southern illinios

sumrluvr73 · Sep 12, 2006

Hi and welcome to Illinois and the USA. I think cost of living here is pretty cheap compared to other parts of the country, affordable housing etc. Our winters can be bad but have been very mild the last several years. I live in central Illinois now but am originally from southern part of the state. What part of southern Illinois are you moving to?

jrbl77, RN · Sep 12, 2006

i have lived in soutern il all my life. i don't know about rent, but homes are usually pretty afordable here so i assume rent would be similar. we are very close to st louis mo and there is metro link available for many sites in belleville and st louis. this is a commuter train with bus routes handy. i don't know what starting rn here make, but i was making about 30.00/hr at my hospital. the hospitals in belleville- there are 2 pay about the same. the hosptials in st louis proably pay a few dollars more per hr. we have all four seasons here, winter can get cold and sometimes we get alot of snow other years none. lots to do profressional baseball, football, hockey, a great zoo, art musem and lots of shopping, good luck in your career

Trauma Columnist · Sep 12, 2006

Aw come on up to central IL - we have a cheap cost of living and we need nurses! Just kidding - most of IL outside of Chicago is affordable and there are many nursing openings. Good luck.

meownsmile, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2006

ahh common guys,, give it straight,, we have tornados,, ice storms,, and heck even the occasional earthquake!!!,, LOL

Naa, Illinois isnt bad at all,, we got it all. Very affordable housing compared to other parts of the country, and hey,, the weather isnt all that bad either,, LOL Where else can you go from 20 below in the dead of winter to 105 inside of 6 months? Gotta luv it!! :)

mamason · Sep 13, 2006

I am also from southern illinois. The cost of living is very reasonable here compared to other us states. Lots of work available around here. If you are locating close to St. Louis, MO, then you could also work there. The travel can be a little tough on bad weather days with traffic. But, MO pays more. Good schools if you have children. Lots of local festivals in the surrounding communities. I think it's very family orientated. I am from the Illinios side of the river from St. Louis. You have access to good colleges for further education should you desire to do so. Lots of things to do and see in St. Louis and the surrounding communities. People are generally very friendly here.

curlysin · Sep 16, 2006

ok the whole tornado thing is really freaking me out!!! i come from ireland and although it rains over 200 days a year here we dont have diverse weather systems like in the US. so tell me the truth about the tornados do you get many??

hospital is in belleville not sure if i want to live there though any sugeestions of places near by that wouldnt be that hard to commute?:wink2:

mamason · Sep 16, 2006

Ok...the tornado thingy is realistic problem around here. But, In Belleville they rarely hit. We do get some bad storms, wind damage, rain, and lightening. I have lived here all of my life, I'm 40, and have yet to be hit by a torndado. We just live in the part of the country that has weather conditions that could POSSIBLY produce a tornado. So don't let this info freak you out. The weather gets pretty hot and humid in the summer and cold fronts love that. Cold fronts meeting into a hot humid area produce storms. Most of the really bad storms usually bypass us and hit north or south of us. Technically,a tornado can pretty much hit anywhere in the US. It just depends on that region's weather conditions on that particular day.

THere are smaller towns in the surrounding areas of Belleville that are nice communities. There's Smithton, about 10 or 15 miles south of Belleville. THere's Shiloh, it's about 5 or 10 minutes away. THere's Mascoutah, which is a small town that is recently starting to build up. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to commute form there. There are areas like Collinsville, Edwardsville which have a hospital called Anderson Hospital. That's where I had my baby. I really liked it there. It's fairly modern. And the staff seemed very happy at their jobs.It's located in Maryville. All of these communities are within close range of commuting to and from St. Louis and also Belleville. Your drive would be short. The only problem with commuting to St, Louis is the traffic. It gets a little bogged up.

Now, there are other towns that I didn't list. O'fallon, Fairview Heights, Red bud{which has it own hospital} Waterloo, Milstadt{nice country atmosphere} etc. THere are more. I just can't list them all. Hope this helps.

meownsmile, BSN, RN · Sep 18, 2006

Ahh dont let it freak you out. Just kiddin with ya. Actually depending on where you live,, its kind of a running joke about when the tornado sirens go off everyone runs out to the driveway to see where its coming from. But that's a joke that might be something you will grow to understand.

I live north of st. louis and we are always saying the storms go either north or south of us,, so there ya go. It's the luck of the draw and we can blame it all on the weather man. Welcome to Illinois.:)