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I'm moving to Illinois. Advice?
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Well lets see. The politics are terrible right now. I don't think we've had a budget in two years at least. People in general are more conservative than they would be I Oregon I'd imagine. Just don't go south of Champaign-Urbana and you should be fine.
Winters are brutal. Probably much worse than your used to. I highly suggest getting coats, winter boots, gloves, hats, scarfs etc asap. Might also want to check your tires and get new ones if its been a while. Nothing is worse than having your tires crap out on you in -20 degree weather (I talk from experience trust me it sucks). Also buy really good wiper blades and an ice scraper. These will become invaluable in the winter. If you end up getting a house, I'd suggest getting a really good shovel or snowplower for the snow. Summers aren't that bad, just muggy as all hell.
There are some nice cities. Like Chicago is really nice. Great museum and zoo and a great downtown and its pretty easy to get around. Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana, and Peoria are decent cities as well. If you get time, I'd highly suggest going to Gelena in the fall. Its a great town where there are a ton of little shops and they usually get pretty into the fall season by decorating downtown. And they have wonderful little festivals you can go to if you have a free weekend. Definitely worth a visit.
If your into fishing there are some great places you can fish at. People most fish for bass and catfish.
People are polite here for the most part. So you won't have to worry about people saying anything rude. At least not to your face.
Its not a bad place to live honestly. Cost of living is pretty good. Spring and Fall are beautiful, they just don't last that long. Great places to visit, good fishing. Most people are nice. Its a nice place to live. Welcome to Illinois.
Winters are brutal. Probably much worse than your used to. I highly suggest getting coats, winter boots, gloves, hats, scarfs etc asap. Might also want to check your tires and get new ones if its been a while. Nothing is worse than having your tires crap out on you in -20 degree weather (I talk from experience trust me it sucks). Also buy really good wiper blades and an ice scraper. These will become invaluable in the winter. If you end up getting a house, I'd suggest getting a really good shovel or snowplower for the snow. Summers aren't that bad, just muggy as all hell.
There are some nice cities. Like Chicago is really nice. Great museum and zoo and a great downtown and its pretty easy to get around. Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana, and Peoria are decent cities as well. If you get time, I'd highly suggest going to Gelena in the fall. Its a great town where there are a ton of little shops and they usually get pretty into the fall season by decorating downtown. And they have wonderful little festivals you can go to if you have a free weekend. Definitely worth a visit.
If your into fishing there are some great places you can fish at. People most fish for bass and catfish.
People are polite here for the most part. So you won't have to worry about people saying anything rude. At least not to your face.
Its not a bad place to live honestly. Cost of living is pretty good. Spring and Fall are beautiful, they just don't last that long. Great places to visit, good fishing. Most people are nice. Its a nice place to live. Welcome to Illinois.
Talonz
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I live around the area and it's known as the Illinois Valley. It's a pretty safe community that doesn't have much crime. You can go for a walk at night and you won't get mugged. People are pretty friendly and the schools are generally pretty good, imho. People are generally nice around here.
Like others have said we have the typical Summers/Winters in Illinois. The area is pretty centrally located to the bigger cities. Bloomington, Peoria, Oswego(nice shopping area of big box stores)/Naperville are an hour drive away while Chicago is a 90 minute drive.
Like others have said we have the typical Summers/Winters in Illinois. The area is pretty centrally located to the bigger cities. Bloomington, Peoria, Oswego(nice shopping area of big box stores)/Naperville are an hour drive away while Chicago is a 90 minute drive.
acheron_xl
Member
Great thunderstorms in central Ill. You will likely see a tornado warning at one point.
You are some ways away from Naperville, which supposedly is a decent city to live.
Sales taxes are high and are on everything.
Winters are brutal (6 months at least). First snow / cold drop usually by Thanksgiving.
Buy some warm clothes + jackets. Seen many people wear North Face clothing.
Flat. This state is very bike-able although when it gets cold, you're not going to want to bike.
If you go North, you'll find your Japanese (Arlington Heights) + Korean food markets.
People tend to be nicer than the West coast dwellers especially better than Californians.
Sales taxes are high and are on everything.
Winters are brutal (6 months at least). First snow / cold drop usually by Thanksgiving.
Buy some warm clothes + jackets. Seen many people wear North Face clothing.
Flat. This state is very bike-able although when it gets cold, you're not going to want to bike.
If you go North, you'll find your Japanese (Arlington Heights) + Korean food markets.
People tend to be nicer than the West coast dwellers especially better than Californians.
LOL, c'mon it's not that bad. Late November through February, starts getting better in March, and sometimes a bit of snow in April. It can easily be 2-3 months of brutal winter.
What really sucks about around here is the winters are long and cold, the summers and long and hot and humid, and spring and fall are really nice for just a few weeks it seems.
As someone who lived in Illinois (Rockford and Peoria) for 18 years:
You're super close to Starved Rock which is AMAZING. You're very lucky and should take advantage of that. Absolutely gorgeous park packed with wonderful nature and tons of activities.
