Peoria, IL place to live (Chicago, Rockford: fit in, to rent, new home)

[fourboys]

Possibly accepting position in Peoria, IL. Decent income. Stay at home Mom with four boys ages 3 to 9 yo. School system, safety, youngish neighbors, space are priorities. Also, we would build if there is available land to purchase, but where? What side of downtown or the river?

Also, how is the health care system?

Thanks

[tito]

I would suggest the North-West side of town, where some new, nice and safe neighborhoods are located, you can also look at two suburban towns, Morton and Dunlap. Peoria Heights on the North East side of town, is also very nice. I have moved around a lot and I have learned the hard way that the best way to approach to a relocation, is to rent for a few months before committing yourself to any particular area of town. You need some time to look around by yourself, because everybody has different tastes and priorities.

[JerichoHW]

Originally Posted by fourboys

Possibly accepting position in Peoria, IL. Decent income. Stay at home Mom with four boys ages 3 to 9 yo. School system, safety, youngish neighbors, space are priorities. Also, we would build if there is available land to purchase, but where? What side of downtown or the river?

Also, how is the health care system?

Thanks

Avoid the city if I were you. Try Morton for ample land and A+ School District or the Dunlap area.

[hnagle]

Yes, Morton or Dunlap are good areas. I am a mother of four in the Peoria area who stumbled upon your question on this site. I live by the northwoods mall here. I am currently doing research for my business plan on this site for a business to be opened in Peoria County. District 150 in Peoria IL is financially struggling heavily. Some schools I would never step my kids into, the others are alright. However, there is Peoria Academy and religious public schools you can pay a pretty penny for like Notre Dame High or Peoria Academy. Sports are very popular here for your boys. Bradley University and Illinois Central College is here. ICC (community college) has great scholarship programs for graduating District 150 students, everyone is eligible in dist. 150 to have their way paid in full or based on percentage of time in dist. 150. Bradley is a very high profile university and highyl respected (expensive). If you are African American or Latino I do not reccomend Morton or Dunlap. Work it out in Peoria where there is more acceptance. Any questions why just ask. I am white my husband is black ( he happens to be a very popular radio personality in the area). If you are white there are many small surrounding towns with land to built on that have great schools for your boys. Any questions at all just ask. There is great opportunity here for anyone, just fit in where you fit in. There are three great hospitals here in Peoria who are staying on the cutting edge. The healthcare/medical industry is booming here. They are building quite a bit of downtown Peoria around the hospitals. There is land in Peoria. All of the discreet suburbs around the edges of Peoria are really nice. Peoria is a quickly growing area.

[linicx]

First of all, how far do you want to drive to work in the winter? The next question is do you want a place where you have a lot of family activities all year. If your answer to the later question is yes, then you want to live in Peoria and I'll tell you why. Peoria is culturally and racially diverse as is the religous community. It makes no difference whether you go to AME, Catholic church, jewish temple. Federealistc Church, mainsteam Christian churches, Ba'hai or Greek Orthodox churchl Peoria has it. It is also offers performing arts, juried arts, amphitheater, upscale shopping and dining, downtown BBQ, a bakery to die for, riverfront complex, Civic Center, semi-pro sports or the regional state fair. The Peoria Park District has 60+ parks that offer zao, botanical garden, tennis courts, softball diamonds, swimming, ice skating, observatory, 7 golf courses, hiking, picnic areas, courses you can enrool in or teach, a marina, hunting, and five bridges across the river. There are two malls and 10 schopping centers, most of the national box stores, Walmart and Sam's Club..

If you want to live in Peoria, the only public high school is Richwoods on Unversity and Northmore. Right across from the school and fair grounds is Rolling Acres. It is a very nice subdivision that is affordable. Peoria Heights is also a very nice araa to live. in fact any place NORTH of US 150, an east west highway. is a good location. the private schools are pricey. Peoria has private schools for the gifted and no so gifted. A private university and a public college. On the practical side it has three hospitals. Proctor is closest to Rolling Acres. There is also a medical school downtown. City bus, Trailways bus, city cabs. But if you want to take a train you have to drive 60 miles. There are 4 bowling alleys, Sun Foundation summer art camp for kids, etc..

Np other town in central Illinois offers so much. The next closest hospital is at Pekin or Eureka, Canton and Havana in Mason County. There are other regional events, but not as many family events.

