Joliet?!? (Aurora, Elgin, Plainfield: 2015, waterpark, new house)

[chet everett]

This is too too weird -- RewardExpert's Best Mid-Sized Cities to Visit in 2017

Bring the whole family to Joliet! Joliet has many amusement parks and miniature golf courses that children would love. Additionally, it’s an incredible city for cyclists. Joliet has over 60 miles of biking trails that run through inside and outside the city.

I just hope that if anyone takes the "advice" they are smart enough to realize many of the region trails merely pass through Joliet -- Old Plank Road Trail - Illinois

Preserves & Trails | Joliet Junction Trail

Bullfrog Lake

Miniature golf??? I doubt this is worth more than a 15 minute drive -- Miniature Golf - Haunted Trails Joliet

[deeman7]

Never thought of Joliet on the same level as a Madison or Ann Arbor.

Weird.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by deeman7

Never thought of Joliet on the same level as a Madison or Ann Arbor.

Weird.

I have spent LOTS of time in Madison and Ann Arbor as well more than enough time in Joliet to know that NOTHING about them is even remotely similar. As much as I would hope that SOMETHING would help lift up Joliet there is NO WAY that the "home of the Fighting Saints" can be compared to the other towns...

University of St. Francis (IL) - ATI Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium

Wisconsin Athletics - Facilities - Camp Randall Stadium

MGOBLUE.COM University of Michigan Official Athletic Site

As lopsided as these admittedly silly comparisons are between two of the most famous Big10 stadiums and the "not even as nice as some high school" facility of St. Francis the real world is even further apart. Joliet has major problems that are getting worse as Illinois fails to address the "Rust Belt Legacy" areas while Michigan is doing remarkably well in its transition and other midwest states adapt to the changes necessary...

[Buck123]

agree
There was a time around 2000~2002, 3 when Joliet was putting an effort to clean up the city. So many people were moving in, buying new houses, then the market crashed. The whole city's been kinda stagnant since then. ( or at least to me)
I'd like to know some good amusement park because I don't know any. Waterpark became so over packed with school bus full of camp kids everyday that we stopped going there years ago.
I hate to be so negative because I'm sure there are plenty of people who love it here but at this moment I don't see it getting any better. Does anyone have any good news coming to Joliet?

[QuietBlue]

From an outsider's perspective (I don't live there, but I spend time there semi-regularly), I think the long-term outlook for Joliet is more positive than negative. Short-term, hard to say, but the city definitely has some things going for it despite its issues.

The school district, for example, is actually better run and in stronger financial health than many of the neighboring ones. Plus it has a downtown with a lot of potential for redevelopment that's already served by two Metra lines. There's also more and more jobs coming to the area, and while I'm sure they are not all good paying ones, it's still something.

I don't want to minimize the existing problems, of course, but I do think that, as time goes on, more people will see the potential Joliet has, especially as they get priced out of other places.

[doodlemagic]

Joliet gets trashed alot along with Elgin and Aurora. I would say the Joliet most people talk about is more like Plainfield and Shorewood than Joliet. A couple weeks back I went to the old shuttered prison to take some pics and do some urban exploring. That was fun but not somewhere I'm going to be moving anytime soon.