Illinois advice (Chicago, Peoria, Springfield: bankrupt, to live in, prices)

[probablyimnotsure]

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

This. ^ Especially coming from Texas. Home and land prices here may be going up due to demand, but Illinois will tax every breath you take, every move you make. Don't get me wrong, I actually loved living in Illinois (McHenry), but the COL differences cannot be ignored. Just about any other Midwestern state is going to offer everything Illinois can at a lower COL, unless you really want to be near Chicago for all the city has to offer.

I like the reference of "The Police" you put in there haha.

[linicx]

Kiplinger gets his information just like Forbes. Neither lives in Illinois. I would be willing to bet they never spent a night in Illinois outside of Chicago.

I would not pay a lot of attention to it since the *facts* are not entirely accurate.

Originally Posted by Beachgoer44

Kiplingers interactive tax map

The Kiplinger Tax Map: Guide to State Income Taxes, State Sales Taxes, Gas Taxes, Sin Taxes-Kiplinger

[linicx]

No. I don't work for the state, I've lived many places in the US, I've traveled frequently in North America, and I've done a lot of research. I question the statement thousands upon thousands left the state to better their lives. I don't pay a lot of attention to movers, either.

Let me ask you a question. Of the thousands who left.. How many moved from their home to a retirement of nursing home? How many moved in with their parents or children? How many died? How many moved from county to city?

Illinois is not Montana. It is a very fluid state. A lot of your prognosticators are using Chicago/Cook County data that does not apply to the rest of the state. For every one who moves you'll see threads from someone moving in. If you do a search you'll find a lot of threads of moving out of Illinois. Yet the population does not fluxuate greatly between census.

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

Do you work for the state of Illinois in public relations? Because you always seem to know something that the thousands upon thousands who left the state for better lives - never to return - didn't.

[moderngnome]

Originally Posted by linicx

No. I don't work for the state, I've lived many places in the US, I've traveled frequently in North America, and I've done a lot of research. I question the statement thousands upon thousands left the state to better their lives. I don't pay a lot of attention to movers, either.

Let me ask you a question. Of the thousands who left.. How many moved from their home to a retirement of nursing home? How many moved in with their parents or children? How many died? How many moved from county to city?

Illinois is not Montana. It is a very fluid state. A lot of your prognosticators are using Chicago/Cook County data that does not apply to the rest of the state. For every one who moves you'll see threads from someone moving in. If you do a search you'll find a lot of threads of moving out of Illinois. Yet the population does not fluxuate greatly between census.

Wow. Where is your data?

More people moving out of Illinois than most other states | WQAD.com

Why Are People Fleeing Illinois? Three Personal Stories « CBS Chicago

Goodbye, Illinois: Residents are leaving for other states - Chicago Tribune

More people moved away from Illinois last year than any other state

This article (above) even points out that, "Overall, across Illinois, more counties dipped in population than gained. Metro areas with the highest unemployment rate, like Decatur, Danville, Kankakee and Rockford, also saw the highest population decrease for the state."

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/press...icy-institute/
This article's data takes into account people that moved into Illinois.

[moderngnome]

Originally Posted by jodisunshine

Hi. I am hoping to relocate to Illinois in the next few months. We have visited the state several times in the past few years. I am able to transfer with my employer to Champaign, Springfield and 6 suburban areas around Chicago. I plan to come first and get settled and within a year my mom, who is 63 plans to come too. We currently live near Austin, Texas and are wanting to buy a modest home on 4-10 acres fairly close to a location I am able to transfer. Land and homes have skyrocketed and we both like the feel of Illinois. We have explored most states in the southeast and are seriously considering Illinois. We don't think we want to be in a Chicago suburb since we want a small farm. Does anyone know of nice areas near Champaign or Springfield? I would like to open a small dogdaycare-kennel. Mom plans to retire and work in a school. We enjoy walking, bike riding, horses, dogs, welcoming churches, gardening, movies, and maybe seeing a local baseball or basketball game (pretty laidback, normal things). Mom is from a large farm in North Dakota her grandparents homesteaded and I was born in Pennsylvania so we haven't spent our entire lives in Texas and understand winters can be brutal in the Midwest. Any honest advice on places you would recommend or discourage would be greatly appreciated. :-) THANKS for your time.

I would consider other states.

Illinois is in a world of hurt financially:

Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition | Mercatus Note, we're ranked dead last on this one.

