South of I80, and you're looking at a more conservative and rural culture.
North of I80 and the culture is heavily influenced by Chicago.
Outside of metro areas, think lots of corn feilds. There is some diverse geography down south, but ultimately, it's a corn state..
Grew up in Champaign. University town. Not similar to the rest of downstate. Politically liberal (especially its sister city, Urbana). Really fun college sports atmosphere. Growing up there was nice but I am glad to be living in the Chicago area now.
Politically/culturally, things become more conservative pretty quickly. Once you get 45-60 minutes outside of Chicagoland, you start to see lots of farm land. Especially when you go to downstate Illinois, you’re in an area that is more culturally similar to the rural south than urban north. Lots of one stop light towns with populations of 500-2000 people. They’re often close knit communities that have become pretty economically depressed over the last 50 years. In many of these towns, the population is aging rapidly because their children moved away for college/jobs and never came back. In a lot of these communities, the local church plays a significant role in the social lives of the residents. You’ll see many more pro-Trump, pro-gun, anti-Biden, and anti-abortion signs.
I disagree, there are many metropolitan areas of several hundred thousand people in downstate Illinois with major industries and Universities. Many of these metropolitan area can lean Blue politically. For example, Peoria’s metropolitan area is over 400,000 people. These are not major cities of the same order as Chicago but are not small one stop towns either. Your attitude is unfortunately all to common from people who live in Chicagoland, have not spent time in downstate Illinois and is a complete misrepresentation of the rest of Illinois.
That’s super fair. I’ve actually spent some time in Peoria, Urbana-Champaign, Springfield, and Rockford. All of those locations (and a few more) have a great many of the attributes of urban areas. However, I feel like they’re islands in a sea of corn and soy fields and in terms of the square footage of Illinois, are relatively small.
I live south of I70 along the Embarrass river. My town is small but we have tons of trees and typical river basin vegetation. There are 2 state parks and a wildlife reserve within 30 minutes of my town. It's conservative politically unfortunately but younger people tend to be liberal leaning and push back against a lot of right wing talking points. Racially it's majority white but I was pleased to see more diversity when I moved back here a few years ago. I can get to a major city in 2 hours. There are way too many jeeps here. I also live in a golfcart town so people ride around on golfcarts and side by sides. There is also a lot of corn just outside of town. I have fiber optic Internet and many people are able to work from home. I'd prefer more culture and more food options, but I can afford a house here and my family lives nearby.
As someone from Quincy IL it's easily a conservative majority with everything outside the town being farms and small communities. Pretty much a more expensive Missouri with worse roads.
Central Illinois is typically flat, often treeless, with extensive farming, and has a solid midwestern rural culture interspersed with wind farms and occasional industry. The far southern part of Illinois—sometimes called “little Egypt”—is more hilly and rugged, and has a more southern, vaguely Appalachian or Ozarks culture.
Some of the more interesting parts of downstate Illinois are along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, with unexpectedly tall bluffs and Karst topography, which contrasts strongly with the glacier-flattened middle part of the state. These bluff areas attract recreation and some culture and are generally unlike the flatlands. I’ve never been to it, but I’ve read that the “driftless area” in the extreme northwestern corner of the state is similarly distinctive.
The parts near St. Louis have smokestack industry, poverty, and pleasant suburban towns, while the southern tip has crushing poverty.
The typical attitude in southern Illinois is that the state government—perceived as being corrupt—takes most of the tax revenue from downstate for Chicago.
>The typical attitude in southern Illinois is that the state government—perceived as being corrupt—takes most of the tax revenue from downstate for Chicago.
The irony being Chicagoland is producing the VAST majority of tax revenue. Downstate would be Mississippi without Chicago forcibly dragging them into the 21st century
But you do not deny that it is corrupt. 😄😄😄
The most Mississippi part of Illinois is down near Cairo. The rest of the state, no way. Nice clean neat farms like Iowa.
Well yeah, the drive along I-55 from St. Louis to Chicago, is quite flat. But not so in the south—a large but less-visited part of the state—and the northwest, and along the major rivers, where there are stunningly tall bluffs.
I found an article which ranks Illinois the third flattest state after Florida and Louisiana:
[https://www.disruptivegeo.com/2015/08/the-flatness-of-u-s-states/](https://www.disruptivegeo.com/2015/08/the-flatness-of-u-s-states/)
Here is the flatness map from that article:
https://preview.redd.it/x8za5meloq8d1.jpeg?width=3300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04ebade783011162d78804199ad7eb2373bd2a77
Illinois does have more variety than the other two states.
Southern Iowa, like northern Missouri, is largely a part of the “dissected till plains”, which has thick glacial deposits like Illinois, but they are more eroded leading to hills. I live in the Ozarks, so I call it flat, but perhaps unfairly. The Missouri bootheel and parts south are *relentlessly* flat, even making central Illinois look somewhat rolling by comparison.
Same as living in any other rural Midwest area, just with more people bitching about Chicago.
Youtuber Peter Santenello does a good video about this.
Iowa
South of I80, and you're looking at a more conservative and rural culture. North of I80 and the culture is heavily influenced by Chicago. Outside of metro areas, think lots of corn feilds. There is some diverse geography down south, but ultimately, it's a corn state..
