Is Iowa the place??? (Cedar Rapids, Iowa City: rentals, high crime, job market)

[feelnpurdy]

I am a single mother of 4 children, 19, 16, 14 and 3 years old. I live in Peoria Illinois and I am looking to move . Here is my problem. I don't know anyone in either of these states so I don't know where to begin to start to look for a place or town to stay. I currently pay 700 dollars a month for rent for a 5 bedroom, about 200 dollars a month for phone, cable and internet service and about 300 for lights water and gas. So I can afford about 1200 a month for living. I work as a cust. service rep and a server and make about 2100 a month. I stay in a high crime area but my place is nice but the schools suck here. There is NOTHING for the kids to do here but get in trouble. Can any one suggest a city that is well diverse, that is a family kind of place and will not cost me an arm and a leg to stay??? Or at least can someone direct me on how to start looking for info on good rentals and areas to move to??? any help would be nice! I like a big city feel that still has nice family traits. When I say "hello" to people it would be nice to hear it back! I also want somewhere my kids and I can go to see a movie after 10! lol

Crime here is bad...We are ranked #2 for Homicides in Illinois...per capita...28 homicides just this year!....And the reason I am working two jobs (and not on welfare), is because the job market here is just this...if you are not working for CATAPILLAR, you are not working...We have every kind of place to go eat here, so as far as working in a fast food place there are plenty of jobs like that...Most places to go have fun(bowling, movies and thats it) close at 10...The City bus stops running at 11 and only runs till 10 on Sat and only then every hour..We had a skating rink the kids could go to but they closed it down because of a shooting...The town is being over ran with gang bangers that come to the Work Release center. In the "bad" neiborhoods there is and overflow of crack cocain and in the "good" neiborhoods meth is a problem. Yes i know that anywhere you go there is going to be crime, but for me and my family can't go to the only Mall we have without dodging bullets, than it's time to go!

[Researching Retirement]

I'd suggest using this site, city-data.com to look at the crime statistics for Peoria and use them as a comparison against other cities you might consider. If the crime isn't substantially lower then you can rule that location out. You can also use the data there to compare population. That gives you at least some idea of whether the city will have enough to do. Once you narrow it down to a few to consider, do a search on them and check out the chamber of commerce or tourism sites that come up to get a more specific feel for them. Also use realtor sites to assess affordability. Ultimately you'll probably need to visit the top couple of choices to get that final "feeling" for the place and if it's right for you.

[zz4guy]

Cedar Rapids is a city similar to Peoria, except the crime is very low. Maybe 1-2 homicides per year.

I'm not sure how you found a 5 bedroom place for $700/mo - that is cheap! Probably wont find that here unless it's in a run down part of town. The great thign about CR is that you can live almost anywhere you want and feel safe. You wont have to dodge any bullets!

The major employers here are Rockwell, Aegon, Quaker Oats, General Mills. Rockwell employs about 10k in the CR/Iowa City area. But these employers are NOT the only places to work. Cedar Rapids has a very diverse economy that you should be able to find a professional job in pretty easily.

Or you could work in fast food too