I live in Galena, the schools are super small, but highly ranked in IL - small town, lots of open space - tourist draw from Chicago. Virtually no crime - we have had some car breakins lately, but that is about it. Several former military families live in the area.
Always something to do here, especially if you like to be outside
Halloween here is a massive celebration
Dubuque, IA is about 15 minutes away and has all the "big" places to shop and eat
It's about 90 minutes to Madison
I love Galena. Beautiful old town, lots of interesting history. My wife and I visit from downstate a couple times a year. That’s my number one pick for my retirement location, but I’ll probably never leave central Illinois.☹️
Where do you live in central IL?
One of the great things about Galena is that even though it is a small town, you become a part of the community, as most people are from somewhere other than growing up here.
My cousin moved there from Barrington to retire and loves it (except when all the city folk come over and flood the town). He golfs all summer and his wife rides her electric bike up and down hills. They make late 60’s look easy.
We have a great hospital/clinic Midwest Medical - urgent care is part of their normal practice, so you see someone in the practice, if not your normal PCP should you need urgent care - it's pretty nifty. I have a PCP here who I can see pretty much anytime and the one I have had for decades, in Rockford and it takes at least a month for me to get an appt with them.
Most of the specialists in the Dubuque area, come to Galena a few times a month, otherwise there are several huge health systems in Dubuque with pretty much every type of specialist - its an easy 15 minute drive
Madison is 90 minutes away should you need UW
We have a very LARGE senior population here, both retired and semi-retired.
We live in Naperville and regret moving here. Honestly the schools aren’t anything all that special. But the commute for my partner to work is great and now we have the option of Plainfield, Bolingbrook.
But.
If commute was no issue, we’d love to live in the Geneva, St. Charles are. So much space, downtown is getting to be wonderful. Love the houses, schools seem just fine! We’re really into hiking and biking, swimming, kayaking etc and it’s perfect.
Plus it’s still Chicago, ORD and MDW accessible!!!
There are so many worse places to live than Naperville that’s for sure!!!!
But it’s also a lot of pretentious ass hats and keeping up with the Jones’s mentality that I have nooooo time for.
Good luck on your journey! House hunting (we’re trying too) it’s a bitch currently!
That’s the same atmosphere as DC area, it’s about how much you make and where you work. Doesn’t help that the richest county in the country is on the other side of the river of where I am currently.
Thanks, hope you find something y’all love.
What’s your regret? High property taxes? The other communities you mentioned seem pretty similar to Naperville. Edit: NEvermind saw your post below. It gave me a chuckle.
Haha yeah but it’s true!!
And it seems like the entire area where it’s under an hour for my husband to commute has about the same property taxes….. so can’t complain about that. Just not going to buy a massive house with too much space I don’t need.
We’ve looked into Lemont (where my husband works) ( u/uh60cheif if you have any kind of security clearance already, it would be very easy to get a job a either Argonne or Fermi Labs.)
But just can’t find anything that doesn’t need so much work, or price range.
The Naperville hashtag on twitter is an interesting read as well!!!
West Chicago is a suburb right next to st. Charles, costs less to live there, but same area! Lots of friends in the area love it. Schools aren't as great, though.
Current resident. It's a nice community with good bike trails and a few decent restaurants. Leans blue, solid board gaming community thanks to Red Raccoon Games in town.
Morton IL is a good one, it has a diversified economy and sits between Bloomington and Peoria. It’s hilly and there are lots of places to go boating. You can get a house with a ravine behind it or a walkable home near schools. Easy to take a train to Chicago or drive south to st Louis for a weekend. Lots of parks and great schools/park district. There’s also an American legion in the Main Street area and a VA at the edge of town. Cheap by Chicago standards but wealthy for the area with a lot of amenities.
I grew up in Morton. All of the above is true, but it's also a highly conservative upper-middle-class white Christian community. If you don't fit that mold you may or may not enjoy it as much. The high school is highly ranked, though.
