Need info on Kankakee

[Dolly]

Originally Posted by linicx

I am glad you found a Hobby Lobby and a lovely Inn to spend a couple of days. Don't give up hope yet. It's a buyer's market and employeers are far more likely to hire an experienced person than one that has an arm full of certs and no experience. I would be more concerned if he were fresh out of college with no real life experieces. Don't fprget. they did call hubby for an interview. Depening upon the emplyeer, the application may go through many hands before a final descision is made. Also, because of the economy. employers ara being much more cautious before they hire.

Chin up, kiddo! just think how much fun you'll have exploring the new Hobby Lobby after you get settled in.

Thanks for the encouragement, however, he didn't get the job . . . again . . . sigh . . . Getting an interview isn't a problem, he has had dozens of those in the past few months, getting a job in a very competitive market is the problem. He had an interview today locally for a job that pays $24 thousand a year, no health insurance for three months and vacation only after a year. The first job he had after getting his Master's degree 20 years ago paid more than that and had better benefits. It is just sad in this economy that older workers are being discarded so readily when they have so much to offer. But it is an employer's market and at this point, we would be greatful for any job that he can get. I told him yesterday that if he doesn't get this job, we are going to quit trying as we have gone in the hole with driving to interviews all over the country. We will declare bankuptcy, file for food stamps and apply to deliver pizza and see if we can survive until he is at least eligible for retirement in 7 years.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Dreickx

I've lived 25 miles from Kankakee my whole life, and been there numerous times. Kankakee has a reputation for high crime and much of it is quite dangerous, I know from getting the Kankakee paper for years. I believe there are some fairly nice neighborhoods on the west side, though. Bradley is mostly nicer and Bourbonnais is pretty wealthy. Frankly, I prefer small towns so if I worked at KCC, I'd live in Clifton or Chebanse. Rent will be cheaper and crime is nil. It probably takes about the same amount of time to get to KCC from Clifton as it does from Bourbonnais, it's just a straight shot up 57.

Kankakee is a blue-collar, rust belt town. It had major factory closures in the 80s and has never really recovered fully. Bourbonnais, on the other hand, is mostly upper middle-class. It is a very outlying suburb of Chicago; there are people living there who commute to Chicago and the suburbs.

KCC is in a beautiful location right by the river, though, that's for sure. It's a couple miles outside town, really.

In 2000, the median household income in Bourbenais was lower than Illinois as a whole. In the best ten years, the town has become wealthier and now the median income is a little bit higher than Illinois as a whole. There are still some broke people living in Bourbenais and by no means is it upper middle class.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Dreickx

Kankakee has a reputation for high crime and much of it is quite dangerous

I was just talking to a black girl at a bar in Kankakee last night. She told me her family moved to Kankakee to get away from crime on the south side of Chicago. Ironic!

[sickofit2]

Well, let's see...last night we had 2 shootings, 2 stabbings, a call for shots fired. This week we have had several gang related beatings...one 62 year old local artist and business man beat to death....I think we have 5 or murders already this year. Kankakee is horrible....last night at the shooting in the parking lot where I work. I was talking to an officer that was there he told me, "we do this EVERY night, ALL night and none of it makes the paper!! Ridiculous! I was born and raised here...had moved away for awhile but came back to be with my family..but I am seriously thinking of getting out of here! Oh and btw...don't let the "low crime rate" in Boubonnais fool you either....NONE of the crimes get printed!!

[MN2]

Originally Posted by sickofit2

Well, let's see...last night we had 2 shootings, 2 stabbings, a call for shots fired. This week we have had several gang related beatings...one 62 year old local artist and business man beat to death....I think we have 5 or murders already this year. Kankakee is horrible....last night at the shooting in the parking lot where I work. I was talking to an officer that was there he told me, "we do this EVERY night, ALL night and none of it makes the paper!! Ridiculous! I was born and raised here...had moved away for awhile but came back to be with my family..but I am seriously thinking of getting out of here! Oh and btw...don't let the "low crime rate" in Boubonnais fool you either....NONE of the crimes get printed!!

I grew up in Kankakee in the 1960s, and recently returned after a forty-year absence.
It's unbelievable how Kankakee has deteriorated. Once nice areas such as East Court Street are a disaster. The downtown area is a ghost town. Kankakee has the same depressing look as Flint, Michigan or Akron, Ohio. And it's very unsafe. We were planning to spend a day or so in Kankakee, but after driving around for an hour or so, we left.

Kankakee was always a lower-middle class city, but at least it had a few nice restaurants and stores (such as Alden's). Hard to believe those were the good days of Kankakee.