The second question is: What is it like for you to live here?
5 thoughts on “Imagine Peoria: Question #2”
Sometimes wonderful, sometimes frustrating. I work hard and get stressed out sometimes, but then I get to come home and enjoy my dogs and the natural beauty in my back yard. I buy groceries at a neighborhood store where high school kids carry them to your car. I live in a racially and economically diverse neighborhood with students, young professionals, families, and elderly people. I have wonderful neighbors. I worry about things like the hazardous waste landfill and old-fashioned manufacturing facilities being so close. I find it frustrating that our garbage pickup will take furniture and all kinds of crap without extra charge but we have to pay to have recycling carried away.
Gee, why bother saying anything after that, Tulip? 🙂 I agree with everything you just said.
I do find Peoria frustrating – not easy to walk in certain areas (there are LOTS of sidewalks around my area of town, though), traffic on University, politics. But then at the same time, I LOVE living here. I’m close to work, I’m within 3-6 hours of most of my out of town family, we’re near highways, the riverfront is nice, we have alot of great parks, we have Grandview Drive, the revitalized Prospect Road in the Heights, three great hospitals, a number of great colleges… and alot of other great things I’m probably forgetting. I, like Tulip, live in a diverse area of town where the people are friendly, it’s easy to walk my dog as most any time of the day or night without fear, I’m central to most everything shopping related and (if I used it) near transit lines. And who can forget about the skyline coming into Peoria from 74 East.
But at the same time, the city is not especially business friendly, the (public) schools are going to hell in a hand basket.
Yeah, Peoria is far from perfect. So we’re not the idyllic downstate city that everyone wants us to be. Peoria is not Chicago… as soon as we all stop trying to make Peoria into a mini-Chicago and make Peoria into PEORIA, it will be a great place to live. 🙂
It is home.
It certainly isn’t perfect, and it many ways it is a total mess, but it is still home.
I am frustrated by people fleeing to the “white refuges” of Morton, Brimfield and Dunlap and then causing traffic problems driving back in to their jobs.
I live on the fringes of Peoria and I like it there. But I am close enough to go shopping without having to drive ten miles or more. The restaurants here are fabulous. No matter what the status in life you can talk to anybody in town. I would like to see more updated industry here to boost the economy. Hi tech jobs are great, but we need industry to boost our infrastructure. For the most part Peorians are a friendly group and pretty much get along with one another. I see neighbors helping neighbors all the time. We have a lot of excellent agencies for all different aspects of life in this area. As someone else mentioned let Peoria be Peoria and not a copy of something else.
Comfortable. Generally feel safe in my part of the East Bluff. Seems like Peoria is more like several small towns squished together – each “borough” takes on its own identity and pride – East Bluff, West Bluff, Uplands, etc. Reasonable cost of living and real estate taxes – at least in my area.
Sometimes wonderful, sometimes frustrating. I work hard and get stressed out sometimes, but then I get to come home and enjoy my dogs and the natural beauty in my back yard. I buy groceries at a neighborhood store where high school kids carry them to your car. I live in a racially and economically diverse neighborhood with students, young professionals, families, and elderly people. I have wonderful neighbors. I worry about things like the hazardous waste landfill and old-fashioned manufacturing facilities being so close. I find it frustrating that our garbage pickup will take furniture and all kinds of crap without extra charge but we have to pay to have recycling carried away.
Gee, why bother saying anything after that, Tulip? 🙂 I agree with everything you just said.
I do find Peoria frustrating – not easy to walk in certain areas (there are LOTS of sidewalks around my area of town, though), traffic on University, politics. But then at the same time, I LOVE living here. I’m close to work, I’m within 3-6 hours of most of my out of town family, we’re near highways, the riverfront is nice, we have alot of great parks, we have Grandview Drive, the revitalized Prospect Road in the Heights, three great hospitals, a number of great colleges… and alot of other great things I’m probably forgetting. I, like Tulip, live in a diverse area of town where the people are friendly, it’s easy to walk my dog as most any time of the day or night without fear, I’m central to most everything shopping related and (if I used it) near transit lines. And who can forget about the skyline coming into Peoria from 74 East.
But at the same time, the city is not especially business friendly, the (public) schools are going to hell in a hand basket.
Yeah, Peoria is far from perfect. So we’re not the idyllic downstate city that everyone wants us to be. Peoria is not Chicago… as soon as we all stop trying to make Peoria into a mini-Chicago and make Peoria into PEORIA, it will be a great place to live. 🙂
It is home.
It certainly isn’t perfect, and it many ways it is a total mess, but it is still home.
I am frustrated by people fleeing to the “white refuges” of Morton, Brimfield and Dunlap and then causing traffic problems driving back in to their jobs.
I live on the fringes of Peoria and I like it there. But I am close enough to go shopping without having to drive ten miles or more. The restaurants here are fabulous. No matter what the status in life you can talk to anybody in town. I would like to see more updated industry here to boost the economy. Hi tech jobs are great, but we need industry to boost our infrastructure. For the most part Peorians are a friendly group and pretty much get along with one another. I see neighbors helping neighbors all the time. We have a lot of excellent agencies for all different aspects of life in this area. As someone else mentioned let Peoria be Peoria and not a copy of something else.
Comfortable. Generally feel safe in my part of the East Bluff. Seems like Peoria is more like several small towns squished together – each “borough” takes on its own identity and pride – East Bluff, West Bluff, Uplands, etc. Reasonable cost of living and real estate taxes – at least in my area.