Tell me about Peoria

[Maintainschaos]

Peoria is alright. It's definitely the most topographically interesting area of central Illinois, and it also feels the most metropolitan when you're downtown, but it gets rural quickly. Plenty of hiking/hunting/fishing opportunities in the area. Not really anything like Chicago, but definitely more like the rest of the Midwest.

[BethMac]

I lived in Peoria for six years and was very glad to go. I am a big nature lover, so loved that aspect (lots of parks, etc..). The problem is it can be hard to meet and make friends there. Locals don't tend to care for outsiders too much. It's usually easier to make friends with transplants.
The is a strong cancel culture in Peoria that I find very toxic. I've written other posts about it if you care to check them out. I've moved many different places and I found Peoria the most difficult in terms of people. There are some wonderful people, of course, it's just there are many that are very critical and to stonewall you. Since I've moved, I've not experienced that once where I'm at now nor had I in the area I lived prior.

It wasn't just me; I saw many people get treated poorly (e.g. fired). I know it sounds exaggerated, but there really is a problem here. My only suggestion is to rent for at least 3 years before committing to buy.

I'm not saying it's impossible that he'll enjoy it, you never know if he'd meet a crowd that he gets along great with. I'm just saying that it can be a hard place to live due to some of the people.

[BethMac]

p.s. To clarify my previous post, I wasn't fired in Peoria. I just saw many people that were, and it went along with the cancel culture. I mentioned this to someone that moved there and they kind of scoffed at it. I didn't blame them because I knew it sounded crazy and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. A couple years later their spouse was fired from the job they came to Peoria for and, like many I saw, stuck in Peoria because they bought a house. I saw some people stuck for years because they had come, bought a house, then got fired. They had a hard time selling their properties.

I just think it's important to understand that the native Peorians that don't move after high school (many do), often do because they have a large network of friends and family. This is great for them, but hard to break into, and (I think) is the source of the cancel culture. The large networks result in a kind of unbalanced and unhealthy social power resulting in people, even natives, being guarded because they are afraid of being cancelled. It also gives certain types of people a power trip resulting in them being overly critical and cancelling for the slightest "offense".

Our experience there was bad enough that my family (including kids) actually get upset if I mention Peoria.

[Rabflmom]

My take on this is there are a lot of negatives being thrown out who forgot what it is like to be in their 20s starting out from scratch. Peoria is a college town and he is not too old for some of the college crowd for bars and clubs to meet people. Grad students and even young professors could become friends . He will meet people from work. He can take classes, join clubs, go to church, volunteer etc. and he will meet people with same interests. Even living in an apartment almost guarantees that there will be a younger group of people living there. Peoria is also close enough to head to the suburbs and Chicago to see friends and go to sports games etc.

My other thought is if a person is bored in an area and doesn't find friends no matter where they live maybe it is not the area you live in but maybe something lacking in you. Geesh, I started my teaching career living in Kankakee and teaching in a town of 1000 people 40 miles away and still have loads of friends from that area. But also starting somewhere never means you have to finish there. Let him go out and explore and make choices on his own now, after all he is a college graduate.

[Kmanshouse]

Well, he didn't end up getting the job, unfortunately. So I guess I no longer have any reason to need to know anything about the place. LOL