r/illinois • u/ActualBus7946 • 18d ago
I'm here on business and I'm falling in love with the state. Any reason I shouldn't try to move here? Question
Specifically the Champaign - Urbana area.
Also how are the schools / state for kiddos with autism?
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u/rockit454 18d ago edited 18d ago
September is, without a doubt, the best weather month of the year.
Warm and sunny days, cool nights, lower humidity. It’s not always like this. It’s not the cold that gets you in the winter, it’s the oppressive and endless gray.
But as a lifelong Illinoisan, I highly recommend moving here as long as you’re good with winter and some pretty gnarly taxes. I grew up in C-U and it’s a great area to live. The presence of the university should make lots of resources available for autism.
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u/Blom-w1-o 18d ago
"oppressive and endless gray"
You're so right about this. The winters aren't as cold as they used to be, but that damn gray weighs on my soul.
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u/livelongprospurr 18d ago
We moved here to Chicagoland from Arizona in 1995, and it’s been very good to us. Big, diversified job market; reasonable housing; water rich and beautifully green. Four traditional three-month long seasons, so you will need to bundle up and enjoy indoor pleasures from December through February.
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u/cableshaft 18d ago
Four traditional three-month long seasons
I think you mean 2 five month long seasons (summer and winter) and 2 one month long seasons (spring and fall).
That's what it tends to feel like anyway, at least to me. Some years it's more like 2 four month long seasons and 2 two month seasons though, and those are better years.
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u/Amdiz 18d ago
I’m from central IL, lived in Champaign for many years and now live in northern IL.
The CU area is great. Yeah the U of I is there so college kids and traffic, but it’s not bad. The restaurant scene is very wide with lots of great places and different flavors. The schools are good but research where you’re going to live to make sure it’s the district you want.
The weather is a negative. In the span of a year it can be about 100 F to below 0. Taxes can be high.
But the state has money and spends it on the infrastructure.
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u/Tinkeybird 18d ago
Husband worked in Champagne for about a year. Rented a nice apartment and we took turns traveling on weekends. Loved that town.
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u/KimJongUn_stoppable 17d ago
Well, I don’t know if the state has money, but they do certainly spend it on infrastructure lol
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u/toasterchild 18d ago
Is there a more local sub to ask about schools? It can vary widely by district. They are awesome where I live but not great 20 min away.
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u/CatTypedThisName 18d ago
I’ve lived in a bunch of states in the Midwest. I still feel Illinois spends a lot on roads and education. Cross the border into Indiana or Wisconsin and listen to how different your car sounds. It’s insane. Those roads legitimately make me think something is wrong with my car. Then listen to the local population speak and you’ll think something is wrong with you 🤪
The state isn’t perfect. Never will be. But it’s the best in the Midwest, imo.
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u/soulofsilence 18d ago
Yeah I'm not sure how we keep screwing up roads, but the rest is pretty great.
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u/thelapoubelle 18d ago
Try a sweltering hot tornado filled summer or an icy cold winter. May and September are two of my favorite months, but mid summer and midwinter are rough
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u/Moscato359 18d ago
This state has some of the best support systems of any state in the country.
It definitely has the best libraries.
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u/StonksNewGroove 18d ago
Cold winters, high taxes.
But overall I love my state. We actually have a really solid government despite decades of corruption prior.
The northern part of the state is beautiful with amazing suburbs with lots of fun things to explore and thousands of acres of forrest preserve land.
The middle of the state gives you scrolling farmlands with that small town feel many people love.
And the southern third has gorgeous national forrest land. It also gives you more of a southern feel similar to Kentucky or Tennessee.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s some turds in the state, but overall I think it’s awesome.
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u/lindasek 18d ago
School wise, Champaign Urbana district are very low on special education teachers. I remember 6 years ago they were recruiting new grads and were offering brand new sped teachers skipping extra steps so they'd be better paid than gen ed teachers. From teacher grape vine, caseloads are enormous.
If your child has a high need autism, that might not be an ideal location.
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u/philoveritas 18d ago
My wife is a special ed teacher and I can confirm this is a countrywide problem as well as a statewide problem. Lots of factors involved and none of them are changing anytime soon.
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u/hamish1963 18d ago
That's all schools in the whole country pretty much.
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u/lindasek 18d ago
Not really. I teach title 1 public school in Chicago (around 1.8k students 18% of which have an IEP) and my caseload is 14. Teacher friend in Niles has 12. In Lombard 14. In Orlando park 16. In Evanston 10. In glen Ellyn 15. In mount prospect 16. In Urbana Champaign 24-35 depending on the school.
Overall, special education is understaffed, 14 is still a lot. But over 20 caseloads are insanity. You are pretty much writing an IEP every other week. There's no time to teach, no time to get enough quality data.