It is very unlikely you will find cheap land or cheap taxes in Peoria County unless you look around Pottstown. Maybe. Fulton County has good taxes, but, it is 40 miles on a two lane road from Peoria, and there is nothing to do in Fulton County. Its a farm town. I wuld not raise chilren in Pekin or Canton. Peoria is still progressive. It is reinventing itself as I write this as the manufacturing base is all but gone. I think you can find a suitable home without expending $150 sqft turn keyfor a new home (plus land). If you want out in the city where horses graze look between Farmington and Hanna City. Tne drive into Peoria isnt he best, but it is not by far the worst. ' .

[peoriashows]

Originally Posted by JerichoHW

Avoid the city if I were you. Try Morton for ample land and A+ School District or the Dunlap area.

This is part of the reason District 150 is struggling so much. People keep getting discouraged from giving it a chance. The school system will never recover if people keep fixing the problem by running away from it.

[linicx]

The problem with the school district is not the city. The OP wants space to build. Tazewell County taxes are as obnoxious as Peoria. Fulton County taxes are lower, but there is little for school age children to do in a little farm town with no park system. All of the "big" area events - which includes national acts and the regional state fair - except Spoon River Drive, Pekin Marigold Festival and the Festival of Lights are in Peoria. Plus Peoria has the largest park district outside of Chicago. If you want to go to the planetarium, amphitheater, or go to a sports event you go to Peoria.

If is much easier to move a farm family to the city than it is to move a city family to farm country.

[Chicago_Illini_26]

I have family in Peoria and I agree that it is not the city that is causing the schools to be a bit ... well, let's just say it: "diverse." Richwoods is pretty affluent and is a pretty good school. Central, Woodruff and especially Manual are just a little rough. I am not racist and I would like to see these schools succeed, but just to tell you the truth, I would only send my kids to Richwoods or Peoria Notre Dame (the Catholic school - very pricey). Peoria is a very segregated town. The downtown is beautiful and very clean and nice, but if you go just down the hill you'll find a lot of poverty. A lot of areas in town are pretty diverse and quite frankly scary to be in, but some areas are really nice. You can pass the projects and Grand View Drive (the nicest homes ever, might I add) in a ten minute drive. Most of the suburbs are very nice.

I think you'll like Peoria. There is a lot to do including two great malls, good movie theatres, theatre, sports, you name it. Peoria is a pretty big area (the fourth biggest touching down in the state after Chicago, St. Louis and the Quad Cities), so there are going to be things to do. So move into a nice neighborhood (in your price range, of course) and you'll love it.

And if you'll be getting the newspaper, you better get used to Illini and Bradley sports!

[linicx]

Actually, Peoria is the oldest settlement on the Illinois River and the largest City on the river. The population of the ten largest cities in Illinois in 2005 were Chicago, Aurora, Rockford, Naperville, Joliet, Peoria, Springfield, Elgin, Waukegan and Cicero. However in terms of Metro Statistical Area population data Peoria is the third largest in the state following Chicago and Metro-East, Illinois

It is a common error to confuse the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Labor Division statistics compiled from census data to define pockets of labor that often cross state lines with statistics of individual states. The Quad Cities population data was compiled from the most recent census of Rock Island and Henry Counties in Illinoid and Scott County in Iowa. It was used to update statistical information for the Quad-Cities MSA. .

MSAs that are drawn across state lines often find residents live in one state but work or shop in the other. This is especially true of the IL-IN-WI MSA that includes the City of Chicago. .

[katiem8]

I grew up in Morton, went to Bradley, and have taught in district 150 for 2 years. Do not send your kids to Peoria schools. Richwoods is nicer than the other high schools but I wouldn't call it affluent. They reorganized the most ghetto (fence around the school had barbed wire around the top like a prison) high school and are closing another ghetto, very gang ridden high school in May so all those kids get to go to the other high schools so ANY public school has kids from the ghetto and gangs now. Some of the private schools are pretty good though. or Morton or Dunlap for sure. Morton is an easy commute to most places in Peoria b/c of the intersate (like 20 min tops). Dunlap can suck driving all the way through Peoria at rush hour. Morton actually has two private grade schools (k-8) that are great. (Catholic & Lutheran if you are ok with that) Morton is a town that kids can play in the neighborhood any time of the day or night and be fine. If i were to have children and live in this area my kids would go to Morton schools or private schools. Best of luck.