging. I know everywhere has gang problem but if you live in Chicago, for example, you can easily stay away from the trouble area or even never set foot to there. In a small town like Sterling, I am afraid that staying away is never far enough and gangs crime will eventually get to us.

Well, let's see.

Having lived in Chicago (and it's burbs)...and knowing the Sterling area quite well...I would not be worried about moving there.

If it really worries you, move to Morrison and commute OR just follow my advice and live in one of those detached neighborhoods that are basically 30-40 homes out a few miles surrounded by farm land and woods etc.

This place isn't that far from my sister's house...and notice that a place like this would cost x2 in Chicago burbs.

2209 Pleasant Hill Drive, Sterling, IL, 61081 - MLS ID#rsv1824 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

P.S. The area has a large hispanic\catholic population...which in all likelihood is your ethnicity given you are catholic and not white or black. It's been pretty mixed for a long time too, this isnt a recent thing.

[Kommando]

Mathguy,

I was thinking the same way. Hickory hills seems to fit what we are looking for. I am glad that someone like you with knowledge about the area confirms my plan.

I hope we will be accepted into wherever community that we settle in. We are friendly and courteous people that believe in moderation in most things in life, i.e we are not extreme left or fundamental right. This issue, I gotta find out for myself.

Once again, thanks for everything.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Kommando

Mathguy,

I was thinking the same way. Hickory hills seems to fit what we are looking for. I am glad that someone like you with knowledge about the area confirms my plan.

I hope we will be accepted into wherever community that we settle in. We are friendly and courteous people that believe in moderation in most things in life, i.e we are not extreme left or fundamental right. This issue, I gotta find out for myself.

Once again, thanks for everything.

Cool. Feel free to send me a private message if you want to ask anything more detailed. The vast majority of my family lives within 30miles of Sterling, aunts, uncles, cousins...and lots of them. My sis and one aunt work in the "medical field" in the area.

I wouldn't worry too much about fitting in, it will happen in time. Also, the area is NOT packed with backwards rednecks etc. there are lots and lots of good, open-minded people around. Get involved in the community and you will be happy.

One funny thing is about pre-conceptions. I live in one of the richest counties in the US, especially if you adjust for cost of living. (Johnson County, Kansas) If you listened to the media we are supposed to be red-necked, racist, neo-con, bible thumpers that hate gays etc. My neighbors include devout catholics, leftwingers , a gay couple, retirees, etc. etc. etc. and we all get along fine. When people from the coasts hear that Kansas has a Democrat Governor and Senator their heads almost explode.

[jaykers_mom]

i have lived in the dixon area all my life and we currently live in sterling. the west end of sterling is probably the worst, but that being said, my husbands cousin and lots of his family live there and we feel fine going there and hanging out day or night. My daughter goes to the highschool and does better here than dixon. and as for preschools for ages 2-5 there is a few programs to choose from and alot of them are in the same school. my 3 year old son goes to preschool m-f at wallace school for 2.5 hours in a program called early bird pre-k. its a free program and not based on any income guidlines. he loves it there. the local YMCA is very good as far as programs for the younger age. we have been very pleased with it here and our neighbors are very friendly. there are bad areas as there are in every town but i dont think its as bad as some places i read about. good luck on your move.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

Cool. Feel free to send me a private message if you want to ask anything more detailed. The vast majority of my family lives within 30miles of Sterling, aunts, uncles, cousins...and lots of them. My sis and one aunt work in the "medical field" in the area.

I wouldn't worry too much about fitting in, it will happen in time. Also, the area is NOT packed with backwards rednecks etc. there are lots and lots of good, open-minded people around. Get involved in the community and you will be happy.

One funny thing is about pre-conceptions. I live in one of the richest counties in the US, especially if you adjust for cost of living. (Johnson County, Kansas) If you listened to the media we are supposed to be red-necked, racist, neo-con, bible thumpers that hate gays etc. My neighbors include devout catholics, leftwingers , a gay couple, retirees, etc. etc. etc. and we all get along fine. When people from the coasts hear that Kansas has a Democrat Governor and Senator their heads almost explode.

JOCO, eh? I don't have the median income ranking scale in front of me, but it is not nearly as high as you might imagine. The numbers get dilluted when you have a county population of over 520,000. The Minneapolis suburbs are actually far wealthier overall compared with KC. Most suburbs in MPLS have median household incomes well above the $80,000 range. Also, most people find the parks, trails, and lakes (including me) to be far more desirable compared to the setting of KC.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

JOCO, eh? I don't have the median income ranking scale in front of me, but it is not nearly as high as you might imagine. The numbers get dilluted when you have a county population of over 520,000. The Minneapolis suburbs are actually far wealthier overall compared with KC. Most suburbs in MPLS have median household incomes well above the $80,000 range. Also, most people find the parks, trails, and lakes (including me) to be far more desirable compared to the setting of KC.

Not sure why you are basically taking a completely off-topic shot at me.... (Guessing you are from the area...lot of stupid country rivalry stuff around here that I just ignore because I'm a transplant.)

I'm glad you like the Minneapolis area, it's quite nice.

Older Per Capita Income shows JOCO higher than any of the Minn. counties....newer stuff via wiki shows one county higher. (Hennepin)

Washington County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Kansas QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest..._United_States

Do you have something to add with regards to the Sterling, IL area?

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

Not sure why you are basically taking a completely off-topic shot at me.... (Guessing you are from the area...lot of stupid country rivalry stuff around here that I just ignore because I'm a transplant.)

I'm glad you like the Minneapolis area, it's quite nice.

Older Per Capita Income shows JOCO higher than any of the Minn. counties....newer stuff via wiki shows one county higher. (Hennepin)

Washington County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Kansas QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

Highest-income counties in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Do you have something to add with regards to the Sterling, IL area?

Eh, sorry if I came off as rude. I was only bringing it up because the new 2007 Census updates just came out for all states in the US. I am a Census junkie so I was doing a comparison between all the metros. Yes, I lived in the KC metro for over 20 years and have relatives who live in the MPLS metro. I am sorry if I am going off topic, but the new stats show MPLS leading (Scott, Carver, Washington, and Dakota counties)
Scott County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Carver County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Dakota County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Washington County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
The only county over 70K for median household income in the KC metro is JOCO.
Johnson County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

On-topic- I found the Sterling/ Rock Falls area to be pleasant enough when I visitied and stopped for lunch about four years ago. The people were very friendly to me The scenery was also quite nice compared to eastern Illinois south of Chicagoland.