Bloomington, Lincoln, Clinton or Springfield good to move to? (Chicago: crime, how much)

[friday13thx10]

Hello I am curious about what people think of Bloominton, Clinton, Lincoln, and Springfield for a small family to move to...

I'd love insight on each town as my husband and I have discussed potentially moving to one of those towns in a couple years.

Our son would be 6 by the time we think we would want to move so school districts are very important to us.

What are the people like?
Democrats or Republicans?
Coffee and restaurants?
Family oriented?
Hows traffic from Clinton, Springfield or Lincoln to Bloomington?
Safety?
Etc.

Any insights would be appreciated!

[moonpies888]

Bloomington--More republican but diverse. Plenty of coffee and restaurants, alot to do family wise. Traffic can be a hassle. Certain areas of Bloomington are very safe, other areas are not the greatest--do research. Stay away from North Bloomington


Clinton- Republican. Very small town, Not alot to do, but could find a nice open house with plenty of freedom if you choose. No Walmart. Has a SHop N sAVE AND LOCAL IGA for groceries


Lincoln- Small town, republican. Has restaurants and coffee shop. Stuff to do but you really have to research it . Safe town, not much happens, easy access to bloomington, springfield, peoria. You'll basically end up going to wal mart for most of your needs, but does have an Aldi and IGA



Springfield- Unless your rich avoid. Not a safe city, Traffic is awful




I would rank em


1)Lincoln
2) Bloomington
3)Clinton
4)Springfield

[Maintainschaos]

Lived in central IL for years. The only two of those four I would consider would be Bloomington and Springfield—the other two are too small. Bloomington is going to trend a bit younger with the universities there, which pretty strongly dominate next to State Farm. Springfield is a bit more government and medicine in its dominance. Honestly, neither are dramatically different from the two, and both are very family-oriented.

[madpaddy]

Unless you have some compelling personal reason to live in Springfield (own a home there already, have close family and friends there, or spouse/partner's job is there), I can't think of any reason to choose to live there and commute to a job in Bloomington. Bloomington/Normal is roughly the same size, so you can expect a similar number of social, dining, shopping, and entertainment options. Bloomington/Normal skews slightly more affluent (a little above the state average household income compared to ~20% below), younger, and more progressive. I could happily live in either place, but I think I'd prefer Bloomington/Normal.

Clinton is traditional Small Town America; very white, strongly conservative, and struggling a little to remain viable in a world of globalization, urbanization, and big-tech mega-retailers. If you want a bit of a throwback lifestyle for your kids, where their potential social circle is smaller and more constant (likely to have the same set of classmates from grade school through high school), and you can maybe give them a little more autonomy at a younger age (town is pretty much a 2 mile square, and you're likely to know many of the parents of similar aged kids in town within a few years). If you want an environment rich in diversity and cultural opportunities, with a large variety of dining and shopping options, Clinton probably isn't the place for you.

I'm less familiar with Lincoln, but my impression is that it's similar to Clinton, albeit roughly twice the size.

Traffic from either of the smaller towns to Bloomington is pretty much a non-issue. Winter weather conditions, however, can make for some white-knucked drives on occasion.

[UniKidNow]

Originally Posted by friday13thx10

Hello I am curious about what people think of Bloominton, Clinton, Lincoln, and Springfield for a small family to move to...

I'd love insight on each town as my husband and I have discussed potentially moving to one of those towns in a couple years.

Our son would be 6 by the time we think we would want to move so school districts are very important to us.

What are the people like?
Democrats or Republicans?
Coffee and restaurants?
Family oriented?
Hows traffic from Clinton, Springfield or Lincoln to Bloomington?
Safety?
Etc.

Any insights would be appreciated!

I grew up in Clinton, IL. My mom still lives there. It is methville. It is run down and the largest employer (the power plant) is closing down, which will kill the town even worse. The people are dim-witted and insular. I strongly advise against this location. Strongly. Bloomington is allright though. My brother loves there. It's a tiny city, much less crime than Decatur and is generally a decent place. Springfield is a small town that desperately wants to be a big city but is forever trapped in the shadow of Chicago. Good place to make friends though. People are a little more welcoming and quicker to warm up. They are still very cliquish though, so upset one and the rumor mill begins to churn.

[UniKidNow]

I also will say that 51 from Clinton to Bloomington is atrocious. I mean really, really bad!

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

In what town/city can your family earn the best living, or does that not matter? To me, that determines how nice a home you will live in, whether you will be eating out vs. Ramen, how much you'll be able to save for retirement, etc..

I have a friend who lives in or near Shelbyville, he's been down there for almost a decade and loves it - great hunting and fishing, low or no crime, etc.. Pretty conservative part of the state, I believe he goes to Effingham for medical (and probably major shopping).

[Scarbelly]

Bloomington/Normal. Normal probably has better schools. Why make the commute? B/N is more economically diverse than Springfield, which as was said relies on State and medical. And no, Springfield is not an unsafe community, nor do you have to be rich to live there. Want small town, consider living in Lexington, Leroy or El Paso, just outside of B/N.

[bairjohn]

I am retired, and looking to move. The town is ok remember it's B/N or Bloomington/Normal. The cost of living is reasonable, but homes are pricey even fixer uppers, property taxes very high. Services are good, the police, and fire are excellent...(sometimes to good) if you call the police/911 they will send a lot of people.
Normal property is even more expensive, high taxes ALL of them both towns. Education is ok it was better has great parochial schools. Excellent health care tons of shopping, several higher arts including the universities (ISU in Normal, Wesleyan in Bloomington) Then there is Heartland Community College. The hard part here is there is a lot of old money...long term family locals can get anal, and there are a bunch of them.

Politic's in central Illinois are pretty even but lean Republican lately, many independent voters.

Lincoln I was born there, nice little town a bunch of pot heads, but property taxes are good, services respected, it is in my list of places to look for new place.

Clinton avoid at all cost, even pot smokers don't want to live there, very screwed up town.

[aga412]

What about Farmer City or Mahomet?