Got another recruiter trying to get me set up for an interview in Decature. I looked at home values down there and was in shock!! Holy crud are they cheap! What happend, no jobs left in town?

Check out these links!
www.areaonerealtors.com/listingdetails.php?mls=165966

www.areaonerealtors.com/listingdetails.php?mls=170836

www.areaonerealtors.com/listingdetails.php?mls=169716

www.areaonerealtors.com/listingdetails.php?mls=170128

www.areaonerealtors.com/listingdetails.php?mls=171089

tbk is down that way, I think.

It's pretty economically depressed. Big union town, but Firestone closed (remember the tire failures/rollovers?) and Cat has been union busting for years.

Most people I know who have thought of living there refer to it as a "shithole", FWIW.

It would have to be a very good offer with a stable company for me to consider living/working there.

Not a good place to live.

Decatur is not a nice town.  High crime rates, high unemployment, it is a bad place to be.  Several years ago some group came out with a top 50 best and worst cities in America to live in.  Decatur was selected as the 4th worst city in America to live in, and was the only city on the list with a population under 100,000.  

+1 on tbk living in or near Decatur.

I can't give an opinion on Decatur, only time I've been there is stopping at the Cracker Barrel in '96  on the way back from Springfield across from Hickory Point Mall in Forsyth.

BTW-I presume you have a big family drobs, what will you do with 7 bathrooms?

Quoted: +1 on tbk living in or near Decatur. I can't give an opinion on Decatur, only time I've been there is stopping at the Cracker Barrel in '96  on the way back from Springfield across from Hickory Point Mall in Forsyth. BTW-I presume you have a big family drobs, what will you do with 7 bathrooms?

I was thinking I would pee on the floor of each bathroom.

5 bedrooms sure would be fun. I could have a master bedroom, guest bedroom, office, library, and reloading / trophy / gun room. Sounds like Decatur is a shite hole. This job is supposed to be located between Decatur and Mattoon.

Decatur has three types of buildings:

1. Those that are now vacant lots

2.  Those that are abandoned

3.  Those that are inhabited and located between the first two

Decautur is not a fun place to visit, much less live.

i would look at the sullivan or shelbyville area then ,you would be inbetween mattoon and decatur.

What my point was, are you single drobs, or you married/kids?  If not, do you REALLY need a single family house?

I don't know much about mattoon/shelbyville, I can't help you there.  

Quoted: What my point was, are you single drobs, or you married/kids?  If not, do you REALLY need a single family house? I don't know much about mattoon/shelbyville, I can't help you there.

Getting tired of renting and may have a job prospect down there.  
Just my partner and I.
A nice house with some land to shoot on would be nice, the cheaper the better.

decatur is like any other town-it has good parts and bad.  that being said there are quite a bit of bad parts.  i hear a lot about detroit being a "shell" of a city compared to what it used to be.  what with old empty buildings and all.  whenever i think about what it would look like-i think of decatur.  i live about 35-40 minutes from there or so.  my brother went to millikin..............liberal bastard...........anyway-the maroa/forsyth areas are super nice, but as you get into the city itself-yeah shithole.  niantic is a pretty nice small town that only takes 10 minutes or so on the interstate and you're in decatur.  illiopolis is a farther-maybe 15-20 and you're in town.  just my .02 cents


jake

Look at Sullivan or Shelbyville or Windsor if you want to live in a town between Decatur and Mattoon.  If you want to live in the country and get your own land to shoot on, there is plenty in Shelby and Moultrie counties.  Besides, you will be close to the second largest lake in Illinois, and Windsor has a gun club.  Tons of state ground around Lake Shelbyville to hunt on, but is pretty highly used, especially during deer season.  All in all, it is a good place to be, and there are a lot of good people in the area.  

Here is what I do when I'm not sure about a town and it isn't close to me.  I look up the Census, even though some might not be the newest, it still gives you an idea.  So a tip off it isn't that great is the high unemploy. rate and low median income.  It paints somewhat of a picture.
quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/17/1718823.html

Quoted: Quoted: What my point was, are you single drobs, or you married/kids?  If not, do you REALLY need a single family house? I don't know much about mattoon/shelbyville, I can't help you there.   Getting tired of renting and may have a job prospect down there.   Just my partner and I. A nice house with some land to shoot on would be nice, the cheaper the better.

Good point.  You could find a townhouse but the shooting is another question, what with HOA's and all.

Good luck to you.

Deej86

www.hometownlocator.com/

TBK1 is from Decatur. I'd get hold of him before you decide where to buy there, since he's probably more familiar with it than most here, he might be able to steer you into a nice neighborhood with neighbors who'll let you borrow their guns

Decatur sucks..............

Unless you're an exec, good paying jobs don't exist.
Taxes are high.
Macon county sucks as well.
Crime rate is high.
If you want to murder someone & not get caught, well that's the place.
Gas prices are ALWAYS higher than surrounding areas.
Good places to shoot? Dream on.
Good neighborhoods, no such thing.
Schools, I wouldn't let my daughter go to any of them.

I could come up with alot more if I wasn't so damn tired.


Most people who make good money have or are moving out of the city. Unfortunately that's driving the prices of homes out in the country way, way up.