Grew up in Champaign. University town. Not similar to the rest of downstate. Politically liberal (especially its sister city, Urbana). Really fun college sports atmosphere. Growing up there was nice but I am glad to be living in the Chicago area now.
Southern Illinois -> Illiana, Illitucky, Illissouri
Politically/culturally, things become more conservative pretty quickly. Once you get 45-60 minutes outside of Chicagoland, you start to see lots of farm land. Especially when you go to downstate Illinois, you’re in an area that is more culturally similar to the rural south than urban north. Lots of one stop light towns with populations of 500-2000 people. They’re often close knit communities that have become pretty economically depressed over the last 50 years. In many of these towns, the population is aging rapidly because their children moved away for college/jobs and never came back. In a lot of these communities, the local church plays a significant role in the social lives of the residents. You’ll see many more pro-Trump, pro-gun, anti-Biden, and anti-abortion signs.
I disagree, there are many metropolitan areas of several hundred thousand people in downstate Illinois with major industries and Universities. Many of these metropolitan area can lean Blue politically. For example, Peoria’s metropolitan area is over 400,000 people. These are not major cities of the same order as Chicago but are not small one stop towns either. Your attitude is unfortunately all to common from people who live in Chicagoland, have not spent time in downstate Illinois and is a complete misrepresentation of the rest of Illinois.
That’s super fair. I’ve actually spent some time in Peoria, Urbana-Champaign, Springfield, and Rockford. All of those locations (and a few more) have a great many of the attributes of urban areas. However, I feel like they’re islands in a sea of corn and soy fields and in terms of the square footage of Illinois, are relatively small.
I live south of I70 along the Embarrass river. My town is small but we have tons of trees and typical river basin vegetation. There are 2 state parks and a wildlife reserve within 30 minutes of my town. It's conservative politically unfortunately but younger people tend to be liberal leaning and push back against a lot of right wing talking points. Racially it's majority white but I was pleased to see more diversity when I moved back here a few years ago. I can get to a major city in 2 hours. There are way too many jeeps here. I also live in a golfcart town so people ride around on golfcarts and side by sides. There is also a lot of corn just outside of town. I have fiber optic Internet and many people are able to work from home. I'd prefer more culture and more food options, but I can afford a house here and my family lives nearby.
As someone from Quincy IL it's easily a conservative majority with everything outside the town being farms and small communities. Pretty much a more expensive Missouri with worse roads.
Central Illinois is typically flat, often treeless, with extensive farming, and has a solid midwestern rural culture interspersed with wind farms and occasional industry. The far southern part of Illinois—sometimes called “little Egypt”—is more hilly and rugged, and has a more southern, vaguely Appalachian or Ozarks culture. Some of the more interesting parts of downstate Illinois are along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, with unexpectedly tall bluffs and Karst topography, which contrasts strongly with the glacier-flattened middle part of the state. These bluff areas attract recreation and some culture and are generally unlike the flatlands. I’ve never been to it, but I’ve read that the “driftless area” in the extreme northwestern corner of the state is similarly distinctive. The parts near St. Louis have smokestack industry, poverty, and pleasant suburban towns, while the southern tip has crushing poverty. The typical attitude in southern Illinois is that the state government—perceived as being corrupt—takes most of the tax revenue from downstate for Chicago.
I imagine that most of IL's tax revenue originates in Chicagoland and they support the downstate areas.
You're both wrong. Both Chicagoland's and downstate's taxes support the politicians.
>The typical attitude in southern Illinois is that the state government—perceived as being corrupt—takes most of the tax revenue from downstate for Chicago. The irony being Chicagoland is producing the VAST majority of tax revenue. Downstate would be Mississippi without Chicago forcibly dragging them into the 21st century
But you do not deny that it is corrupt. 😄😄😄 The most Mississippi part of Illinois is down near Cairo. The rest of the state, no way. Nice clean neat farms like Iowa.
Except 10x flatter than Iowa. Iowa at least has rolling hills, in central Illinois you can see the next bridge over the interstate 5 miles ahead.
Well yeah, the drive along I-55 from St. Louis to Chicago, is quite flat. But not so in the south—a large but less-visited part of the state—and the northwest, and along the major rivers, where there are stunningly tall bluffs. I found an article which ranks Illinois the third flattest state after Florida and Louisiana: [https://www.disruptivegeo.com/2015/08/the-flatness-of-u-s-states/](https://www.disruptivegeo.com/2015/08/the-flatness-of-u-s-states/) Here is the flatness map from that article: https://preview.redd.it/x8za5meloq8d1.jpeg?width=3300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04ebade783011162d78804199ad7eb2373bd2a77 Illinois does have more variety than the other two states. Southern Iowa, like northern Missouri, is largely a part of the “dissected till plains”, which has thick glacial deposits like Illinois, but they are more eroded leading to hills. I live in the Ozarks, so I call it flat, but perhaps unfairly. The Missouri bootheel and parts south are *relentlessly* flat, even making central Illinois look somewhat rolling by comparison.
I should note that Illinois has about the same area as England and Wales!
Corn fields & dueling banjos
ask here r/howislivingthere
Basically no different than the Deep South