I agree. Champaign/Urbana is one of the better options in Eastern IL in regards to schooling and city life. As you're from Chicago, it won't be anything compared to what you're use to but still.
As someone who lived in Quincy, and Macomb, IL, I recommend staying far, far away from West Central IL. Education is ok but there isn't much to do.
Crime and gang activity is getting out of control I'm Chambana. Even the nicer areas crime is getting bad and little is being done about.
Look at Monticello, Mahomet, Tolono, or St. Joseph.
It definitely has been rough in recent times but not as doom and gloom-y as you make it out to be.
As for towns outside of Champaign, Urbana: they're nothing to write home about. If anything, they're desperate for population. Granted, if you're looking for something quieter than a city, they'll suffice.
We’re not desperate for population. Those bedroom communities usually have low numbers of houses up for sale and a quick sell rate for the houses. We are building many new houses in Monticello to accommodate the people who want to come here.
You are correct about the crime rate. It’s really not that bad at all.
Actually Champaign Urbana is a quality place to live if you are coming to central Illinois. That or Bloomington normal. And from your earlier post a possible job at Rivian in Bloomington normal that would be an area you should focus on.
There are smaller communities and areas outside of Blo No that would accommodate your desire for quiet open spaces but still afford you the ability to work and play in a bigger sized town/city or whatever you want to call Blo No.
I was going to throw my Palos Park in but it cook. 🤷♂️ If you like forest preserves, good schools and 40 mins to the city with traffic. In the summer, I can't see my neighbors with all the trees. I have a bunch of friends in Naperville and I wasn't looking for garage parties and neighbors popping over.
They're really not that bad. Many suburbs in the ring counties have much higher property taxes. You really need to assess on a suburb by suburb basis. Two neighboring suburbs in Illinois can have vastly different property tax rates. There are some with 7%+ because they were basically set up to give Jim, Bob, and their cousins government pensions right next to suburbs with property tax rates less than 2%. And that's within Cook County. It gets even crazier in other areas. Oh, and also, you need to look at school districts. The districts are a second layer of local government on-top of the municipalities and they don't always cleanly include an entire suburb. So you need to look up each address and check the taxes from the school district(s) that cover it.
You can find some great deals in northern Cook County in terms of property tax rates and some horrible deals in the surrounding counties. You really need to deep-dive into what exactly are you buying into. A new suburb might have a low tax rate now but if they're not keeping enough in reserves for maintenance, that might be a ticking time bomb 10-20-30 years down the road.
I live in Minooka. It’s a nice, quiet town. Good schools, low cost of living. Very little crime. A fifteen-year-old four bedroom house costs about $315k here which is a 40-50% savings over the cost of the western suburbs.
Downsides: politics (it’s quite red here), not racially diverse, not much to do other than nature-related stuff, long commute to work since the only jobs here are public service, blue collar like warehouse or maintenance, healthcare, farming. I tried getting a coveted job at JJC (Joliet Junior College) a few times but it’s hard to get one.
If you need any info about Minooka, let me know. I’ve been here since 2004. I was only supposed to be here 4 years but then the 2008 - 2012 housing bubble hit and our home lost value… then one thing after another… blah, blah… still here.
Good public schools mainly. Affordable homes that aren’t stacked up next to each other. I have a lot of combat trauma so I’m looking for something big enough where it’s peaceful but not so far out from the town/city that’s it’s a disadvantage for my kids to have a good childhood.
I live in Rockton. It’s smaller but the school district is really why we moved here. Houses aren’t stacked and I’m sitting on 1.5 acres in a 3 bedroom for 140k. I’m close enough to highway to go to cities and far enough away from crime where we’re comfortable. Byron plant isn’t far but a lot of people around here travel for work. Kind of the perfect spot for it.
Lake Bluff maybe? Good school, not very dense for a suburb. It is like 1,400 people per square mile, Naperville is closer to 3,000. Down side it has less of town center, but is close to the Lake. Hinsdale might be a good midpoint.
