Moving to Peoria- Where to live and go to college? (what's the inside scoop?) (Springfield: apartments, rental)

[newtopeoria]

We are moving to Peoria at the end of Jan. 2008. My wife is excited about starting her new job at a local hospital. I enjoyed reading all the posts and threads on Peoria from the last few years but am still hoping for the inside scoop on where to find a rental and go to college.

We are hoping to find a duplex or small house in a safe area that would cost between 600-750/ month. I noticed from the Peoria crime stats that crime seems to drop off on the north side of Peoria. Is the north side dramatically safer or do you recommend living in one of the neighboring towns instead?

I am hoping to go back to college but realize I may have to drive to Normal to Illinois State because I already have my two years in. Is the only college option the private expensive Bradley and the Medical College? I have heard University of Illinois has a great online degree program. Anyone had success with that?

Thanks for your time!

[runninfiend]

Originally Posted by newtopeoria

I am hoping to go back to college but realize I may have to drive to Normal to Illinois State because I already have my two years in. Is the only college option the private expensive Bradley and the Medical College? I have heard University of Illinois has a great online degree program. Anyone had success with that?

Thanks for your time!

I don't know what your program is, but you might also try Eureka College, a liberal arts college within 20 minutes of Peoria that is a bit cheaper than Bradley:

Eureka College

The U of I-Springfield offers degree programs through their ICC (Illinois Central College) Peoria Center:

Peoria Center - Academics - University of Illinois at Springfield - UIS

If you're a brainiac and have the $, Knox College is one of the top ranked liberal arts schools in the country:

Knox College

[BUalumni]

Originally Posted by newtopeoria

We are moving to Peoria at the end of Jan. 2008. My wife is excited about starting her new job at a local hospital. I enjoyed reading all the posts and threads on Peoria from the last few years but am still hoping for the inside scoop on where to find a rental and go to college.

We are hoping to find a duplex or small house in a safe area that would cost between 600-750/ month. I noticed from the Peoria crime stats that crime seems to drop off on the north side of Peoria. Is the north side dramatically safer or do you recommend living in one of the neighboring towns instead?

I am hoping to go back to college but realize I may have to drive to Normal to Illinois State because I already have my two years in. Is the only college option the private expensive Bradley and the Medical College? I have heard University of Illinois has a great online degree program. Anyone had success with that?

Thanks for your time!

Welcome to the area!

Yes, North Peoria is much safer than the south end. Basically, the closer you are to Dunlap, the safer the neighborhoods. For this area though I'm not sure you are going to find anything in your price range. There are tons of new condos and upscale apartments in the Alta/Dunlap area, but they tend to go fast, and are more than 700 a month. I do know there are some large "apartment" like buildings going up where Knoxville and Rt. 6 meet. I'm not sure though if this is a new hotel, or apartments. I don't see any hotel signs, so it is quiet possible that these are apartments. There are however lots of apartments in Peoria itself that are nice, just check the area around it first. The towns of West Peoria and Peoria Heights and very quait towns that are enlcosed by Peoria, but are not considered part of the city, but are close enough to take advantage of everything that the city has to offer. Towns that you may want to look into on the west side of the river, may include Bartonville, Mapleton, Chillicothe, Dunlap, and Edwards. The east side has good housing options too, as well as better access to Bloomington/Normal. The more popular would be Morton, Washington, Metamora, Germantown Hills, East Peoria, Eureka, Groveland, and Pekin. Morton is probably my personal favorite on the east side, and Dunlap on the west. Living in Morton you have an excellent location to both Bloomington and Peoria, but yet still have a superb community feel, if that matters to you. I know Morton has some nice "Cape Cod" style apartments, with their own lake and fountains. Feel free to PM me with any other questions that you may have about the area!

[newtopeoria]

Thanks so much for your help! We are going to check the area out this next weekend. Is the area of Spring Bay nice? So far we have some possible places to look at in Peoria Heights, Morton, and Spring Bay. I will ask a few more questions after our weekend visit. Thanks again.

[runninfiend]

Spring Bay is far different from Morton or even the Heights.

Morton is one of the more "upscale" communities in the Peoria area. Expensive homes, good schools, clean, Stepford-like community. Some like this, some don't.