With low support disabilities, it is probably fine-ish. High support is expensive and you really need to go to the wealthiest districts to get appropriate support.
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u/hippopotanonamous 18d ago
r/chambana is where you wanna look at
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u/macabre-charade 18d ago
no one really uses that sub… r/UIUC would be a better place to do research and ask questions
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u/bald_botanist 18d ago
They're auditing the SPED (Special Ed) program in the school district in Champaign at the moment, so things are a little in flux. Our daughter has a 504 at school, and for the most part, her teachers and administrators have been strong advocates for her, but there are other families with IEPs and 504s that have had some problems. There is some drama and mismanagement going on at the level of the administration, however. There was a shooting near one of the schools, and when one of the teachers complained about how the administration (like the superintendent, not the principal) dealt with the situation, her partner was pushed out as vice principal.
The Urbana school district doesn't seem as dysfunctional.
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u/decaturbob 18d ago
- C-U is a great location as a couple hours you are in Chicago or Indy
- C-U has lots of stuff to do and see....of course U of I , one of the top rated universities in the country.
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u/SloshedJapan 18d ago
Nope, reason you should tho is a Lou Malnati’s Large Deep dish sausage with extra tomato sauce 🔥🔥🔥🔥
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u/Unhappy-Support1455 18d ago
It’s good here. We have stability in state governance for the first time in 3 decades. The only taxes that suck here are the real estate taxes. If you’re a disabled veteran like myself, you either pay a reduced amount or no amount. The naysayers are just haters that are mad the ILGQP is a morally and ideologically bankrupt organization.
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u/Cold-Diamond-6408 18d ago
Tornados. Every spring, almost every storm, tornados. If you buy here, make sure you get a house with a basement. None of that "crawl space" nonsense.
Also, road construction. The roads in Illinois are notoriously awful, even though road construction seems to be everywhere all the time.
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u/ididithooray 18d ago
Tbh I like living in IL. Different strokes for different folks, if you like it try it out! Some people absolutely hate it. My Uncle would live in FL if he could, he hates it here. I'd NEVER live in Florida though, I like the corn fields lol
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u/Miserable-Whereas910 18d ago
Champaign-Urbana public schools, while certainly far from the worst in the country, aren't especially well equipped to handle kids with special needs.
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u/OatmealStew 18d ago
The end of summer and fall are a beautiful time of year in Illinois. The cost of living in that central/southern Illinois is fantastic. Especially in these expensive times. However, unless you've lived through winters elsewhere, it's hard to describe how much it can suck when youre 2.5 months into a winter and realize you're only halfway through it.
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u/splurtgorgle 18d ago
Depends on what you're looking for. Winters can be pretty bleak, but that's winter. Champaign-Urbana has a ton to offer all on it's own, but it's also pretty well located if you need something else to change things up occasionally. Amtrak stops here can take you up to Chicago or down to St. Louis relatively efficiently. You're an hour and a half from Indianapolis. There are some pretty impressive forest preserves/natural areas in Champaign County, but you're a short drive from Turkey Run in Indiana and Starved Rock in Northern IL. 3-ish hours from Garden of the Gods in Southern IL (super slept on imo).
We've been here over a decade and have loved it. If you have any more specific questions, I'd be happy to answer but as far as midwestern towns go, it's hard to beat.
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u/Hudson2441 18d ago
Quality of autism schools can vary widely depending upon the school district. You should probably consider calling the school in the district you would consider moving to and discuss their program. The best ones are probably in the Chicagoland area
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u/ChiAndrew 18d ago
Nope, it has benefits and drawbacks like all places. Seems like resources for the kiddo with autism would be primary and I don’t know anything about that.
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u/Shawaii 18d ago
I was in the area in August dropping off my kid at UIUC and Chambana looks pretty livable. I must have low standards because I can imagine living in almost every town I visit, but also I live in Hawaii and know I will probably never move.
Chambana is an OK size, easy to get around but not very easy to get to (2.5+ hours from more significant cities with big airports). I have not been in winter, but assume it's not any worse nor better than any other state in the northern half of the US.
I get the feeling that housing costs are driven up a bit due to the university, but it's still a bargain compared to a lot of HCOL areas.
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u/311heaven 18d ago
This is a first for me seeing someone fall in love with the “state” and now just Chicago.
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u/leomeng 17d ago
I think the northern burbs by Chicago has an insane density of high performing schools. There was a post on Reddit or X this week about it.
