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I just think its funny that he actually has talked himself into thinking that there are areas downstate that are even close to being as nice as places like Naperville and Frankfort.
Right, Bloomington was only ranked as one of the best places to live in the US, and Champaign has other awards on that same site. Don't remember Frankyfort making that list. Mmmm....can't imagine why? Besides, Ive been to Chicagoland hundreds of times, never heard of Frankfort. Must not be that great if Steve-O hasn't mentioned it in his weekly speech about the places to be in Chicagoland. I just wonder what others from Naperville would think of you mentioning their town in the same context as yours. Doubt it! I wouldn't even want that town mentioned with B-N.
Oh wait, I have heard of Frankfort! It's that place that has all those MIL estates that has no class or soul. I think that in order to be considered a town you can't just be a mere extension of all the other subdivisions.
You keep hanging your hat on what a magazine says, population numbers say otherwise.
Frankfort is an outstanding area and I have NO PROBLEM comparing it to Naperville, its just not located in his area, that happens in an area thats so large and popular. He didn't mention any of the north shore communities, does that make them not as nice as Bloomington?
Just one of the North Shore communities could blow us all away, anyday! I'm sure they look at us, just as they look at you; simple working class people. Just like people from Chicago don't claim the suburbs, the North Shore doesn't give a care whether the western suburbs fall of the face of the earth. If you don't believe me, go and ask them today.
And have the bigger population. That doesn't bother us in the least. Why do you think you have so much crime? I'll help you out one this one, because so many people live there. But how great can something be once the masses have found it. Besides, B-N has sereval subdivisions that could blow your cookie cutter Naperville out of the water. And as for Bloomington being the same size as the suburbs. Just because it is bigger than many, it isn't surrounded on all sides by houses, and more houses, and more houses, and more houses, and just to shake things up there is a huge school. You can say all you want that you live in Naperville, but just by yourself you are huge, and that is just a drop in the bucket with the rest of western Chicagoland. If there wasn't actuall city names and signs, you could really get away with thinking that it all was the same city. We have an AMAZING small town feel, and still have it all over you guys. If nothing else, have Chicago, we don't care. But we still walk over you. I know this may be hard to grasp, but Chicagoland is not the amazing place that maybe it was in the '90s. Face it, the only place up there that is growing exponentionally(that means really fast and sudden) is Joliet. You couldn't pay me to live there, and many of these tried and true suburbanites feel the same way.
If it isn't happening there, and southern Illinois is pretty desolate, then where else do you think it is happening?
The crime index in Frankfort is 102, in Bloomington its 373 and Normal its 261.. Who has the crime? That would be YOU and your precious B-N area.
Joliet is the only area in Chicagoland thats seeing large growth? That, once again, shows how ignorant about this area you are. The school district I live in will have a third high school open in 2008, a 4th in 2009 and initial numbers indicate a 5th will be needed around 2013. Areas in the western suburbs are also seeing MUCH larger growth than Bloomington can even imagine. Doing some quick research, it seems like most years McLean county is around 10th-12th in growth, behind all of the Chicagoland counties except Cook and DuPage, the two that are already built out. So what exactly is "happening" in Bloomington?
You guys also have the cookie cutter subdivisions, but I realize you will overlook that.
According to the Illinois Census Bureau, Illinois Demographics Society, Illinois Tourist Info and Relocation Packet 04, 05 06, and coming soon 07, McClean county is the fastest growing metro area in the country. This is also on the US govt. website, and dozens of others. If you are going to dispute that then go on ahead. I'm sure you are more aware of Illinois statistics than the state itself.
And sure B-N has more crime in it then your little blip of a nothing Frankfort. We are so much larger then you. I was refereing to Chicago that is a hopless mess with it's crime and poverty. You should feel proud living off a city that is one of the highest in the nation for every negative a city its size can have.
Your Frankfort would be nothing without the power of Chicago. Your city is just a leach that needs a host. Everything that B-N has done, has been because we are a self contatined city that has worked hard to get where we are at. If you want to define success as bleeding the money out of Chicago then go ahead, but it is clear that B-N is the real winner here.
Just name me one thing that B-N can't do, provide, expound upon, financially secure, give way to, or make happen for, that your Frankfart could. And don't start listing off a bunch of Chicago stuff. Remmeber, your town would be nothing without the strength of Chicago. if Frankfort itself is so grand then you should be able to secure a list easily.
And as far as the cookie cutter houses go, I won't even touch that. There is no way that one could even say that B-N has ANYWHERE NEAR THE AMOUNT THAT NAPERVILLE HAS!! They are here, I'll admit it. But wow, come check us out, before you sit there are make such a foolish statement.
I guess the first thing I would mention is that Bloomington can't equal (or even come close) to Frankfort in overall quality of housing or household income, nor can you provide the quality of education for your children. Or does that not matter to you?
As for crime and your area having 3X what we do, that was a per 1000 study, so there goes that theory.
