Potential move to Carbondale.. info appreciated :) (Chicago, Peoria: health insurance, hotels, homes)

[alybain]

Thank you so much for your replies, we have seen some good properties in Marion, school is very important, it will be a huge leap for our teens, and we really need to get this right for them. Its my biggest concern to be honest, if the kids are unhappy, it will make the whole move hard! Im really hoping the local kids will take to mine ok, my boy is good at basketball and american football, and hopes to make the HS team, im hoping this will help the kids accept him... its a worry....

[MsCellophane]

I live in Murphysboro (which is a hole, and I recommend strongly that you don't waste your time looking at anything there). I'm about a 10-minute drive from Carbondale, and go to SIUC.

I think that there's quite a bit happening at any given time in Carbondale. We have some good local radio stations, a music festival in the summer, plays -- plus, with the university in the area, there are occasionally some big-name bands and comedians coming to town. I think it depends on the liveliness of your current location, whether or not your kids would be sufficiently entertained by the "scene" here.

I'm a little short on time, but since I've lived here for about 5 years now, I'm pretty well familiar with the area. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.

[AJohnston_STL]

I lived in southern Illinois for 22 years, then moved to St Louis roughly 4 and a 1/2 years ago.

I believe that the best city to live in in so Ill is Marion. It has a suburban feel, in that it has everything you could possibly need or want (besides big city attractions, obviously, as its still a small town), good schools, safe, etc. Check out Marion Illinois.

[sleeplessinillinois]

I am from Southern Illinois, Carbondale region, so I'd like to try to help. I lived in Carterville for most of my life and then went to SIUC, and recently relocated to STL. Carterville is huge on american football, and so is Herrin and Marion. I am a bit biased on Carterville, but I can tell you anything you want to know about it. In terms of town sizes, with students I believe Carbondale has something like 20k+ people all in all. Carterville has about 5k people and a brand new high school that just opened this year. In terms of academics I had always heard Carterville was best. The classes are small, I had about 90 in my graduating class and the highest I have ever seen I believe was 120, but it will be growing with the new school and field and etc. It was easy to meet people. Your son will have no problem getting on the football team. Carterville and Herrin also offer baseball and wrestling, basketball, and softball. Herrin and Marion also have public pools and I believe a swim team.

Carbondale has a substanially larger high school. Bigger classes, restaraunts inside the school, etc. If your kids would prefer a bigger high school I would recommend that. I believe houses are more expensive in Carterville than Carbondale. Because Carbondale is so much bigger and a party town, you will have to watch out where you move if you mind noise and etc. Anywhere close to the University you will have to deal with traffic during move in, "unofficial" holidays the students hold, holidays, and most weekends. Also, you will have to deal with students walking up and down the streets, puking and yelling.

Marion is a larger town and has a small airport that has flights to Saint Louis and Chicago where you could transfer to larger planes and flights. Marion also loves football and has a soccer program as well.

Herrin is also big on football but has had a bout of crime lately. Something about kids going around beating up other kids at the park.

As for things for your kids to do, honestly, there is nothing. I grew up in this town/area and let me tell you, both Carbondale and Marion malls are crap, there are movie theaters but they're expensive, there is a bowling alley in between Carterville and Herrin (SI Bowl), but that is about it. We spent most of our weekends in the true southern Illinois fashion of hanging out on truck beds at the Cannon Park parking lot or hanging out in each others basements. It would be wise if you want your kids to socialize to have a house in which they could bring friends over. There's really not much to do at all. Saint Louis is 2- 2.5 hours away and has a zoo and etc.

As for SIUC, your husband may want to be careful. I believe in November there was just a teacher strike. Three unions were involved. You should google this.

The counties. Carbondale and onward is Jackson County. Murphysboro is where that courthouse is. Carterville, Cambria, Crainville, Herrin, and Marion are Williamson County, the courthouse being in Marion.

If you would like to see news about the entire area and get a feel for the crime/events and etc that go on in Southern Illinois, the big paper is The Southern Illinoisian. You can view it online at www.thesouthern.com.

If you have any further questions please ask in a private message. I just left Carterville this past summer and have lived in the area my entire life.

Oh, and since you mentioned country side, all of those cities have homes in the "country" and then you can just drive into town on rt 13 and get straight to Carbondale and the University. The commutes are roughly to Carbondale"

Carterville : 10 minutes, maybe.
Herrin: 15-20 minutes, maybe.
Marion: 20-30 minutes, maybe.