You're in both a good and part of the state. You're far enough away from places like Urbana, Chicago, and Rockford that you miss out of some of the businesses, entertainment, restaurants, etc from those areas but you're also not surrounded by thousands of people (and often shitty people).
Winters get cold but they're not the frigid wastelands of northern Minnesota (where I lived for 6 years).
Also, hope you like corn fields and toll roads.
Overall, it's pretty nice. I moved just one state over (Indiana) three years ago and jesusiwanttogoback.
You're super close to Starved Rock which is AMAZING. You're very lucky and should take advantage of that. Absolutely gorgeous park packed with wonderful nature and tons of activities.
You're in both a good and part of the state. You're far enough away from places like Urbana, Chicago, and Rockford that you miss out of some of the businesses, entertainment, restaurants, etc from those areas but you're also not surrounded by thousands of people (and often shitty people).
Winters get cold but they're not the frigid wastelands of northern Minnesota (where I lived for 6 years).
Also, hope you like corn fields and toll roads.
Overall, it's pretty nice. I moved just one state over (Indiana) three years ago and jesusiwanttogoback.
Maybe my memory is fuzzy. Spring always was just a few weeks, which is why some outsiders always say Illinois people are bitter since summer is around the corner. At least summer is always flip flop weather.
Falling leaves is always a welcoming sight to see in the Fall although it litters the streets.
Right. Waking up to the grey sky every morning really puts a damper on your mood.
Oh the awful snow. First you welcome it, but once you see it every day and watch it turn from white to muddy, then you learn to hate it, especially when it melts and then refreezes again.
When people joke about Republicans being corrupt, the Dems from Illinois have it on lock down for the past 50 years. Everything from the police force to construction is ridiculous.
It is the number 1 state in the country for tolls and number 2 for construction. So from about April to Oct is driving hell. The drivers are highly passive aggressive. It's not about speed as much as it is about being the current fastest on the road.
You will experience all four seasons in a day come Spring. Where it will snow in the morning while you'll be stripping down by night.
It is the number 1 state in the country for tolls and number 2 for construction. So from about April to Oct is driving hell. The drivers are highly passive aggressive. It's not about speed as much as it is about being the current fastest on the road.
You will experience all four seasons in a day come Spring. Where it will snow in the morning while you'll be stripping down by night.
Columbia River Gorge area. But I grew up in a desert Plains area so I'm used to flat. I'll miss the views here though
Oh yeah, this especially. It's close to almost being a guarantee that you'll face construction of some sort if you go on a commute that's over an hour. I don't know about passive aggressive drivers though. Having lived in Napverville for 5 years it has some of the shittest drivers I've ever seen but every else seems perfectly average.
Barrel Cannon
Member
Avoid visiting Gary
Until you talk about sports.
Talonz
Member
The area the OP is moving too has a ton of great restaurants especially for Pizza and Fried Chicken. The retail area of Peru is pretty decent.
Incandenza
Banned
If you visit Champaign-Urbana, go eat at Black Dog.
That's all I got, really.
That's all I got, really.
acheron_xl
Member
And it looks like Peru has a Steak and Shake and a Culver's, so you're in luck there, too.
RumblingRosco
Member
And on the way out of town, grab Monical's pizza or Papa Del's pizza.
OP, keep in mind that everyone that lives in or near a Chicago suburb will tell you that they live in "Chicago" or "the city" even if they're an hour drive away. They also think anything in the lower 80% of the state is "Southern Illinois" for whatever reason. If you plan to visit Chicago, you can be very safe, but you need to be in the right parts of Chicago: as a non-all-inclusive rule, the south and west sides tend to be not as safe as the north side. Obviously, other common sense aspects should be utilized as well: stay in groups, avoid being out late, etc.
This meme is highly accurate.
I didn't imagine so many gaffers live in Illinois. You guys are awesome, I'm very much looking forward to exploring that state Park.
Now to just live through the '2 months to 2 years' time while the husband finds a house lol
Its really really weird basically living like a single mom after 16 years of marriage
Now to just live through the '2 months to 2 years' time while the husband finds a house lol
Its really really weird basically living like a single mom after 16 years of marriage
Was raised in Chicago, confirmed accurate.
theepicoftyler
Member
I'd stress that you should ignore all of the "I'm sorry" type posts in this thread. There are a lot worse places to live in the US than Illinois.
All things considered, you're moving to one of the better parts of the state. Southern Illinois is where things are really kind of sparse. Even then, Shawnee National Forest in S. Illinois is great. Highly recommended for a weekend vacation.
Similarly, for road trip fun vacations: Devil's Lake State Park in Wisconsin, St. Francois Mountains in Missouri... All of these places are short road trips and really fun places to visit and spend a weekend.
We have a really nice motor home (an old guy sold it to us for a steal because his wife passed and he didn't want it anymore, 5k for a 20k motorhome) so that's going to be awesome. I really enjoy nature and such. And with the flat areas I'll likely be able to get out and walk or bike more. The hills here make it hard on me since I'm disabled.
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