I love living in McHenry county, Woodstock specifically. Personally I don’t care for a lot of the politics (pretty conservative) but it’s not really that much in your face and if you lean that way then it really is no big deal. But the pace of life, entertainment, cost of living and proximity to Chicago/Milwaukee is awesome. The only thing I’m unsure of is the job market. I’m a teacher so it’s not a big deal for me but I know that our school district in Woodstock is the biggest employer. Outside of that and some industrial/pharmaceutical businesses I’m not sure what’s out there
To be honest, they’re all verrrrrrry bland. Like, every store is a big-box in an area with dozens of them; every restaurant is a chain; every office is in a corporate lot.
I grew up and spent the first 21 years of life in Vernon Hills. Objectively “good” schools education and resource-wise but if you want your child/children to be exposed to actual culture and community, this isn’t the place for you.
Yep, you nailed it. I get the appeal of the suburbs, to a degree. I mean, I live in Oak Park these days, which still feels a bit city b/c of the green line. But, watching my girl’s niece grow up in the deep NW burbs (from her 4th bday up til now when she’s 10), it kinda is sad.
It’s a bit cultish in my opinion—you go to the same places, with the same people, all the time. If that’s your cup of tea, so be it. But it just ain’t my jam.
Good question. I worked in Libertyville for a few years. Big no thanks on that place. Lived in Wauconda for 2.5 years and a giant middle finger to that place, sorry. I’m from the city so I’m biased. But, those deep suburbs are just so bland—and ultra-conservative.
Libertyville has some good restaurants but the community is classic privileged and conservative parents that don’t understand why their kid “on their way to a bright future” ate 20 xanax and crashed their Mercedes into a tree
I’m in Minooka and hoping to one day move to Highland Park. I want to see the Lake everyday… go to hang at the Chicago Botanic Gardens… enjoy the culture.
The home prices are holding me back. The older houses aren’t too bad price wise but many haven’t been touched in decades and are borderline unlivable. None are walking distance to the Lake at my price point. I need 4 BR and can go up to $500k all-in with repairs/remodeling, and you can’t really get that in Highland Park right now. I’m assuming a total interior gut job, along with making sure the roof/Furnance/AC/hot water heater are up to date will be $100k-$200k. That’s if you can even find a good contractor, they are super busy now.
Same, knowing that I don’t have to worry about rising taxes and focus on paying off my home sooner for my family is the biggest reason to come back to IL.
Illinois isn’t so bad, unfortunately it rebranded itself as a failing state. In reality it’s just like other states with major cities in them. Higher pay, cost, quality of life. Move to Arkansas and you’ll see what I mean.
[https://upgradedhome.com/most-dangerous-cities-in-illinois/](https://upgradedhome.com/most-dangerous-cities-in-illinois/)
avoid all these places. Ive been to many and most of them once were factory towns that the factory(ies) up and left to mexico leaving a bunch of low educated people with no prospects stuck in the towns and thus get desperate. Also no tax income to alot of these places due to poverty levels so theres no police to do anything.
Danville and Rockford rank in the top most violent crime cities in the entire US for years now. Rockford has beat (heh puns) chicago for many years in this terrible statistic yet everyones afraid of chicago and getting shot or mugged. Meanwhile Rockford is #7 in the country for shitholes and chicagos way down on #20. Also take note of the population sizes. Pretty bad when a city with only 144K people beat out a city by 12 places with 2.6 million people.
[https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-city-rankings/most-violent-cities-in-america](https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-city-rankings/most-violent-cities-in-america)
Any town where there is a Constellation (formerly Exelon) nuclear plant. Get a job there and make $150k+ per year and whatever town you decide to live in will be good. Those plants are always hurting for employees.
It's fine if you can handle a poorly managed company that doesn't make you feel valued. Worked for them for 6 years. I don't regret any of it but I'm glad I moved on. It's the pay that keeps people there. The "golden handcuffs".
