Where in Illonois would be the best to start fresh.

[marymary1826]

Hi I've been living in Central IL for over 15 years and in Champaign-Urbana for 6 years. This is a GREAT town to live in and especially if you are "starting over". Because of the University there are always a lot of interesting people coming and going. Parkland College is a wonderful community college with top-notch instructors and only costs $97/credit hour. You can easily find an apartment and a roomate on craigslist and will have friends in no time! This is also a "healthy" town with clean air, decent water, an active farmer's market and lots of nice parks. There is also a great bus system so you don't even really need a car, you could sell it to fund your move.

I also lived in Bloomington-Normal for 10 years (grew up there) and I have to say that as a 20-something with a young family I prefer Champaign-Urbana. It's a better city to be young in, for sure! And you have a much better chance of catching a boyfriend who is on his way to a PhD instead of a DUI (like at the bars in B-N, haha)

[meatpuff]

I spent many years in Champaign-Urbana and pretty much second what marymary1826 said, and can't add much. There are jobs, affordable housing, and a high quality of life.

On a national scale, almost all the places that five years ago had hot economies and expanding jobs all the time have fallen on their butts -- I'm thinking of Vegas, Phoenix, anywhere in Cali or Florida. And housing got way too pricy in all of them for anyone young (and many older folks too).

Two places that are weathering the storm pretty well that still have affordable housing and healthy economies (i.e. jobs), and have big enough metro areas to likely offer plenty of education choices, would be Texas and North Carolina, especially Raleigh-Durham.

As a lot of the major growth metros got hammered in this recession, jobs are sprouting up in places you didn't used to expect. For example, the four states with the lowest unemployment figures in the nation are North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas Unemployment Rates for States. In North Dakota, for example, some of these jobs have arisen from new oil drilling in that state, you can read about it here North Dakota Has Jobs Aplenty, but Little Housing - NYTimes.com

These states are pretty far from where most people in this country live. So a lot of people with wives and kids and mortgages and family ties who are unemployed elsewhere haven't been willing to pack up and move there; so those jobs will still be there for a little while. You are young, can move anywhere, have little of life's baggage to slow you down. You may want to consider a place off the beaten path like this as well. This would help ensure that you'll have a job that will pay the rent, first. If you are determined you will definitely be able to go to college too, either during evenings where you move to, or where you move next after saving up some money.


Finally, good luck to you. You got a rough break but if you are bright, ambitious and determined you will do great. My one piece of advice is never think of yourself as a victim. The world doesn't owe you anything, and you should never use this setback as an excuse in your mind for why you didn't achieve what you wanted to. This setback might delay but cannot stop you from doing what you wanted to do with your life before. Stick it in the world's eye and fulfill your potential. That's what your parents want for you.

[sheila starke]

Originally Posted by matty122

Ive recently had some personal event strike me and i was told to go somewhere start over get a job, start college ect. i was given a list of states that included, Arizona, Michigan, Delaware, Illonois, Ohio, Nevada, Oregon and others but i was wondering if anyone could tell me where would be a good place in illonois. i was told i would fair better in a college town most likely but can anyone tell me anything>?

Carbondale is a great place to live. SIU college is well known with nice apartments or homes to purchase. Carterville is a small town between Carbondale and Marion, right off I57. We are 3 hours from St Louis near hunting and fishing and boating at Crab Orchard lake. I am in real estate so I could send you any information you may need. good luck!

[FireForever]

Am so sorry to hear of your situation- it must be very difficult, and I'm so sorry that you've been dealt this hand. That being said- kudos to you for working on and reseaching plans in advance- I believe that this will serve you well.

Don't overlook Parkland College in Champaign, IL as a community college- I've been to UI and Indiana U, and found superior TEACHING at Parkland where I attended for two years (as a 'grownup' picking up an AAS after a BS and graduate work elsewhere). There were things that I should have learned in my 300+ level classes at UI that I FINALLY learned and UNDERSTOOD when covered at Parkland.

The instructors there are excellent, and it seems to be a school mandate to follow up with students and get them into assistance/remedial programs sooner rather than later-I don't hear as many 'fall between the cracks' stories here. In fact, I missed class for two days (perimenopausal issues- nuff said! lol) and the department secretary actually CALLED ME to find out why I missed class! - and it was quite the amusing conversation, given that I was an older student! However, I appreciated the fact that they initiated contact before an absence extended to the point where work couldn't be made up, and I get the impression that this is a standardized operating procedure to ensure student success.

They also have collaborative agreements for acceptance into UI and Eastern IL University (another good idea- in Charleston, IL), and also have other collaborations to pursue BS/BA degrees at the Parkland campus.
Living in C-U might be expensive since UI can drive rents up, but you might want to check out smaller towns in the periphery (Mahomet, Monticello, etc.) that might offer a cheaper standard of living (am speculating a bit) while still being in the Parkland school district.

Another thought - Danville IL has a community college which has a wind technology program. I don't know much about it (and am not wildly enamored with Danville), but wind technology is coming, and it's one of the few places offering formal education in the topic.

Best of luck to you- you will be in my thoughts....

[spfldnet]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Illinois has several college towns. The largest of the state's Universities are in Champaign / Urbana , DeKalb, Bloomington/Normal, Macomb, Carbondale, Charleston, with smaller campuses in Springfield and Edwardsville. I suppose there are also some private schools that might qualify as "college towns", but not sure what you are looking for...

Unless you will be able to, and have the connections already in place to get a job in the health care industry or state government, I would avoid Springfield.