Anything about Monmouth (Chicago, Moline, Rock Island: appointed, real estate, sex offenders)

[scanlonboy]

I want to get out of the crowded meanness that is the Chicago area. Monmouth looks like a cute little town. Can anyone tell me anything about it good or bad. Seems kind of like there are alot of sex offenders, I don't know. Help

[westernILL]

Raised in the Monmouth-Galesburg area, I'd suggest another town. You'll be disappointed. If you want a small town in that area - try Galesburg. A little larger go to the Cities - Moline, Rock Island, ect. For a very small, rural atmosphere -try one of the villages in the area - Alexis for example. Monmouth is okay but I wouldn't live there.

[runner]

There isn't anything at all in Momouth, Galesburg either. Burlington Iowa has more. Macomb is a college town and is pretty good size. I grew up in Aledo, stay away from the Quad Cities, (Rock Island, Moline, etc) It isn't called little chicago for nothing. Chicago gangs moving in for years and taking over. The front pages of newspapers are all on murders.

If you want small towns with nothing in them but saftey, try Aledo, Viola, hour away from Quad Cities, nothing there though. Try Port Byron, very exspensive real estate but only minutes to cities. Try Bettondorf, Iowa, attached to Davenport, nicer city.

[all-green]

scanlonboy..If it's not too late, do not move to Monmouth.. IT STINKS! Literally!
Monmouth has a big problem with methane gas coming from the sewage plant and it
stinks up the whole north end of town. Not ALL the time but when it stinks...WHEW!!!!
And if that is not enough stink, the hog rendering (packing) plant lets out its own
unique stench. It is so bad that one can hardly stand to shop in a department store
(ShopKo) that is next to it on the north end of town. Along with the hog plant comes the
spanish speaking population that cannot read or speak English. Some of which are illegals
that have been hauled off by the INS or ICE.

[Clint_Noname]

Overall, Monmouth a decent place to live and raise a family. Crime is low, the public school system is good, the economy is diverse for a small town (meat packing plant, a small college, etc.), unemployment is low, cost of living and housing is extremely low, and the town has recent job growth of 2% and projected future job growth of about 30%.

The biggest problem with Monmouth is that the underage drinking problem is HUGE. I have a friend who went to college in Monmouth, and she said that almost all of her friends drank alcohol and smoked cigarettes. I looked at the statistics to back this statement up, and found that there is indeed a huge drinking problem at Monmouth College. It has a much higher rate of arrests for liquor law violations than many large universities that are known for being big party schools (University of Wisconsin, University of Missouri, etc.) But since they don't have these same statistics for high schools, I have no idea if the high school in Monmouth has these same problems. Somebody else who's lived in Monmouth will have to fill you in on that, but I hope this post helped at least a little bit.

About the other towns mentioned on this thread:

Macomb is also a college town, home to Western Illinois University. It is very similar to Monmouth, except that it has a better school system and more of a problem with illicit drugs.

Galesburg is a great place to raise a family, and has excellent healthcare and educational resources for a town its size.

Burlington, Iowa has a low crime rate, but the public school system isn't very good.

As for the Quad Cities, it depends on which of the four cities you're talking about. Bettendorf and Moline (the east side of the Quad Cities area) are known as the good areas with low crime, good schools, etc., while Davenport and Rock Island (the west side) have high crime, bad schools, and are overall two of the worst places to live in their respective states. The economy in the Quad Cities is dominated by John Deere, which has its headquarters in Moline.