The Heights has filthy rich areas, working class areas, and some in-between. They have a neat little artsy downtown area and close access to the city proper.

Spring Bay is, how should I put this, a river town with real genuine river people. Some would say "river rats" in the derogatory sense, although most Spring Bayians would take that as a compliement. It is a far different vibe from either Morton or P.H. I personally find it a fun place, but property values are much lower, homes are not as "upscale," and the local schools do not have the same repuations, although they do feed in to Metamora High School.

However, if a Mortonesque town is your desire, just go up the hill from Spring Bay to Germantown Hills, and you may find another area you'd want to consider.

[timjoe48]

an excellent characterization of morton!..one of the most whitebread, homogenized, conservative, boring places in america...that said, it's also the kind of community where you can walk around safely at night.

Originally Posted by runninfiend

Morton ... Stepford-like community.

[mbirds]

You should look into the Metamora Germatown Hills area. We own rental property there and there are always signs up on Route 116 with places available. Rent can run from $650.00 to over $1000 in the area depending on what you need and want.

Originally Posted by newtopeoria

We are moving to Peoria at the end of Jan. 2008. My wife is excited about starting her new job at a local hospital. I enjoyed reading all the posts and threads on Peoria from the last few years but am still hoping for the inside scoop on where to find a rental and go to college.

We are hoping to find a duplex or small house in a safe area that would cost between 600-750/ month. I noticed from the Peoria crime stats that crime seems to drop off on the north side of Peoria. Is the north side dramatically safer or do you recommend living in one of the neighboring towns instead?

I am hoping to go back to college but realize I may have to drive to Normal to Illinois State because I already have my two years in. Is the only college option the private expensive Bradley and the Medical College? I have heard University of Illinois has a great online degree program. Anyone had success with that?

Thanks for your time!

[BUalumni]

Originally Posted by timjoe48

an excellent characterization of morton!..one of the most whitebread, homogenized, conservative, boring places in america...that said, it's also the kind of community where you can walk around safely at night.

Morton is an excellent town, and when you really stop and take a good look, it represents everything that is central Illinois without any of the negatives. It is one of the cleanest towns I have ever seen, coupled with excellent schools, nice parks, and close access to everything in the area. I have seen a much more diverse population in Morton than I have seen in towns like Washington and Pekin, so I don't quite follow the "whitebread" theme. Sure, Morton might not have some of the commercial and entertainment opportunities that can be found in Peoria and Bloomington, but then again, it is smaller then both of those places. I would much rather have homogenized, and be able to take a midnight jog, then not.

[sandiegomama]

I too am wondering where to live in the Peoria area. I'm a stay-at-home mom with a 3 yr old and a 9 mo old, and my husband will be working in Peoria. I'm reading in these posts that some neighborhoods are good and bad just like in the rest of the country, so I'm hoping for some specifics. We moved from San Diego, CA to Rolla, Mo about a year and a half ago, now we're moving to Peoria next month. A lot of the rental houses in our price range (3 bed house for $800 or less) are in an area that's north-east of the 74, west of Peoria lake, and south of E. War Memorial Dr. Is that area okay or is it a bad neighborhood? If you can't tell me about those areas can you tell me specifically what neighborhoods, streets, or areas to stay away from? Thanks a lot...we're kind of going into this move blindly.

[runninfiend]

Originally Posted by sandiegomama

are in an area that's north-east of the 74, west of Peoria lake, and south of E. War Memorial Dr. Is that area okay or is it a bad neighborhood? If you can't tell me about those areas can you tell me specifically what neighborhoods, streets, or areas to stay away from? Thanks a lot...we're kind of going into this move blindly.

It's a bit hard to pinpoint where you're talking about. If you're referring to the area north of downtown, those are the Merry-go-Round and further north, the Averyville neighborhoods. I personally would stay away, particularly to that section just north, Madison and Monroe St. areas. Averyville is a working class neighborhood that I personally think has become less safe than it used to be.

Those neighborhoods are now marginal.

Also, definitely stay away from the area between McClure and Nebraska and Prospect and Sheridan, and even the streets north of there almost all the way to War have declined in recent years.

You're better off looking north of War Drive or somewhere over by Peoria Heights. In my opinion, of course.