These are all maybes because I am basing them from my own driving from the center of the towns. Obviously the further out in the town and outskirts you get, more time is added.

Originally Posted by alybain

Hello all,

My husband has applied for a job teaching at the University, and I wondered if you could help us with some info please...

We are from the uk, and have a daughter 16 years old, could be 17 by the time we move, and a son of 14 years old, so high schools are really important...

Our son is a keen footballer, he plays wide receiver, for the Hampshire youth team here, so Football is important to us!

Would it be possible to ask for info on the various Counties, which would have the best high school, and good areas to live?? Its a big move for us, we cant wait! but a little anxious that we get it right!

Also where is good and safe for teenagers to hang out, malls etc?

Here in the UK we live in a small village, with local shops etc, so we are not used to city life, so somewhere in the countryside with a reasonable commute would be our ideal.

Thanks in advance

[alybain]

Thank you so very much for all the replies, its really helpful to get a good overview of the place before we commit to an area to settle.

Where we live now is a small small town in the south of England. There is literally nothing to do here, so the kids are very used to entertaining themselves. They have friends round etc, but the house we live in currently is small, so the move will mean a bigger house, more room for friends, and hopefully happy kids!!

My oldest son is a Chef in a Michelin starred restaurant here, his plan is to travel, then join us in the US where he will need a job. Does anyone know if there is much by way of fine dining nearby??

Again, many thanks for all your help.

[linicx]

Fine dining in Peoria, Springfield, St. Louis, and Chicago. Michelin Restaurants in Chicago but not anywhere else in Illinois.

[Traveller49]

I have to disagree a bit with some of the posts here...living in this area all my life I find that Carbondale is by far the best town to live in in Southern Illinois. It is also the largest, with a few big city amenities (some fine dining, world-class entertainment and music, a nationally ranked university and hospital) but is still first and foremost a small city. As far as schools, Carbondale Community High School is the best school in Southern Illinois by a long shot (I graduated from there, I should know). It is rated as one of the best in Illinois. As far as extra-curriculars, the speech/debate team is the biggest in Illinois outside Chicago and the music program was ranked last year as the 3rd best in Illinois (even including Chicago schools). As for sports, Carbondale teams are very competitive as well. I believe the cross country team made it to state for the first time ever last year.

Mainly, the thing that distinguishes Carbondale from the surrounding towns (Murphysboro, Marion, Herrin, Carterville) is its slightly urban feel. It is much more cultured and diverse than all of these towns, which is mostly due to the university. You will find that these surrounding towns have more of a rural, almost "redneck" feel. There is none of that in Carbondale. But the only thing I would be wary of in Carbondale is the housing, which is a bit more expensive than the surrounding towns (but not my much). However, you would be VERY close to the university and be in a much more beautiful place than any other town in Southern Illinois.

[-Focused-]

Originally Posted by AJohnston_STL

I lived in southern Illinois for 22 years, then moved to St Louis roughly 4 and a 1/2 years ago.

I believe that the best city to live in in so Ill is Marion. It has a suburban feel, in that it has everything you could possibly need or want (besides big city attractions, obviously, as its still a small town), good schools, safe, etc. Check out Marion Illinois.

I somewhat agree.

If it were to come down to Marion, Carterville, or Carbondale, I would rank them:

1.) Carterville
2.) Marion
3.) Carbondale

I went to SIU-C and do not have good things to say about the town. Carbondale is fairly trashy (unless you're a college age drinker, then it's perfect).

I would definitely recommend looking at either Carterville or Marion. They are both nicer towns than Carbondale. The extra driving time would be well worth not having to live in Carbondale.

Best of luck!

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by linicx

Fine dining in Peoria, Springfield, St. Louis, and Chicago. Michelin Restaurants in Chicago but not anywhere else in Illinois.

There are lots of places in Illinois that are great to eat at and St. Louis is in Missouri not Illinois. Besides the cities you listed are not even close to Carbondale.

[linicx]

You took it out of context once again, sigh . You did not read the entire thread. You do not know what I am talking about. If you did you would agree and not make foolish comments.

Originally Posted by CSD610

There are lots of places in Illinois that are great to eat at and St. Louis is in Missouri not Illinois. Besides the cities you listed are not even close to Carbondale.