Whoa!! Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about sir!! Like I have stated MANY times on this site, Unit 5 in Normal is one of the most highly achieving school districts in the entire state. It is still in that category and in another five years I expect to see it sitting right at the top. When we moved here it was in the top 5 percentile of state. You are so far off it isn't even funny!! We have Illinois State University, which is one of the permier schools for teachers in the NATION! They all start their student teaching right here, and most end up staying because they are payed well above the average, and have the whole town behind them. We have the best and newest all the time. Can you say that? Where do you get your info?! When we moved from Fishers, Indiana(which sits VERY high in education in that state) our children had to work very hard to make it all up. Reading is just something that is expected before you get into kindergarten. A well as adding and subtracting. In fact, when we took our son to IUPUI(Indy school) for a college visit day, the administators kept telling us how well they look at schools from B-N, and that on a college resume it would look great! Can Frankfort say that? Doubt it? Once again, do some reading, before you attack. I can't believe you even asked such a question!
The housing market in B-N is doing great by the way. Quality of housing. Look up any real estate website and you will see that we have just as big of houses as you do. Most of the newer subdivisions are nothing but actual million dollar mansions that I doubt many in the burbs could handle! and sure maybe the household income is lower, but I know we have a far higher purchasing power then you. Everyone on my block(and I live in a very middle typical suburban neighborhood between 350k-450k) goes on at least two extended vacations every year, buys a new car about every three years, upgrades to there house constantly, and everyone, but me, seems to have a condo, or lakefront property in Wisconsin or Iowa. And we are more of the middle class people. I can't imagine what the upper class people do with there time. So yeah, you make more then us, but our purchasing power far outdoes you. We could all comfotably move to your neighborhoods, but the debt is so much up there I doubt you could do the same. In fact, in a recent newpaper article it showed a bar graph of the amount of debt held by downstaters, and that held by Chicago. I don't remember the exact figures, but it was very easily to tell who would be in trouble if another depression occured. Before you make anymore blind statements that will throw nather off, actually look up the info instead of stating false claims!
with all due respect llama214, that sounds like pretty upper class lifestyle and neighborhood if you ask me, not a middle class suburban neighborhood (but then again, I sometimes get confused on what that line is). My family is now firmly middle class, but they own one 150k 3 bedroom + den house (no summer homes), go on one extended vacation a year (and a couple of weekend trips), and have one 6 year old car (my father drives a company car), and do not do much more than standard house mantaince and the ocassional painting. In my opinion, that is middle class. I wonder if sometimes as a nation we are too quick to pin the 'middle class' label on people who are wealthy, least it become easier to hide behind the 'well we're just middle class' as the divide between the wealthy and the poor continues to widen. A downstate subdivision of houses that cost that much is not a middle class neighborhood, it is a wealthy neighborhood.
My sister and her husband barely scraped together enough for the downpayement to to buy a small two bedroom cottage in nw indiana that cost 80k (I think it was intended to be a lakehouse or a vacation house), when I think about getting into the housing market, that is what people I know are having to do. The notion of a house that is almost 1/2 a million dollars as middle class seems absurd to me.
j33. Middle class(at least downstate)is very broad. You, living in Chicago, could never really understand. You have your small town middle class, and then you have your city middle class. Since there are more small towns downstate, there is a little bit confused view of the middle class.
But like I said, much of B-N house prices are the same, if not more in some cases, than the suburbs. I'm doing well by central Illinois standards, but by B-N overall I'm not that well off. Towns and cities like B-N, C-U, Peoria, Morton, Dunlap, Metamora, Germantown Hills, St. Joseph, and parts of Springfield, these are very much the average house prices.
I will admit thought that while my house is nice, it does not cost between the 350k-450k range. Close, but we really can't afford a higher house payment, with one of our kids going to college. It is nice that people consider you part of that subdivision though. I tried to buy one, but I'm afraid that my wife would have to go back to work in order to make it possible. Even though I left Fishers for work, we couldn't really afford it and would probably would have had to move anyways.
I will but up the Lincoln-Way schools against Unit 5 any day of the week, end of story!!
Just to make you look even more ignorant on this subject of housing, I checked out realtor.com as you suggested. In the Bloomington-Normal area(population 150,000???) there are currently 39 houses on the market priced over $500K. In little ole "Frankyfort", population about 12,000, there are 125 homes listed in that same price range. We have 1/13 the population, but over 3 times the number of homes in that range.
I see that the median home price is around $110K, since most of the new houses being built are million dollar mansions and the middle class lives in $350K-$450K, must be a lot of people living in cardboard boxes.
If you are going to lie, at least lie in a way that it can't be checked.
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Just because it is bigger than many, it isn't surrounded on all sides by houses, and more houses, and more houses, and more houses, and just to shake things up there is a huge school. You can say all you want that you live in Naperville, but just by yourself you are huge, and that is just a drop in the bucket with the rest of western Chicagoland. If there wasn't actuall city names and signs, you could really get away with thinking that it all was the same city. We have an AMAZING small town feel, and still have it all over you guys. If nothing else, have Chicago, we don't care. But we still walk over you. I know this may be hard to grasp, but Chicagoland is not the amazing place that maybe it was in the '90s. Face it, the only place up there that is growing exponentionally(that means really fast and sudden) is Joliet. You couldn't pay me to live there, and many of these tried and true suburbanites feel the same way.
