Possibly moving to Moline, Il Quad City Area (Chicago, Peoria: real estate, insurance)

[silverflame1020]

I'm an east coast girl from Philly. My questions, I think are valid. I have never lived in middle America before (I've visited Minneapolis).

I'm in an interracial relationship (he's white, I'm black), we would be moving because of his job.

This is a two parter:

1) Are people going to have a problem with us being together?
I ask this question because I know that some will and still have a issue and this is an area with a very small minority community. I know folks are still racist, most are just better at hiding it. I like to know what I'm stepping into before we make a big move.

2) What is the job market really like?
I have looked at postings for the quad city area and am not really sure of what the odds are of me finding a job in the immediate area. I currently have several different jobs. I'm a museum educator and a office assistant at a law firm.

Any and all advice would greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advanced

[QuadCityImages]

I'd say the answer to #1 is that you won't have any more problems here than in most metro areas. Maybe if you lived out in the more rural suburb/farm communities around the QC you might get some looks or something, but interracial couples aren't all that unusual around here.

For question #2, there are probably better people than I to answer that one. The QC as a whole has lower unemployment than most Illinois metros, and we do have several museums, but its hard to say. There aren't many areas in the US where jobs are easy to come by these days.

[thatsong64]

Interracial couples are no big deal at all in the Quad Cities. Maybe if you get lost and end up in Geneseo...you could have some problems. I went to high school there for 3 years and we had like 5 black people in our school. Quite a change from Moline, was wierd...anyways, I don't think our job market is too bad, especially compared to other places, but of course it depends on what kind of job you're looking for too...

[linicx]

I suspect the biggest adjustment will be your surroundings. You are moving from an urban area of a high-concentration of people and entertainment into the number #2 and #1 corn and bean producting state in the natioon --- a world where John Deere tractors and combines rule. Once you get into Ohio You will drive through miles of farms and few towns before you reach the Iowa border. Combined Il and IA is home to roughly 170,000 farners, and thousands of acres of corn and beans in the two states. This is the nations's bread basket; we feed the world. It is what it is: America's Heartland from the Canadian Border to the Gulf of Mexico - from mid-Ohio to Tulsa, Oklahma. .

The good news is the COL is probably cheaper (groceries are taxed at 1%;IL state income tax is still a flat 3% tax)), and you're only a short drive, or a 40 minute flight, from upscale shopping and dining in Chicago.

Welcome to mid-America

In between the tallest skyscrapers in America and the smallest farm town in Illinois you find some of the largest events in America, thousands of decent hard working americans, great tasting rural foods, some amazing scenery, a 10,000-year old state history, the largest inland protected Wetlands in America, and the oldest and largest park district outside of Chicago with its 10,000 acres. So whether you want to ski, sail, find world class food and shopping, sleep with the wolves, visit 7 zoos of various sizes, play in one of the larges indoor water parks in mid-America, watch one of the largest night time Christmas parades in America, tour amazing museums, take an architectural tour by water, grab a ticket to a play at one of the oldest summer stock theaters in America, or visit the two planetariums -- you can do it all within 150 miles of the Quad Cities.

The one thing to keep in mind is that in addition to moving 2000 miles into farm country, you are also moving into pockets of urban isolation where you find cities with over 50,000 residents separated by corn and bean fields and large rivers. It is a good life and Illinois is a great place to raise a family but Rural America has its problems, the least of which is isolation, but perhaps it is the most frustrating.

If you come with an open mind, a curiosity and a love of adventure you will find your niche - like the rest of us have. But, if you come to compare QC (5 towns in 2 states) with Philly and the East coast you will be disappoiunted and unhappy.

The wisest thing you can do is visit Illinois and spend 5 days looking at the largest urban areas outside of Chicago and St. Louis. In terms of population [1]Springfield (state capital and politics, [2]Peoria a river city much like Chicago), [3]Urbana-Champaign (flagship University) Bloomington-Normal (Insurance and real estate), [4] the areas around Moline, Quincy, and Decatur.

What you won't find is the type of museum found in Chicago and NYC, but the potential to develope it is waiting. Peoria for instance is planninging a new $40M museum complex that will include a $600,000 Caterpillar museum. Moline already has a John Deere museum.

Bring your camera, you might be surprised at you find.