Any thriving small towns in Illinois? (Chicago, Springfield: how much, attorneys, construction)

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by SNT

Funny, I went to high school in Lake County. More on the suburban-side of it (Lake Zurich/Hawthorn Woods), but I visited a lot of the small towns while playing sports. Most of them seemed pretty similarly suburban/exurban.

To me, the little towns off Route 59 like Fox Lake feel blue-collar and lower middle class, and not exurban at all (in the sense of a wealthy retreat for commuters). They don't seem to be as ultra-upscale as Lake Zurich and the Barringtons south of them. But I mostly drive through them on the way to Wisconsin so that might be a superficial observation...

[cubssoxfan]

Lake Zurich is "ultra-upscale"? We must have different definitions.
I get the blue collar definition. A friend who lives close to Wonder Lake calls it Wonder-tucky.

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Lake Zurich is "ultra-upscale"? We must have different definitions.
I get the blue collar definition. A friend who lives close to Wonder Lake calls it Wonder-tucky.

I've only driven through Lake Zurich once, and that was years ago, so my recollections of that town may very well be faulty.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by Vasily

I've only driven through Lake Zurich once, and that was years ago, so my recollections of that town may very well be faulty.

And on your behalf, there are a few neighborhoods with some upscale homes. There are also neighborhoods that people think is Lake Zurich, but is Hawthorn Woods or Long Grove & those towns definitely fit the upscale definition.

To OP, don't know about job prospects, but I like Effingham. It's 18,000, county seat and has a mix of local establishments but also has a lot of chain restaurants due to its location on I-57 & I-70.

[madpaddy]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

To OP, don't know about job prospects, but I like Effingham. It's 18,000, county seat and has a mix of local establishments but also has a lot of chain restaurants due to its location on I-57 & I-70.

Yeah, that's one that seems a lot bigger when you drive by it on the interstate than it really is if you actually get into town.

[linicx]

On a personal note I don't particularly like Canton and never did - not even when I lived there but that does not mean it in some sort of death spiral. It isn't. IH closing up was a hard hit for sure, but it wasn't the only town in the Peoria area that was adversely affected by industry giants dying or closing locations, or moving elsewhere. Canton is a farm town. It has always been a farm town and it will always be a farm town, BUT, it is the largest farm town in Fulton County and the town closest to Interstate 474. It is not the worst place to live. You can find Walmart, a farm store, four or more grocery stores, CEFCUa and banks, fast food, restaurants, cell phone and computer stores and more. It still has stores that are open on the square.

The problem with the downtown is not that you see stores closed, it is because the square was never planned to be the center of the city. It was planned to be a small park. It still is, but the city fathers did not envision a town that would grew to the size of Canton.

What you have left is a ton bunch of little stores, surrounding a little park in a congesterd area with little parking. It does not feel open or inviting. It feels closed and constricted - which is exactly what it is. If you want to build a business in Canton you don't do it on the square - which is actually one of the most attractive features of Canton. You build a few miles out which defeats the purpose of real convenience when shopping.

I live in between Canton, Pekin and Lincoln. They all have the same basic stores where I shop. I generally go to Pekin because it does not have that small town closed feeling and the shopping is centrally located around the mall plus it has a large park system. The botttom line is I can do more in less time with less driving in Pekin. To do the same thing Canton has to rethink its Master Planning for the future. I don't see any evidence that it has one.

As far as losing residents I wouldn't worry too much about it as towns are fluid. People move out of the city into county and new residents move in. Right now the economy is in an upheavel and people are uprooting families and moving coast to caost for jobs. Retirees die and move to warmer climates, closer to their children and near larger hospitals, and to town with more services.

I cannot envision a time when thee is not a Canton. .

Originally Posted by radiojunkie2006

I'd guess that towns that are under 20,000 residents and are in the hinterlands are probably not doing well. I have relatives that live in Canton in Fulton county. It was a bustling little town back in the day. Its major employer was International Harvester and both my aunt and uncle worked there before and after WWII. An F3 tornado took out the downtown section of the town in 1975. Many retailers never re-opened their shops. To make things worse the International Harvester plant closed its doors for good in 1983. The last time I saw Canton it looked almost like a ghost town compared to its heydays in the 40s-mid 70s and it's lost over 5% of its population since 2000. I imagine the younger folks are fleeing to Peoria, Chicago and St. Louis in search of jobs.

[Drover]

Some of the towns mentioned here are part of a nearby MSA if that's what you mean by "connected to," such as Monticello being closely tied to Champaign/Urbana (though it's pretty much equidistant between it and Decatur), Galena being part of the Dubuque sphere, etc. However, there is quite enough undeveloped seperation between these respective towns and the MSA core cities that they don't feel "part of" them in any way, at least geographically speaking. On the whole though, small-town Illinois is struggling except those that are satellite communities for larger cities, such as Monticello is for Champaign.

[linicx]

I think a lot of it depends upon where one lives. All Illinois counties, even those with great wealth and larger cities, are struggling to some degree. No one is a clear winner, yet, but I think some of the areas downstate are starting to see signs of recovery and this is a good thing. Unemployment is falling and new business is beginning to build out in these areas.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Stands to reason a town/village that is a county seat may be the best bet for a stable area.

for the most part at minimum there is going to be a courthouse along with nerve centers for fire, police protection this equates to jobs which in turn will support some restaurants, hardware etc...

Last year I had to make a trip to Pana , IL and it seemed like a smaller town that was not in the doldrums.

Another town on that trip to the central to south part of the state was Taylorville I stopped there on the way back up north and it seemed to be another town-village that was not dong bad.

I would imagine this part of Illinois is sprinkled with towns of this size.

[linicx]

IL seems to have a rather peculiar way of determining the title of a community. There are cities as large as 2M and as small as 250, and villages of 50,000 or more. Not all rural county seats are villages or towns; some are cities.

The designation of MSA and 'unincorporated county' seems to be a US Labor tool to define certain areas.

All county seats in rural central Illinois have the same basic services: courthouse, lawyers, city and county police, waste disposal, a fire departiment, bank, post office, newpaper, schools, some type of restaurant, gas station, park, Internet and hardware store. Many have a grocer, Carnegie Library, hospital with Life Flight, doctors, pharmacy, satellite college and public swimming. Depending upon the physical location and the distance to the nearest large area of 100,000 the county seat may also offer marina, golf, bowling, camping, walkable areas plus expanded services and shopping area. Generally speaking the city where the county seat is located offers the most services unless of course there is a much larger large dominate city in the county.