Last week I looked at a 2 story house sitting on 1/2 acre without any out buildings about 10mi south of Decatur. In town it would go for around $80 to $90 grand. They were asking $165,000 & it sold in less than 5 days. The taxes were over $2000 a year!!!  Unfucking real!!



Shelbyville area is much, much nicer!!!


____________________________________
The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you are already dead. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner you will be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function, without mercy, without compassion, without remorse.
 

Quoted: Decatur sucks.............. Unless you're an exec, good paying jobs don't exist. Taxes are high. Macon county sucks as well. Crime rate is high. If you want to murder someone & not get caught, well that's the place. Gas prices are ALWAYS higher than surrounding areas. Good places to shoot? Dream on. Good neighborhoods, no such thing. Schools, I wouldn't let my daughter go to any of them. I could come up with alot more if I wasn't so damn tired. Most people who make good money have or are moving out of the city. Unfortunately that's driving the prices of homes out in the country way, way up. Last week I looked at a 2 story house sitting on 1/2 acre without any out buildings about 10mi south of Decatur. In town it would go for around $80 to $90 grand. They were asking $165,000 & it sold in less than 5 days. The taxes were over $2000 a year!!!  Unfucking real!! Shelbyville area is much, much nicer!!! ____________________________________ The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you are already dead. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner you will be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function, without mercy, without compassion, without remorse.

I have to second that notion. Last year my friends decided they wanted to go camping and out of no where picked Lake Shelbyville. I was suprised at how nice that town is when I drove through it. What is the main industry in that area?

Yesterday we went and reconoitered the area. Down town Decatur looked like a ghost town. Lots of abbandoned houses.
Lots of really bumpy cobble stone streets. Seemed like there were a couple of well taken care of huge houses in the Historic District.  Also saw some nice cobble stone dead end streets that might not be too bad to live on. Did I mention those streets were bumpy! Can't see a drive by shooter getting too far with out loosing an axle.  

Driving around Lake Decatur, we saw some nice houses. Some of them even reasonable for lake front property.
I liked this one, but Brad didn't care for it.  
www.areaonerealtors.com/listingdetails.php?mls=170514
Seems like a steal at $165K.

Bumped into this house w/o knowing the price. We were hoping it was under $200k. Too bad, would've been a steal!
www.areaonerealtors.com/listingdetails.php?mls=168801
This house would easily run a couple mil around here or in WI!! We walked around it and were shocked.

We also Checked out Sulivan, Bethany, and Matoon. Bethany was kind of wild, felt like I was in a Dukes of Hazard episode with those tarred gravel streets. If this job goes through, I think I'd like to get something out that way.

If nothing else, I may stay up here and buy something down soon there to work on as a summer home. I didn't know you could find houses that cheap. It's a different world down there.

Driving down 55 to 51, we saw a couple of guns save lives signs on the side of the highway. Good stuff!

I was born and raised in Decatur, lived there until I moved to Dallas in 1985.  It's really sad to go back home and see all the closed up buildings and empty lots.  Champaign, Springfield and Bloomington have done more to take care of themselves than Decatur.  Sometimes when I'm there, it seems like everybody's just kind of depressed and biding their time.  Decatur boomed between probably 1945 and the mid-70's and it's been kind of downhill since.  When I was a cop there, we only had 125 officers, and now the depatments about 160 with far less population than 20 years ago-that oughta say something!

I was born and raised in Decatur. Its a acquired taste. You want to buy in Mt. Zion, Forsyth or South Shores.. Decatur is good enough for the ADM executives. Contrary to what people believe Decatur and Macon county has allot of money...Wealthy people.. The old downtown is gone. ADM is using some of it for office space..The business are on the North and South East sides.. If you have kids you want them to go to Mt. Zion schools or better yet LSA.

It's a different world down there.


Understatement


More like a different planet with different lifeforms.

Especially if you get away from the larger population centers.

Quoted: It's a different world down there. Understatement More like a different planet with different lifeforms. Especially if you get away from the larger population centers.

Your upstate superiority complex reminds me of the days I lived in Decatur.  When I went to the Police Training Institute in Champaign in '79 a lot of suburban Chicago cops were in my class;  they talked a lot of shit, but their departments saw less action than the downstate core cities.

I'm not upstate.  I live on the different planet.

And I like it.

However, my superiority complex is firmly in place.

People from Shitcango are usually good for a laugh.

Quoted: I'm not upstate.  I live on the different planet. And I like it. However, my superiority complex is firmly in place. People from Shitcango are usually good for a laugh.

Sorry, guess I mis read your post.

Quoted: It's a different world down there. Understatement More like a different planet with different lifeforms. Especially if you get away from the larger population centers.

It seems that way.  Being from the "big city" I always feel different when I come down to Bloomington or when I went down to Peoria last spring.  It seems that downstate is more laid back.  I like it.  

Decatur - advantages:

Cheaper housing, awesome old 1890-1930's houses in good shape for cheap.

Cheaper utilities than Shitcago

Disadvantages:

Lots of "disenfranchised" individuals with nothing better to do than cruise around "thumpin'" and porch-sit all day.

hotter tha Shiotcago with no Lake  Michigan to cool you off.

Mom lives there, my Grandma & aunt have lived there since the 50's.

G'Ma's gone now (about a month ago) and my aunt still lives there.

There's good areas & bad ones.

If you're looking for shooting areas though, stay out of Decatur corporate limits.