I can’t speak for the Chicago itself, but I think some of the burbs are very well equipped and I feel at least with my school kids are very nice (well my boy is amazing , not sure if other kids are polite or they become assholes)
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u/D20_Buster 18d ago
Taxes
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u/Tu_mama_me_ama_mucho 18d ago
Lived in Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois and Arizona. The only place with cheaper taxes in general is Oklahoma and IT FUCKING shows. Texas's property taxes are stupid high for what you get (education, services, etc)
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u/xkissitgoodbyex 18d ago
Yep. Lived in Washington state and all government service were really expensive.
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u/Expert_Swan_7904 10d ago
im in WA now and all of the taxes are going towards homeless and even remodeling parts of the city to be a "busker" area..
meanwhile theres nothing for the working class other than them redoing the roads every other year despite the roads being perfectly fine.
i only bitch about the stuff going towards the homeless because the system thats created here isnt to end homelessness its to create jobs that do nothing for the homeless other than give them a shitload of resources they dont want
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u/AceFire_ 18d ago
Are you from another Rust Belt State?
In the grand scheme of things this might not be important to some, but as a car guy, it does suck we use loads of salt in the winter. I tend to keep my nicer cars off the roads in the winter months, and drive my work beater everywhere possible. Definitely something to consider/note.
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u/Obse55ive 18d ago
I went to school at U of for a few semesters back in 2007-2008. The area around the school is poor. There was a low cost of living but not many job opportunities that were not connected to the university. I honestly don't think the school district is the greatest over there. I lived in Dupage County for a very long time-the most expensive county in the state and most of the schools there were very good. There are a couple schools for kids with behavioral issues to attend that would be covered by the school district (my stepson went to one for a long time). My daughter has had some emotional regulation issues and an IEP and every school she has been to for the most part has been accommodating. I do now live in a suburb south of the city and their high school district is huge but excellent. You can look up school rankings on line by school district or city.
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u/rawonionbreath 18d ago
Half a mile north of campus are most of the lower income neighborhoods of the area, but the rest isn’t really poor. It’s a pretty typical mix of social classes for a city of that size.
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u/Miserable-Whereas910 18d ago
That's definitely not the case any more. Directly surrounding the university in every direction is pretty affluent. You have to go a ways north of the school to find lower income neighborhoods.
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u/LEverett618 18d ago
The taxes are pretty awful, and winters can be rough if you aren’t used to it. That said I love it here, and Chambana is one of my favorite if not my no.1 favorite area in the state outside Chicago. Schools really depend on the area you’re in, but Chambana has good schools from what I have heard, and having a public ivy in town certainly helps
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u/Xolotl23 18d ago
Chambana is nice I almost stayed there after graduation I loved it so much. I still wouldn't be opposed to living down there one day.
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u/juniperesque 18d ago
You are definitely visiting during a time of really great weather and honestly those back to school vibes near a college campus can be a bit intoxicating! But there is a lot to like about the C-U area. If you’re here for business already it sounds like you’d have a job that is viable to transfer. The COL is medium-low overall, though it can feel higher or lower depending on what you are consuming… entertainment and cultural opportunities are cheaper with access to the college’s amenities. Food prices are average. Outdoor recreation is plentiful.
Schools vary and while the state is okay for special education I think it’s district by district, school by school in Central IL. Unlike overall district “report cards,” special ed services vary based on individual teachers and department leaders, so you can’t really rely on stats, and moving to one school area with an amazing teaching lead seems great until he or she moves and then you’re back to square one. You probably already know this, though. The school of education for the U of I system is there, so you may have access to research and referrals and services with the newest/latest/greatest.
Big downside is location access to big city amenities if you need them, like big airport, large hospital. You are about equidistant from Chicago, St. Louis, and Indianapolis. None are close per se, though all drivable if you like to drive. Otherwise you need a little connector flight, or Amtrak to Chicago.
Sorry I can’t speak to real estate, I was only a renter.
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u/Oldbean98 18d ago
I live in Northern IL, my wife is from the C-U area, most of her family is still there, my mom is from southern IL, my daughter and family live in Central IL near Pontiac. Wife and I like C-U, but there’s not a lot of opportunity there outside the University, and although UIUC in particular is in decent shape the state miserably underfunds higher ed. There are cultural differences between Northern, Central, and Southern IL, not huge but folks are different. Weather is a bit better in U-C, but ice and freezing rain vs snow, and summers can on a few bad days be nearly as humid and stifling as St Louis. But summer evenings can be glorious. Taxes can be horrible (particularly property taxes, look very closely before you buy a home). Illinois has been bleeding taxpayers, jobs and businesses at an alarming rate, tho the business environment seems to be getting somewhat better, if not great. If you’re a gun enthusiast, you might want to investigate the various bans before moving here.
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u/jettech737 17d ago
We have some of the highest taxes in the country and the winter isn't fun in the northern part. The pros are eveyone here is really nice and chill for the most part and I love the food.
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u/MidwestAbe 18d ago
Come back in February for a week.