Macomb,Illinois (Chicago, Peoria, Springfield: house, schools, university)

[The Kings Daughter]

Hi, I am currently looking to move in the summer of 2011,I'm thinking Macomb, Illinois does anyone have any info on the city and the housing.

[Drover]

Macomb is a second-rate university town with a lot of second-rate student housing. Your best bet for quality housing is to live away from the campus area.

[The Kings Daughter]

Thanks for the info one more ? do you know of anyone who lives there that's not in college...just want to get out of chicago to a nice small town with my kids don't want to get to far from chicago want to be able to see family members.

[linicx]

Macomb is home to Western Illinois University. I don't know that it is any more second-rate than any other small college town of its size.

Illinois is the #1 and #2 soybean and corn producing state in America. Nearly every town in Illinoisis surrounded by ranches and farms that are 1000 acres or larger. Nevertheless Macomb has a hospital and national stores and restaurants. Quite frankly there is not a whole lot to do in the area and you will need transportation. If you are doing historical research the state archives for several counties are held at the university.

If you are looking at smaller schools and want an area that is better positioned, you may well find ISU - Normal is a better fit plus it has a larger selection of housing in the entire area. Finding housing mid-term in any university town will be a bit of a challenge.

Illinois is still struggling with a sluggish economy. If school and work are not issues, and you enjoy a slower pace and personal space, you may well like Macomb. If you want night life you will need to look at Springfield, Bloomington - Normal or Champaign.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by The Kings Daughter

Thanks for the info one more ? do you know of anyone who lives there that's not in college...just want to get out of chicago to a nice small town with my kids don't want to get to far from chicago want to be able to see family members.

If these are your only criteria, is there any particular reason why you picked Macomb? If indeed these are your only criteria, there are numerous other options that IMO offer a better quality of life for your family than Macomb.

The main issue with Macomb is that the student-to-permanent-resident ratio is so large -- in fact students outnumber permanent residents by a fair margin -- that the student culture dominates the city. And it's not the "cool" student culture you find in major university cities with rows of indie book stores and coffee shops and ethnic eateries and the like. Instead the "culture" resembles what you'd have left if you skimmed all the "cool" parts away: loud house parties, rows of bars whose primary purpose is to get kids drunk as quickly and cheaply as possible, and the general debauchery that follows. Now, it's not exactly like the city is under siege by marauding drunks every weekend, but this certainly does impact the overall quality of life there. It may be a fun place to live if you're college-age and living away from home for the first time, but it's certainly not the first place I'd choose if I wanted to raise my kids in a quiet little town relatively close to Chicago.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by The Kings Daughter

Thanks for the info one more ? do you know of anyone who lives there that's not in college...just want to get out of chicago to a nice small town with my kids don't want to get to far from chicago want to be able to see family members.

What's not too far from Chicago? Macomb is 3 hours away.

[linicx]

Small town but not too far from Chicago.
1-3 hours
- West on the IKE: S on 51 (1-39?) to Sandwich
- I 80/IL 29 Princeton. (low COL) Very small and good ratings.
- Off of I-80 and SE of LaSalle-Peru to Marselles, IL Very small farm town
- South of I-80 and on I-55
Pontiac
Normal U-High and ISU
Lincoln Nice small town with good services
- South of I-80. Near 1-74 and Peoria
Eureka Very small with Eureka college
Goodfield Another small town
Village of Morton 8,000
Washington
Chillecothe
Dunlap
Village of Peoria Heights 6,000 -surrounded by Peoria.
Farmington
-Near 1-55 and Springfield
Chattam
Taylorville
and more.

Lincoln, Normal and Sprinfield have rail service to Chicago. Peoria, Bloomington and Springfield offer daily flights to Chicago. Normal and Peoria also have bus service - Greyhound or Trailways. Peoria also has a private car service to Chicago.