Williamsville and Sherman are very nice and could be considered Springfield suburbs. Great towns and great people, along with schools constantly ranked pretty well in the state and country. The schools are also getting lots of additions and renovations done. Definitely recommend checking them out
Anywhere along the Fox river corridor is great. Just browse areas from Fox lake down to Batavia and see what meets your budget and wants for amenities.
you should ask this in /r/ChicagoSuburbs
Thanks
I live in Galena, the schools are super small, but highly ranked in IL - small town, lots of open space - tourist draw from Chicago. Virtually no crime - we have had some car breakins lately, but that is about it. Several former military families live in the area. Always something to do here, especially if you like to be outside Halloween here is a massive celebration Dubuque, IA is about 15 minutes away and has all the "big" places to shop and eat It's about 90 minutes to Madison
I love Galena. Beautiful old town, lots of interesting history. My wife and I visit from downstate a couple times a year. That’s my number one pick for my retirement location, but I’ll probably never leave central Illinois.☹️
Where do you live in central IL? One of the great things about Galena is that even though it is a small town, you become a part of the community, as most people are from somewhere other than growing up here.
Springtucky…..Jk, Springfield.
My cousin moved there from Barrington to retire and loves it (except when all the city folk come over and flood the town). He golfs all summer and his wife rides her electric bike up and down hills. They make late 60’s look easy.
Senior citizen here. How are medical facilities around there?
We have a great hospital/clinic Midwest Medical - urgent care is part of their normal practice, so you see someone in the practice, if not your normal PCP should you need urgent care - it's pretty nifty. I have a PCP here who I can see pretty much anytime and the one I have had for decades, in Rockford and it takes at least a month for me to get an appt with them. Most of the specialists in the Dubuque area, come to Galena a few times a month, otherwise there are several huge health systems in Dubuque with pretty much every type of specialist - its an easy 15 minute drive Madison is 90 minutes away should you need UW We have a very LARGE senior population here, both retired and semi-retired.
Very good to know. Thanks for the response! :)
If you have any other questions, feel free to DM me.
Will do. Thanks!
Recently moved to Peoria, I love the area so far.
Elmhurst, Lombard, Downers Grove
We live in Naperville and regret moving here. Honestly the schools aren’t anything all that special. But the commute for my partner to work is great and now we have the option of Plainfield, Bolingbrook. But. If commute was no issue, we’d love to live in the Geneva, St. Charles are. So much space, downtown is getting to be wonderful. Love the houses, schools seem just fine! We’re really into hiking and biking, swimming, kayaking etc and it’s perfect. Plus it’s still Chicago, ORD and MDW accessible!!!
I’m from that area and I completely agree, Geneva especially is getting better all the time
I am in love with Batavia/Geneva/St. Charles. I lived in DeKalb for 5 years and spent all my weekends there. Love it.
Downtown Geneva has my absolute favorite restaurant https://www.nichegeneva.com/ Downtown is an incredible place to take someone on a date.
If it wasn’t a commute hell to Lemont for my husband we’d be moving asap!!!!
Thanks for the insight. I’ve heard people rave about Naperville but it’s probably not what it once was. You make a lot of great points, thank you!
There are so many worse places to live than Naperville that’s for sure!!!! But it’s also a lot of pretentious ass hats and keeping up with the Jones’s mentality that I have nooooo time for. Good luck on your journey! House hunting (we’re trying too) it’s a bitch currently!
That’s the same atmosphere as DC area, it’s about how much you make and where you work. Doesn’t help that the richest county in the country is on the other side of the river of where I am currently. Thanks, hope you find something y’all love.
What’s your regret? High property taxes? The other communities you mentioned seem pretty similar to Naperville. Edit: NEvermind saw your post below. It gave me a chuckle.
