[ Removed by Admin ]

I never claimed to live in Peoria and yet I was able to find good paying jobs. The day after I was told that one job was ending I was offered my next job. Was I lucky? Absolutely but I also didn't have misery oozing out of every pore all of the time.

[ Removed by Admin ]

@HipKat : I live two doors down from Eye. You were four blocks down from me. I agree that four blocks made a big difference. I check crime mapping every morning and I am well aware of the shooting at Republic & Central. I don't try to play auxiliary police, but I do call the police when needed and report what I see or know. I see what is wrong, but I also experience what is right. I do introduce myself to new families that move in. I greet them with a copy of our neighborhood newsletter and jokingly tell them I am sometimes called the "loudmouth of the East Bluff". I walk the neighborhood, but not at 1:00 AM. I have Broadcastify on my phone and computer, but I don't listen 24/7. I still support the theory "bloom where you are planted" and I am planted in the 600 block of Frye!

@NoTime : And it is one reason I stopped putting so much $$ in my house. I've probably put as much into it as I paid for it. I still have the kitchen to remodel, but it will be nice but not a spectacular as some rooms in my house.

FYI...some user named HipCat who joined 15 minutes ago is sending PMs with derogatory stuff about HipKat.

@PeoriaDotCom

Speaking of housing. The house next door to me is for sale. The floor plan is exactly like mine except it has a 10x13 sun room off the living room. The people who moved out (job opportunity and closer to family) bought the house for $25K...it is a 4 bedroom, 1.5 bath, 1.5 story full basement home. The previous owner (and kids) tore the hell out of the inside and let their dogs **** and crap all over the place. The current owners father told me they spent almost $50K to re-do the inside. It is on the market for $79K and it is really nice inside. But it is going on six months. I'm in a small pocket of the EB that doesn't have the issues most of the EB has. Gotta love a dead end street!
So, I think to myself that I've put about that much into my house which means I'm in for over $110K and I'll never see that. So, in a way I agree with HipKat that the crime, the decreasing amount of homeownership and some other factors in my neck of the woods, is going to eventually kill me financially. And my property taxes have a little more than doubled in the 24 years I've lived here....but the value of my property has barely, if at all, increased.
But anyone who says there is nothing to do in Peoria (or the metropolitan area) is boring, closed minded or doesn't know where to look. I could be out every night if I wanted to.

@leslie110 : I could make a pretty good guess, but I won't.

@ChefKevin : I think everyone needs to be careful with the whole my home is my "greatest investment" concept. Your baseline comparison is rent over that same period. What would rent on that home have cost you over that same 24 year period? Subtract that off of your mortgage and taxes for that same period and me thinks you are still ahead of the game.

[ Removed by Admin ]

[ Removed by Admin ]

[ Removed by Admin ]

@HipKat :

Exactly how much nightly running around supporting downtown am I supposed to be doing with a job, family and house? Ok, ok, I pledge to make it to more First Fridays and Farmers Markets on the Riverfront.

[ Removed by Admin ]