This is a long article, but it sort of explains all the wrong doing over many, many years that helped get us into this mess:

The Illinois pension disaster - Crain's Chicago Business

I would be out of here in a heartbeat, given the opportunity.

[Maintainschaos]

I'd look into some of the small towns around Springfield: maybe Rochester, Sherman, Chatham, or even Petersburg. Low COL, housing costs are very affordable, pretty steady and low unemployment, an expanding medical sector, etc. Lots of land for sale in that area.

[linicx]

United Van Lines, and CNN Money the source of the Quad Cities article has been singing the same old broken song about moving from IL based on moves from Chicago every year for ever... it still is.

Crooked Chicago politics, Chicago pension woes, and the pockets of unemployment around Chicago like Rockford and Kankakee are always easy fodder. Decatur and Danville had money problems for years long before 2007. What you cite is nothing new and exciting; we've seen it before, and I've lived it before. Are you old enough to remember the peanut farmer? .

Living in the county is always cheaper as you are not paying for city services. The farther you move from Chicago and the closer you move to Southern Illinois the cheaper the property and property taxes. This is because half of the state population is stuffed into the second largest county in America, and most residents do not want to live in isolated farm towns.

The overly broad statement that people move out of an area if they cannot find a job is asinine. Of course they move. It is a natural reaction to wanting to eat and find shelter. You do what you have to do to survive.

Since we cannot win all of lifes little wars, we pick our battles. Where we move is one of them. As someone who lived in one of those places where the grass is always greener and everyone is always friendly I gave that up to return to Illinois. Why? The first reason was because everyday living was not any cheaper. It still cost $1200 a year for car insurance. And groceries were 5-8% higher depending upon the county and state. The only difference in weather was winter. Snow and all it was more mild. Another reason I moved was the lack of family activities year round, small or no parks, and no large bodies of water nearby. The nearest large body of water was an hour away. The lake had over 66000 surface acres of water. It was like a mini Green Bay.

The reason we moved back was medical care. Until you face years of critical medical issues you are not able to appreciate the quality of medical care in Illinois as opposed to some other places. I moved to an isolated little town in the middle of thousands of acres of cornfields and forests for the less than 100 bed hospital that observes the best practices in sanitation, patient care, emergency services, safety, and we had a 35 year history. I am less than 5 miles from the largest river in Illinois, but I am also 50 miles from any meaningful shopping. When I filed for tax relief my taxes were lowered well over 50%.

The list is a joke. There is only one real metro area listed; the others are small towns. I submit if Illinois is so-o-o-o-o bad then the Peoria MSA, the B-N MSA, the Springfield MSA and the Champaign MSA would be on the latest hit list, too. It never is.

Originally Posted by moderngnome

". . . Metro areas with the highest unemployment rate, like Decatur, Danville, Kankakee and Rockford. . . "

[Tyryztoll]

I don't agree with many of linicx's takes on the state, but I can't argue with the healthcare quality in Illinois. It was tip top during our time there, and our needs ranged from pediatricians, to orthopedic specialists, to general surgeons. We had access to some rock star physicians.

[linicx]

If you spend over seventy years of quality time in a state, during which you live in it some times, you come to understand a lot about it. I am not a fan of southern Illinois. It is too isolated, too desolate. Life is very different if you want to survive. I've stopped at the Confluence before I drove West through the national forest into MO one day. Illinois offers some of the most beautiful, primitive, natural scenery in America. I lived in Chicago or Cook County three different times. It is not a place I want to live. But for visitors it is a cornucopia of things to do and places to explore. It's a sports mecca. it is a sedate and sensible grandmother that can also be a bit outrageous and quirky at times, too. I've driven around two great lakes. Meh. I liked Canada better. I never had a desire to visit Eastern Illinois past Champaign, or NW Illinois much farther north than the Arsenal, although there was once a very private family nudist camp in an obscure location in that area. The same for Western Illinois. The Mississippi River is where I can access two routes in Iowa and in Missouri from Western Illinois. What happens in Central Illnois may be very different than what happens in the rest of the state. And that is okay too.

From my perch Chicago politicians have ruined the whole state for personal gain for too long. They want the rest of the state to pay for it. You leave. I'm going to stay and watch what happens next.

[froglipz]

Originally Posted by Tyryztoll

Do you work for the state of Illinois in public relations? Because you always seem to know something that the thousands upon thousands who left the state for better lives - never to return - didn't.

They keep it a secret....... shhhhhh