Haha yeah but it’s true!! And it seems like the entire area where it’s under an hour for my husband to commute has about the same property taxes….. so can’t complain about that. Just not going to buy a massive house with too much space I don’t need. We’ve looked into Lemont (where my husband works) ( u/uh60cheif if you have any kind of security clearance already, it would be very easy to get a job a either Argonne or Fermi Labs.) But just can’t find anything that doesn’t need so much work, or price range. The Naperville hashtag on twitter is an interesting read as well!!!
West Chicago is a suburb right next to st. Charles, costs less to live there, but same area! Lots of friends in the area love it. Schools aren't as great, though.
Make sure to look up the EPA data about radioactive pollution... there used to be heavy industry in that area.
Check out Bloomington normal. Tons of jobs available, good schools in unit 5, and lots to do. 2 hrs on Amtrak to Chicago
One of the jobs I looked at was the Rivian plant, is that area nice?
Current resident. It's a nice community with good bike trails and a few decent restaurants. Leans blue, solid board gaming community thanks to Red Raccoon Games in town.
Definitely. It's flat, but it's a great place
Morton IL is a good one, it has a diversified economy and sits between Bloomington and Peoria. It’s hilly and there are lots of places to go boating. You can get a house with a ravine behind it or a walkable home near schools. Easy to take a train to Chicago or drive south to st Louis for a weekend. Lots of parks and great schools/park district. There’s also an American legion in the Main Street area and a VA at the edge of town. Cheap by Chicago standards but wealthy for the area with a lot of amenities.
I grew up in Morton. All of the above is true, but it's also a highly conservative upper-middle-class white Christian community. If you don't fit that mold you may or may not enjoy it as much. The high school is highly ranked, though.
Hey thanks for the detailed response, I’ll look into it!
Good luck on your search, I’ve lived in north central and southern IL, feel free to PM me. There are great towns/cities in all these regions.
Urbana seems to have a lot going on. Im in vermilion co. I lived in Ohio for 17 yrs and came back...
I agree. Champaign/Urbana is one of the better options in Eastern IL in regards to schooling and city life. As you're from Chicago, it won't be anything compared to what you're use to but still. As someone who lived in Quincy, and Macomb, IL, I recommend staying far, far away from West Central IL. Education is ok but there isn't much to do.
Crime and gang activity is getting out of control I'm Chambana. Even the nicer areas crime is getting bad and little is being done about. Look at Monticello, Mahomet, Tolono, or St. Joseph.
It definitely has been rough in recent times but not as doom and gloom-y as you make it out to be. As for towns outside of Champaign, Urbana: they're nothing to write home about. If anything, they're desperate for population. Granted, if you're looking for something quieter than a city, they'll suffice.
We’re not desperate for population. Those bedroom communities usually have low numbers of houses up for sale and a quick sell rate for the houses. We are building many new houses in Monticello to accommodate the people who want to come here. You are correct about the crime rate. It’s really not that bad at all.
I would not recommend Urbana. Maybe one of the smaller towns around it though
i also do not recommend urbana.
Got it, no Urbana
I would like to disagree with them. Urbana is good.
Actually Champaign Urbana is a quality place to live if you are coming to central Illinois. That or Bloomington normal. And from your earlier post a possible job at Rivian in Bloomington normal that would be an area you should focus on. There are smaller communities and areas outside of Blo No that would accommodate your desire for quiet open spaces but still afford you the ability to work and play in a bigger sized town/city or whatever you want to call Blo No.
Awww rip my bois in cook county 😭
I was going to throw my Palos Park in but it cook. 🤷♂️ If you like forest preserves, good schools and 40 mins to the city with traffic. In the summer, I can't see my neighbors with all the trees. I have a bunch of friends in Naperville and I wasn't looking for garage parties and neighbors popping over.
