I'm thinking about moving to Springfield from Northern Illinois (Chicago: real estate, houses)

[crazy4snoopygal]

I am thinking about moving my family from the Chicagoland area to the outlying areas of Springfield. What and where are the "nicer" areas outside of town? Looking at a home with a Sprinfield address but has Athens School Dist. is this a nice, clean, safe & friendly place to raise small children? My spouse is a union Plumber, is there work for him in the Springfield area? What about shopping malls or major department stores?

[AnonymousCoward]

There are a lot of areas in and around Springfield that fit the description of a "nice, clean, safe & friendly place to raise small children" and the area near Athens certainly fits. It is relatively convenient as well, from there it is a short drive to downtown, the airport and shopping on the west side. Overall, I would describe it more as rural than upscale. From what people tell me the schools there are good. You might also want to consider either Sherman or Williamsville which are just to the east and have schools with an even better reputation. Yes, to the surprise of some, and the mockery of others, there is a elementary school in Sherman. Rochester is another suburb with excellent schools and a good reputation. Someday, if Rochester ends prohibition, you might even be able to buy a beer there

I believe the nicest parts of Springfield in general are the west, north and south sides of town as well as the rapidly improving downtown. The west side is growing, tends to be more white collar and is where most of the shopping is located. Most of the chain stores you are familiar with are there. The shopping areas on the west side reminds me of the shopping areas in most cities I have lived in, and has a mid sized shopping mall and all the familiar stores like Best Buy, Lowes, etc. Meijers offers a nice alternative to Wal-mart. Conspicuously missing are Home Depot and Costco. The north end is also nice, also growing, and tends to be more working class than other parts of the city. There is a Lowes and a Super Wal-Mart, but shopping choices are far more limited on the north end than they are on the west side. The area near Lake Springfield is also very nice. Property on the "lake" (it's really a flowage) is very expensive.

Unfortunately, the east side of town needs some work. I doubt it will improve until people agree that there are problems in that part of the city with crime, poverty, substandard housing, and poor infrastructure. Far too many people here are convinced that it "isn't that bad" or "it's worse in Decatur" or some other excuse to tell people to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" and not actually teach them to fish as the parable goes. Still, for the first time in a long time, I see some movement toward recognition of the problems that exist here, and a willingness to actually work with government and charitable organizations to begin to fix some of those problems. For a city with a history that this one has, I'd say it's about time.

Work in the trades tends to be up and down, but I don't think union plumbers have much to worry about.

[AnimalLover]

As a real estate agent, I can tell you most popular school districts in the Springfield area are Chatham, Rochester, Sherman/Williamsville. Riverton has a year-round schedule which seems to be a definite plus or definite no-go, depending on the parent's work situation. Springfield has a very popular elementary school - Vachel Lindsay - on the west side.

10 years ago we were going to build in the Athens district but changed our minds and moved to Chatham after looking at some stats of available advanced classes and % of graduates that went on to college. That may have changed by now. You can start here: http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/default.htm (broken link)

to find information on specific schools.

And... this just in....Rochester voted to end prohibition yesterday!

[aka pkp]

I have to mention the Pleasant Plains Area. I have a Springfield Address, but we're in Pleasant Plains school district. We have all the convienience of living in the city, but an excellent small town school. Houses tend to be higher, as this area has been booming with new construction, but there are older subdivisions with "middle class" price ranges. As for jobs, other than healthcare, I think the economy is pretty tight right now.

[anntadair]

Hi everyone,

Where in the Chicagoland area are you moving from?

I am moving from McHenry,Il to Chatham in July. We rented a duplex and I was excited, but some of the posts on Chatham have me worried. Eveyone I met seemed nice.

Have you chosen a place to live yet?