PEORIA: advice needed

[jasperhobbs]

Originally Posted by Wendy54321

Are you from Peoria, Jasper?

No I am not but I am sure you can find a good place to live. Might have to commute a bit though from a smaller nearby town.

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Originally Posted by jasperhobbs

I would say if the job is a good move, then you can find a good place to live.

I agree completely, "Peoria" is pretty spread out, and there are some high-end, lower-crime neighborhoods within it. Where do you think the doctors, lawyers, business owners, etc. live? Ride their coattails and move near them, if you cannot afford to live among them. Personally,, I've only driven through one truly "run down" area of Peoria, I'd say it is located between the Peoria Zoo and the Peoria High School, although I've heard the area farther west of there is rough as well. Even then, it wasn't on par with what I consider "rough" in Chicago, I wasn't afraid of getting shot driving around the side streets. I was surprised, though, that the "Downtown" area is not nearly as busy as I'd thought it would be (although it was on a weekend last time I was there).

A friend held a wake for a relative at a small church a stone's throw from the Peoria High School, and I never felt unsafe attending, I think that for the most part, people of different races get along better in Peoria than in Chicago, it's more like "The South". I've spent a lot of time in East Peoria, Pekin, Creve Couer, Peoria Heights, Washington, etc., and to be honest, I like it better there than near Chicago - less traffic, less time to get rural if you want, the river is more accessible than Lake Michigan, etc.. They've currently got the I-74 bridge closed for a re-do, it's a very extensive (and expensive) project, the Feds are probably paying much or all for it because it's an interstate highway.

There's a "wildlife refuge" maybe fifteen or twenty miles west of Peoria that I really enjoyed visiting, I learned how valuable a chain link fence between you and a badger can be, even if you're not picking a fight with it

[illini1959]

I work at Bradley and while there are some really gorgeous older homes in the area, I wouldn't move to those neighborhoods (sadly).

BU police and Peoria police both patrol the area but I still just wouldn't purchase a home there.

As someone already said, Moss Ave is nice. That might be the exception (there are actually a few homes for sale there).

There are still a lot of good things here, good areas, good people of all races. People are working hard to bring the Warehouse District back to life.

Good luck!

[Master Jay]

At my hotel in Libertyville the car next to me had Peoria, on its bumper. I thought of this post

You all have a great and gorgeous weekend!!

[STLCityMike]

I think the interpretation of crime is relative and should not be determined by stats. People make day to day choices and some of them can include use of street smarts. Peoria is NOT Chicago, St. Louis or other major US cities that are struggling with crime. I have been there several time and while they have older areas it is very typical of the US mentality to judge an area by how it looks (old = poor = crime). I am sure there is crime, but I would suspect that - like other US cities - the majority of the crime is targeted and between people who are associated with each other.

I HOPE Peoria makes the right choices to get this under control. I always thought it was a great little city, and offers the most geographical beauty of the Central Illinois areas (Springfield, Champaign / Urbana, Bloomington / Normal, Decatur etc).

[Wendy54321]

Peoria seems to be at a crossroads. High development in some places and yet persistent academic underachievement, crime, and unemployment in others.