Can anyone tell me what Lebanon, IL is like? (St. Louis: house, good schools)

[shadygrove 26]

Hey folks,

My husband works in down town St. Louis and we need to move to a nice small town thats within driving distance to his work. I've got 2 young kids and need the town to have good schools and need it to be safe. I also have a thing for historic 'down town' areas and also love historic homes. Is Lebanon like this? Are there any other towns that are like this? We've driven to lots of towns in Southern Illinois and they seem pretty beat up. Any help would be awesome!

Thanks

[aragx6]

I don't know much of anything about the area, but you haven't gotten many responses, so i'll add my 2 cents.

I've driven through and they do seem to have a cute downtown, I don't know anything about the schools, but my guess is that a lot of air force families live there while stationed at Scott Air force base which is nearby.

[bls5555]

Lebanon has a nice historic downtown and the west side past this downtown seems to be a nice area. The east side is pretty undesirable in my opinion. The downtown is very attractive in my opinion.

If you want a nice small town, I would look at Breese, IL which is about 17 or 18 miles further East down 127. It is a very nice place. If you want to go a bit further, look at Carlyle. It has the largest man-made lake in the state of Illinois and is a very nice place though. It doesn't have as much going on as Breese does but housing is very reasonable and of course the lake is there.

If you are looking for small towns in that area I would look at Breese or Carlyle and avoid Lebanon or Trenton.

With 2 school kids I would look at Breese or Carlyle over the Lebanon or Trenton. Now that would make it about a 40-50 minute drive to downtown so that might be a bit much for you but there quite a few people that do it. Just make sure you fill up on the Missouri side as gas is cheaper.

Not sure where you are located now but Property taxes tend to be VERY high in Illinois.

One other thing about the Breese Carlyle area. Carlyle is getting a Super Walmart put in sometime later this year (being built right now). I lived in Carlyle for a bit and a huge complaint of mine (one of the few actually) was price and selection at the small local Grocery stores. Moved away awhile back and have some doubts about why we did it now. The lake is awesome to have in your backyard.

[loki03xlh]

Originally Posted by bls5555

Lebanon has a nice historic downtown and the west side past this downtown seems to be a nice area. The east side is pretty undesirable in my opinion. The downtown is very attractive in my opinion.

If you want a nice small town, I would look at Breese, IL which is about 17 or 18 miles further East down 127. It is a very nice place. If you want to go a bit further, look at Carlyle. It has the largest man-made lake in the state of Illinois and is a very nice place though. It doesn't have as much going on as Breese does but housing is very reasonable and of course the lake is there.

If you are looking for small towns in that area I would look at Breese or Carlyle and avoid Lebanon or Trenton.

With 2 school kids I would look at Breese or Carlyle over the Lebanon or Trenton. Now that would make it about a 40-50 minute drive to downtown so that might be a bit much for you but there quite a few people that do it. Just make sure you fill up on the Missouri side as gas is cheaper.

Not sure where you are located now but Property taxes tend to be VERY high in Illinois.

One other thing about the Breese Carlyle area. Carlyle is getting a Super Walmart put in sometime later this year (being built right now). I lived in Carlyle for a bit and a huge complaint of mine (one of the few actually) was price and selection at the small local Grocery stores. Moved away awhile back and have some doubts about why we did it now. The lake is awesome to have in your backyard.

I wouldn't recommend either breese or carlyle as a suitable place to live AND work downtown STL unless you actually wanted to see your husband less and have him tired/ in a bad mood when he gets home. You're looking at a 40-50 mile trip each way. That adds up, almost two hours a day gone out of your life. What happens if gas goes back up to 4-5 bucks a gallon? Don't expect him to help out with the kids or around the house too much during the week. I would hope that you could find somewhere a little closer.

[anr_black]

Hmm, I've only ever shopped in Lebanon at the antique stores too! It is cute though Traditional small-town with older homes surrounding the main drag...not sure if there are newer subdivisions though?

[ShadowCaver]

Originally Posted by loki03xlh

I wouldn't recommend either breese or carlyle as a suitable place to live AND work downtown STL unless you actually wanted to see your husband less and have him tired/ in a bad mood when he gets home. You're looking at a 40-50 mile trip each way. That adds up, almost two hours a day gone out of your life. What happens if gas goes back up to 4-5 bucks a gallon? Don't expect him to help out with the kids or around the house too much during the week. I would hope that you could find somewhere a little closer.

As one that foolishly, due to change in jobs, drives ~50 minutes each way as indicated above, I can vouch for what is being stated in regards to time being lost... but, grumpy is due to me only because of idiots, turtles, and hoosiers not driving to my liking . However, yes, it does take much more $ out of pocket for the travel expenses, and of time away from doing this/that. In my case, there is no way I'd move though just to be closer as the place am in is 'home'. Back to those communities being mentioned, there is quite a bit of traffic on that stretch of interstate 64 too, esp. during the rush hour periods, at least from my relatively small amounts of travels there. Pretty nice towns, but don't know any details. More northern area, but Edwardsville has a pretty good reputation too.

[stepside454]

as said earlier, taxes are high..but I kind of like Mascutah, ILL. Downtown Lebanon is nice to visit though

[AJohnston_STL]

Lebanon is 24 miles from St Louis city - nowhere near 50 miles - but in minutes, that person is probably correct. You may potentially be looking at a 45 min-1 hr commute in the evening if he works on the Missouri side.

The "suburbs" are now stretching out 45 miles to the west of St Louis (Wentzville, MO has grown from 7k to 40k in 7 years). It is inevitable that this happen in Illinois someday as well. Mascoutah/Lebanon will be probably the first towns hit as they are the first cities after O'Fallon, IL which is already a booming suburb. In fact, I have a friend who just built a house in a subdivision in Mascoutah.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, more and more people want "the small town feel" but want to come and work and play in the city in a short 45 minute drive - but it is destroying small towns, period. I have seen news reports from people in Wentzville who have been there since it really was a small town, up to 30 years ago! They hate to see what is happening in their "small town."

Mascoutah/Lebanon are heading this way...