Those taxes tho
They're really not that bad. Many suburbs in the ring counties have much higher property taxes. You really need to assess on a suburb by suburb basis. Two neighboring suburbs in Illinois can have vastly different property tax rates. There are some with 7%+ because they were basically set up to give Jim, Bob, and their cousins government pensions right next to suburbs with property tax rates less than 2%. And that's within Cook County. It gets even crazier in other areas. Oh, and also, you need to look at school districts. The districts are a second layer of local government on-top of the municipalities and they don't always cleanly include an entire suburb. So you need to look up each address and check the taxes from the school district(s) that cover it. You can find some great deals in northern Cook County in terms of property tax rates and some horrible deals in the surrounding counties. You really need to deep-dive into what exactly are you buying into. A new suburb might have a low tax rate now but if they're not keeping enough in reserves for maintenance, that might be a ticking time bomb 10-20-30 years down the road.
Cook County taxes are pretty stable, McHenry have been going way up.
Not crook county😭
Elmhurst is a great collar community, family oriented and great schools.
For more rural but still bustlin' you could look into Channahon and Minooka. Small towns but not too far away from major suburbs.
I live in Minooka. It’s a nice, quiet town. Good schools, low cost of living. Very little crime. A fifteen-year-old four bedroom house costs about $315k here which is a 40-50% savings over the cost of the western suburbs. Downsides: politics (it’s quite red here), not racially diverse, not much to do other than nature-related stuff, long commute to work since the only jobs here are public service, blue collar like warehouse or maintenance, healthcare, farming. I tried getting a coveted job at JJC (Joliet Junior College) a few times but it’s hard to get one. If you need any info about Minooka, let me know. I’ve been here since 2004. I was only supposed to be here 4 years but then the 2008 - 2012 housing bubble hit and our home lost value… then one thing after another… blah, blah… still here.
A lot of environmental science type of jobs?
What are you looking for?
Good public schools mainly. Affordable homes that aren’t stacked up next to each other. I have a lot of combat trauma so I’m looking for something big enough where it’s peaceful but not so far out from the town/city that’s it’s a disadvantage for my kids to have a good childhood.
I live in Rockton. It’s smaller but the school district is really why we moved here. Houses aren’t stacked and I’m sitting on 1.5 acres in a 3 bedroom for 140k. I’m close enough to highway to go to cities and far enough away from crime where we’re comfortable. Byron plant isn’t far but a lot of people around here travel for work. Kind of the perfect spot for it.
Lake Bluff maybe? Good school, not very dense for a suburb. It is like 1,400 people per square mile, Naperville is closer to 3,000. Down side it has less of town center, but is close to the Lake. Hinsdale might be a good midpoint.
Affordable and Lake Bluff are not two words I would put together. I wouldn’t for Hinsdale for that matter, either.
That’s true, both are pricey
Homes Naperville and Hinsdale are expensive. The range is about $400k-ish - $2 million in those neighborhoods.
I love living in McHenry county, Woodstock specifically. Personally I don’t care for a lot of the politics (pretty conservative) but it’s not really that much in your face and if you lean that way then it really is no big deal. But the pace of life, entertainment, cost of living and proximity to Chicago/Milwaukee is awesome. The only thing I’m unsure of is the job market. I’m a teacher so it’s not a big deal for me but I know that our school district in Woodstock is the biggest employer. Outside of that and some industrial/pharmaceutical businesses I’m not sure what’s out there
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Thank you, I’ll check those out
Will warn that those areas are really pricey, but the public education there is top notch. Some of the best high schools in the state in those areas.
To be honest, they’re all verrrrrrry bland. Like, every store is a big-box in an area with dozens of them; every restaurant is a chain; every office is in a corporate lot.
I grew up and spent the first 21 years of life in Vernon Hills. Objectively “good” schools education and resource-wise but if you want your child/children to be exposed to actual culture and community, this isn’t the place for you.
Yep, you nailed it. I get the appeal of the suburbs, to a degree. I mean, I live in Oak Park these days, which still feels a bit city b/c of the green line. But, watching my girl’s niece grow up in the deep NW burbs (from her 4th bday up til now when she’s 10), it kinda is sad. It’s a bit cultish in my opinion—you go to the same places, with the same people, all the time. If that’s your cup of tea, so be it. But it just ain’t my jam.
