Belleville IL area -- where to live?

[smokeylo]

Hello! I have a job prospect in the Belleville area and am trying to figure out the lay of the land down there. It's not a definite thing but I would like to be ready if I do get the job. We have 2 young daughters and would like to buy a home in a friendly neighborhood with parks and good schools, but our budget is modest (looks like we could afford something more on the west end of town, or in a satellite town like Fairview Heights or O'Fallon). I don't want a huge commute (job is near SWIC). We love the idea of a more diverse community. It seems like Belleville has a lot of variety and potential but it's hard to tell where would be a good place to raise a family. We're fairly liberal, crunchy people and we're not religious (we attend a UU church here), and my husband will probably be a SAHD.

I'm looking for the dirt on these places. What are the better schools (we would like at least the option of sending our kids to public schools that aren't overcrowded and focus on art/music and not just testing)? Are there any good preschools? Where are good places for kids to play? Any AP presence at all? What are these places like? Is the west end of Belleville scary or potentially great? ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING is appreciated, and TIA!

[jrcronewillis]

Hi there,

I don't know the Belleville area well, but I did want to say that there is a great UU church up in Alton, IL.  It's a short drive up the river, but well worth it!  We drive over from the MO side of the river.

Good luck on your search!

[RiverTam]

I live in O'Fallon. I'm actually about 8 minutes from SWIC.

Belleville has excellent schools in general. Both of the high schools have made the US News and World report "Best Schools" list. I'd be happy with any public elementary school there. There's a nice private secular college prep school downtown called Governor French.

If you take Main Street as your marker, the further west you go down Main Street, the closer you get to East St. Louis. ESL and B. bump up against each other on that road.  ESL is a very high crime area. That said, I had friends who lived in that direction, between Down Town Belleville and North Belt West, and their neighborhood was pleasant and safe. Mascoutah is also nearby and has very good schools. O'Fallon is closer to SWIC than the west side of Belleville, and has decent schools.  There's  an AMI Montessori preschool thourgh K school in Shiloh. (Which is close-by,  but expensive.)

I love living in O'Fallon. There's a huge, very nice YMCA and a beautiful park system. Our library is small, but it's tied into a huge network of local libraries so you can get a ton of stuff on loan.  We live within walking distance of a grocery store, our YMCA, two parks, our elementary school, a junior high, the senior high school and several places to eat. (There's a separate high school campus just for freshmen.)

O'Fallon and Belleville are pretty diverse because many people are military or retired military. People come from all over and some retire here. They're also sort of havens for the black middle class who grew up in ESL, but doesn't want to live in ESL. (Nobody wants to live in ESL.)

If you're buying, you really want to think about Fairview Heights. They have very low property taxes, because they have a huge mall/shopping area that pays for most services.

If you live in the middle of Belleville, you might be able to find something close to the Metrolink route. Metrolink trains run all the way out to SWIC.

[smokeylo]

Thanks for the suggestion of a UU church! We will have to explore our options, looks like no matter what it'd be a bit of a drive.

RiverTam, I truly appreciate your detailed response. It's reassuring to know that the schools in Belleville are generally good and the details about O'Fallon and FH are helpful. I'm attracted to the idea of living in town and using public trans to get to work, but I also like the idea of parks and a close-knit community. It seems like we would have a lot of good options. I think our family could be really happy in this area, so I hope I get the job.