I ER'd 11 months ago tomorrow (Friday), and I've been here in the old family homestead for ~50 years, and don't plan on pulling up roots. I like this area (north central IL).....weather and all. I travel a couple months out of the year, but always look forward to returning back here to the roost.
IL income tax is only 3%, and my pension is exempt from even that! Local property taxes are fairly low, and sales tax is 7% (food & meds = 1%). I'm close enough to Chicago to be able to enjoy the many good things the city has to offer......and far enough away from Chicago to not have to deal with the bad stuff the city has to offer. It's only 1 to 1.5 hours to Chicago, Rockford, Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, and the Quad-cities, so there's a whole slew of options for entertainment, shopping, air travel, and other misc stuff. I'm about 15-20 minutes away from several very nice state parks, and about 20-25 minutes from the community college. Within walking and/or bicycling distance, I have a couple of rivers and several creeks to fish in. And for leisurely bicycle riding, I have easy access to a 61.5 mile walking/bicycling trail that's located 3 blocks from my home.....with no motorized traffic to contend with.....and it's peaceful & quiet,
and scenic!
There are some things that we
don't have here though! We don't have killer bees, fire ants, scorpions, hurricanes, major fault-lines (therefore no major earthquakes), volcanoes, avalanches, mudslides, extended periods of sub-zero temperatures (occasionally a few days a year), extended periods of 100-plus temperatures (again, occasionally a few days a year), and we very seldom get walloped with major snow falls....usually once every 10-15 years.
It may not be the best place on the planet to live, but I've yet to come across any place better....for me anyway!
