HELP! Places to Live? Information on everyone's home town please!

[medic_diver45]

As I just moved back to Indiana from Missouri not even four months ago, I'm not too thrilled about the idea of going back.

Clarksville is an OK town (I did my Expert Field Medical Badge course at Ft. Campbell when I was in the Air Force) but I am not sure about it as a place to live. I'll have to give it a closer look.

As for local schools (elementary, jr. high, high school) that is not an issue as I am planning on having my children home schooled (so an additional plus would be somewhere where they don't tax you to death to pay for public school systems that I am not going to be using). I don't think public education adequately fulfills it purpose (look at the average student coming out of high school's ability to think and reason and you will see my reason for thinking like I do) because politicians have put too much emphasis on standardized testing. But that is a topic for another day.

 

[medic_diver45]

I looked into some of the towns that were suggested so far and here is what I have found:

Springfield Illinois- Crime rate index 230% of the national average; having been there before I must say (in its defense) that it is a nice place to visit and everyone I have met there is friendlier than say, people on the East Coast. Apparently there are a lot of people there that have way too much time on their hands (that's the problem here in Terre Haute- "There's nothing to do; Let's go rob a convience store and set fire to a house! That'll be lots of fun!")

Washington, IL- Nice looking town....can't find much about it but what I can find is promising; the only drawback is it's location.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[grumpygrouper]

Hi
U. of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, medium college town, not far from Kansas City and international airport to fly to far oceans to dive.

 

[alcina]

You might like to look along the edges of Wisconsin/Minnesota. A friend just moved back there and loves it. There are several colleges around, the area is beautiful (especially around the river) and the lifestyle seems to be very outdoorsy.

Step-sis & family also lived in that area (south-WEST Wisconsin) and it was gorgeous.

Haven't done it myself, but only heard good things...

 

[Hoosier]

Hey,

I can see she doesn't like indiana. However, don't you ever think about Bloomington, Indiana. There is a Big IU, one of big ten school. It is a campus town having a lot of diversity. One of good advantage is a music school in IU. You can see the broadway musical show, concert, and opera there.

Check out the site below,

http://www.iuauditorium.com/0405/events.asp

http://www.city-data.com/city/Bloomington-Indiana.html

 

[Creed]

You might check out Manhattan, KS. My wife and I both loved the town during summer break, and KState is a good college.

 

[easyrider]

I've lived in Nebraska for a long time and i have no complaints.
Inspite of the problems the football team is having the University of Nebraska is a good school

 

[outlawaggie]

For those of you who have missed out on the latest installment in my ongoing battle to escape my own personal purgatory (more commonly known as Indiana) I am trying to find a place to live. The most recent suggestion I looked into was Houghton, Michigan


I don't know why, but Jennifer (my fiancee) seems a little less than thrilled about the idea of Houghton- may I shouldn't have told her that last year the place got 225" of snow (about 18 ft 9 inches for those of you who are keeping count)- I think perhaps I should look into other options.....DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY OTHER PLACES TO SUGGEST? The requirements as the stand now are:
1. A 4 year public university
2. A population <45,000; I would consider going to school in a bigger city but I want to live in a small town (perhaps 30 minutes or so outside of a big city- but I would prefer to be further than that and to live in a little town).
3. A low crime rate (this is the one that weeds out a lot of the places I have looked at).
4. Somewhere in the Midwest (but not Indiana or Ohio)- this is Jen's request (she wants to stay close to her family here), but I think it can be waived if all else fails.
5. Cost of living below the national average (I don't care if the crime rate is low and the scenery is beautiful, if it costs over $575 a month to have an apartment it's not an option).

ANY SUGGESTIONS? If anyone lives in or near a town that meets all or most of these suggestions please fill me in on some further information. I'm interested in the inside scoop on places I may not have heard yet.

College Station, TX

Texas A&M University. population is higher than 45K but only because of the college students. one of the lowest costs of kliving anywhere in the US. low crime rate. i plan to move back there and teach in another ten years or so.

 

[MakoMermaid]

I'll second Hoosier's recommendation for Bloomington. It's a nice town and IU is a great school.

 

[Mverick]

Edwardsville, Illinois

Southern Illinois University

Good schools. I know. It doesn't matter.

Building "Supposedly" the third largest ymca in the US..

About 25 miles from St. Louis.