Worried Mom (Chicago, Peoria, East Peoria: apartments, rentals, crime) - Illinois (IL) - City-Data Forum

jude5 · 08-07-2011, 10:41 PM

My daughter just got a job in Peoria and will be moving there within the next few weeks. Where are the safest neighborhoods/apartments? The neighborhood where the company will be in seemed a little worrisome to me. It is on Folkers St.

linicx · 08-08-2011, 09:44 PM

You probably should be worried. The southside of Peoria as a whole is a very, very large area - which begins not too far from downtown at McArthur and ends near I-474 - has always been Known as the least affluent in Peoria with some of the more troubled residents.CHP has It is an area of extremes that is exacerbated to some degree by the inclusion of public housing. Now CHP does an oustanding job of managing the resident but it can't manage city residents not under their direct control.

I would not send my child to live in the area unless she is extremely street smart with a lot of people experience. It is not college and you don't learn how in a protected invirnoment.

Folkers is in the most southern part of the city and near 1-474. She will need a car and a cellphone with GPS. Laptops, tablets, smartphones and fancy cars don't fare well in this environment. In any case it is not a place you want to be after 5pm.

To be close to her job and relatively safe, Bartonville is an excellent cnoice as is anywhre north of War Memorial Drive (US 150). There is also some decent apartments off Galena Road in Peoria Heights. She'll be 20 miles from work. In bad weather than can be nearly an hour in morning traffic.

Peoria is a very old city. River towns by their very nature are quirky. Peoria has a lot to offer everyone, but it is not on the south side. The k-6 are schools are still rough despite the many advances made in the last 20 years. But there is hope, dreams and room for improvement.

FreewayTitan · 08-13-2011, 01:45 PM

Peoria is very easy to get around, so a commute wouldn't be too bad, and even though the area (being that far south of Lincoln Ave. , IMO the haven for crime in the area) isn't overtly unsafe its not very desirable either. Bartonville is a great town, about 10 minutes to the south. She is pretty much open to anywhere in the area, as Peoria is easy to get around and that fact that Folkers Ave. is near I-474 makes it even easier to get to.

I have a friend that has family in the area around the West Malone/Westmoreland area and they said while the schools weren't great, the area as a whole was bearable.

Don't be worried, the area has plenty of options.

linicx · 08-14-2011, 10:38 AM

People who have never lived on the south side of Peoria do not understand it unless they lived there - which I did at one time. At the very best of time, tt was sketchy 50 years ago. Today your dealing with a much younger different group in a poor economy. It is one thing to work there during the day and quite another to be a new resident there. Do not do it. I could name a dozen areas in Peoria that are quire safe. The south side of Peoria is NOT it - unless your child is street smart.

linicx · 08-15-2011, 05:42 PM

I should add your child need to be more than street smart. To live there she almost needs to be Chicago southside street smart.

sunnyandcloudydays · 08-15-2011, 07:48 PM

Worried Mom I feel for you
Does your daughter have a roomate , maybe someone that they can help eachother out every now and then

chiroman · 08-23-2011, 01:35 PM

IMO she should stear clear of living anywhere near where she works, with the exception of bartonville. Because her work is very close to an entrance/exit of I474, I would recommend aprtments that are convenient to exits further north. Haymeadow Apartments in the Orange Prairie subdivision is convenient to all of Peoria's best shopping and has one of the better schools. I used to have a house in that subdivision, and felt completely safe there. She'll pay a bit more, but have peace of mind. She can walk at night in that area, it's so safe. They are also building new apartments (might be done?) at the Shoppes at Grand Prairie. Timberlane apartments on War Memorial are nice, especially the ones that were more recently built in the back of the complex. I used to live there about 15 years ago and like them. Theres nice apartments in the Northpoint area, about 6 miles further north on Route 6 and N. Knoxville (Route 6 is the continuation of I474 north of the I74 interchange)She could also rent a house in any of these areas, but will have to deal with her own lawncare, snow removal, etc. Apartment might make more sense until she's established and gets a feel for the different areas and neighborhoods.

linicx · 08-23-2011, 11:52 PM

Scio42 · 08-24-2011, 03:48 PM

jude5 - The other posters are correct, that is not a great area of town. However, I assume that your daughter has her own transportation? If so, then as long as she doesn't have to live next to her work and her work doesn't involve some job at high risk of crime (like gas station clerk), there's not too much to worry about. As long as she's just driving to/from work in that area at a decent hour of day and uses some common sense, she shouldn't have an issue. There are plenty of businesses that operate on the south side of Peoria without issue.

One of the nice things about the Peoria metro area is that you're never really more than a 30min drive from anywhere else in the metro area. Traffic is also rarely ever an issue, Peoria has rush minutes, not rush hours. There's lots decent places she could live that are within a reasonable drive to work. If she really wants to live close then she should check out the area from Moss Ave to Bradley University. There's plenty of rentals, the neighborhood is decent and it would be only about 5 min drive to work. Also close are some decent areas of far West Peoria, Bartonville and East Peoria. If she doesn't mind driving a little further, then there's plenty of decent places further north in Peoria and the surrounding communities where she could live.

Zoness · 09-01-2011, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scio42

One of the nice things about the Peoria metro area is that you're never really more than a 30min drive from anywhere else in the metro area. Traffic is also rarely ever an issue, Peoria has rush minutes, not rush hours. There's lots decent places she could live that are within a reasonable drive to work. If she really wants to live close then she should check out the area from Moss Ave to Bradley University. There's plenty of rentals, the neighborhood is decent and it would be only about 5 min drive to work. Also close are some decent areas of far West Peoria, Bartonville and East Peoria. If she doesn't mind driving a little further, then there's plenty of decent places further north in Peoria and the surrounding communities where she could live.

As a Bradley student with the majority of my friends living off campus in areas stretching to Cooper St. in the West, Moss Ave. to the South and everywhere in between I agree that this area would be a pretty good area to check out however it seems like right now housing is very competitive and it might be hard to get a nice place at a reasonable rate.*

*Bearing in mind that I am broke and will have to live with four other people to survive, reasonable rate is a relative term.