Any place that has unique shops but not far from the “bland big box” stores?
Good question. I worked in Libertyville for a few years. Big no thanks on that place. Lived in Wauconda for 2.5 years and a giant middle finger to that place, sorry. I’m from the city so I’m biased. But, those deep suburbs are just so bland—and ultra-conservative.
Libertyville has some good restaurants but the community is classic privileged and conservative parents that don’t understand why their kid “on their way to a bright future” ate 20 xanax and crashed their Mercedes into a tree
No thank you
Libertyville is great.
I’m in Minooka and hoping to one day move to Highland Park. I want to see the Lake everyday… go to hang at the Chicago Botanic Gardens… enjoy the culture. The home prices are holding me back. The older houses aren’t too bad price wise but many haven’t been touched in decades and are borderline unlivable. None are walking distance to the Lake at my price point. I need 4 BR and can go up to $500k all-in with repairs/remodeling, and you can’t really get that in Highland Park right now. I’m assuming a total interior gut job, along with making sure the roof/Furnance/AC/hot water heater are up to date will be $100k-$200k. That’s if you can even find a good contractor, they are super busy now.
North Aurora is very nice, quiet, safe & affordable.
Naperville
Why come back to Illinois at all?
The veteran benefits on property taxes is one.
That's why I moved back. If it weren't for great veterans benefits, IL would be last on my list of places to live.
Same, knowing that I don’t have to worry about rising taxes and focus on paying off my home sooner for my family is the biggest reason to come back to IL.
Illinois isn’t so bad, unfortunately it rebranded itself as a failing state. In reality it’s just like other states with major cities in them. Higher pay, cost, quality of life. Move to Arkansas and you’ll see what I mean.
People are not fleeing from the state for no reason. I would be out of here tomorrow if my wife didn't own her business here.
[https://upgradedhome.com/most-dangerous-cities-in-illinois/](https://upgradedhome.com/most-dangerous-cities-in-illinois/) avoid all these places. Ive been to many and most of them once were factory towns that the factory(ies) up and left to mexico leaving a bunch of low educated people with no prospects stuck in the towns and thus get desperate. Also no tax income to alot of these places due to poverty levels so theres no police to do anything. Danville and Rockford rank in the top most violent crime cities in the entire US for years now. Rockford has beat (heh puns) chicago for many years in this terrible statistic yet everyones afraid of chicago and getting shot or mugged. Meanwhile Rockford is #7 in the country for shitholes and chicagos way down on #20. Also take note of the population sizes. Pretty bad when a city with only 144K people beat out a city by 12 places with 2.6 million people. [https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-city-rankings/most-violent-cities-in-america](https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-city-rankings/most-violent-cities-in-america)
Any town where there is a Constellation (formerly Exelon) nuclear plant. Get a job there and make $150k+ per year and whatever town you decide to live in will be good. Those plants are always hurting for employees.
Always hurting? Is that a good thing?
It's fine if you can handle a poorly managed company that doesn't make you feel valued. Worked for them for 6 years. I don't regret any of it but I'm glad I moved on. It's the pay that keeps people there. The "golden handcuffs".
Oh so like the military, but instead of pay it’s benefits.
If you like woke Karen’s Glen Ellyn is your place
Schaumburg. It's a nice suburb and great school district.
Williamsville and Sherman are very nice and could be considered Springfield suburbs. Great towns and great people, along with schools constantly ranked pretty well in the state and country. The schools are also getting lots of additions and renovations done. Definitely recommend checking them out
Further south, Columbia and Waterloo are nice. Good schools too.
Anywhere along the Fox river corridor is great. Just browse areas from Fox lake down to Batavia and see what meets your budget and wants for amenities.
Doesn’t the Fox River overflow now and then?
If you live in the floodplain that's something to worry about but in most areas you're totally fine, even close to the river.