I live in Metamora Illinois, a "suburb" of sorts of Peoria, Illinois one of the four largest cities in Illinois. My town is much like what Teri has described minus the ocean and lake ( we do have the Illinois River but we don't do much around it). My neighborhood is really an offshoot of the actual small town, many older homes but also many newer homes and lots of new developments with lots of kids. We are building a new school to accomodate the growth in our area. Many people here are well educated and many work for Caterpillar (big yellow earth moving machinery), whose headquarters is in Peoria. Otherwise, many people have lived here for generations and many have farmland and such. In Metamora proper, it seems like everyone has lived there forever. It is such a cute town with the whole town square, burger and shake shop, mini library and post office, etc. Our area is newer and our schools are some of the best in the area, which explains all the young famililes here. Our area is largely Republican, most families are intact (not divorced) and a good percentage of the women around here are stay at home moms despite being educated (several of my friends have master's degrees and most have bachelors).

Peoria is neat because it is small compared to Chicago and cities like that, but it still has a big city feel. (I was raised in Chicago so I like that I get the best of both worlds.) I can walk downtown and feel like I am in big city then 10 minutes to home and I am defnitely in the country. Peoria has been working for the last several years to develop the Riverfront area and it is really shaping up nicely. It also is home to Bradley University, a private midsized campus so there is a college town feel during the school year.

Creed visited here in 1997(I think) - sadly I didn't know who they were at the time or that they were here - but they played a local building that used to be a very ornate movie theater that has been converted into a multipurpose venue - mostly bands and such. If I had seen Creed there it would have the best show ever, because I love the Madison Theatre, it is so intimate. When I listen to that bootleg I get really sad - if only I had known..

Illinois is OK as far as climate - we have a lot of tornados around here in fall and spring - I don't like that at all - and although snow can be pretty I am not crazy about it for months at a time. When I was in Chicago we had lake effect snow and it was alot lot more than I have ever had since living here in Peoria area. I am ready to go south now, though, I am done with winter. We have beautiful autumns with all the foilage along the river. Summer gets a little too hot in the middle. All in all this is a great place to live and raise a family, but I do aspire to live somewhere else at some point in my life. (Orlando, Miami, Hawaii???? )

Okay well I live in Victoria, Texas. It's a very small community, but now we're slowly expanding. We have a small overpass (woohoo!) a community college and a lot of shopping centers. Soon we are getting a two stroy mall with Foleys in it! Yay! Okay back to the town......the people here are sort of friendly. The adults are mostly friendly, the other girls act like they are too good to talk to you and the guys are self centered jerks all the time. I actually sort of like my town b/c I know where I'm going, but like Julie said, there are some days that I want to leave. Overall it's a good town to start a family in.

Hey! Im going to be transfering to University of Houston at Victoria. Roommates!

hahaha......no......j/k! ;) I can't go to that school yet b/c it's only for those people already about to get their bachelors degree or something. I'll be going to the regular one. :D

yea its junior level up.

Mulletman, I would not have read your post, as you are the one and only person that I ever put on my ignore list. However, it came thru on my e-mail from CreedFeed. I'm glad that it did. I always want to be open to people and their views, and learning about you on your post, let me know you a little better. Thank you for posting on this thread.

Dogstar, it sounds like you have the best of both worlds in your area. I also like international foods, and diversity. Your welcome, regarding my starting this thread. I am one of those people that look directly into the eyes of the people that I am speaking with, or listening to the inflections of the voice, when speaking on the phone. Sometimes I think it is difficult to e-mail strangers, but this way, I can create a picture in my mind. Thanks for letting me know what you life and city are like. I can really understand each of the posters a little better, knowing how they live, and what they see when they look around themselves.


Julbright, the old and the new in your area being blended together, sound much like my own area. I also saw on a new thread that you are considering a possible move to Switzerland. That sounds like an exciting change, and exposing your daughters to others cultures would be an experience that they would remember through out their lives. My son was just going thru some old pictures of my parents, and there were some old black and whites of Switzerland, and even they looked pretty. If you don't ski now, be sure to learn if you do move. Skiing in those mountains would be incredible.

PaulMcCoygirl, it sounds like you may meet another CreedFeeder. That's really cool.

ok here I go


Real name: Joel
Nicknames: Jester
Live in: SanLeandro, California
People living in SanLeandro: Almost 110,000 it is a small SanFrancisco bay area community
Age: 21
Instrument: I sing and play the radio
Influesed by: U2, CREED, Static-X, Sevendust, EveryDayLife, P.O.D., etc
Favorite film(s): Ususual Suspects, BraveHeart, American History X, American Beauty, Dark City
Favorite actress: none
Favorite actor: Kevin Spacey
Favorite album: War by U2
Favorite band: U2
Work: Stay at home dad until I ship out for basic training for the U.S. Army on april 20th
Family: Me (21) Wife (22) daughter (2)

Ya i know. you're new so you havent really gotten to know me all that well. think of me as an onion, not that pretty to look at not pleasent to be with either... but after you peel away at the layers you see the real me.


i need a better analogy

Jester, Hi! Quite awile ago, there was a post that talked about the movie "Pay It Forward" with Kevin Spacey. Many of the members loved the idea. He really is a great actor. You watched here for awhile, before joining, what made you decide to take the plunge? (Outside the U.S. To Jump In And Join).

I'm very glad that you are able to spend time with your little child now, as a stay at home Dad, you will be going into an unknown soon. Please keep us posted, we all care very much about one another, and now you are a part of our group.

If my little subtitles, or descriptions bother anyone, I'm sorry. I have a friend that spoke almost no English when I met her, and phrases like that drove her crazy. They make no sense outside the U.S.A.


Mulletman, your analogy is perfect. For like an onion you have brought tears to my eyes, yet when I least expect it you sprout new growth.

I am from Havelock NC and Johnson City Tn I have the best of both worlds!!!

Havelock is home of Cherry Point Marine Corps Base...I am a Marine Brat! my Dad was in the Marines for over 33 years and fought in every conflict that the U.S.has been involved in with the exception of Desert Storm...I love it here we are only 15 minutes from the beach...Atlantic Beach NC...and there is just so much history around this area and all seafood you could eat...and for the most part everyone is very nice and they go out of their way to help you.
I was raised half of my life here and when I was 14 after my Dad retired we moved to TN because both my parents are from there...TN is awesome and it really is pretty the mountains are breathtaking the people are awesome but you do have a few rednecks who can be a-holes....Johnson City is very close to Gatlinburg and Piegon Forge and 4 hours from Nashville...so there is always somewhere to go and something to do...And the Bristol Motor Speedway is only a 20 minute drive...so I have the best of both worlds the beach and the mountains.

me me me!!!

I live in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I posted a lot about it in a thread called Black Music on the music matters forum. There are about 12 million people living in my city, it's freaking big, multi-cultural, ultra-diversified. You have the best of the best and the worst of the worst living side by side. You'll meet here any kind of food, and people from all around the world. Although it'll be easier for you to find Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Asian descendants.

I'm going to bed now, and I may post more stuff later, but if you have any specific question, feel free to post here or PM me.

Hi SMACKxxxCREED, it's nice to meet you, although I've been seeing you on the threads. There seem to be alot of people here from the southern part of the U.S. and the way you describe it sounds really great with the mountains and the beach. I'm enjoying getting to know everyone a little better. Thanks.


Tremonti Fed, I like the diversity that you discribe in Brazil. My sister was in South America a couple of years ago, and she loved it. The pictures were really beautiful. I have a friend that will be traveling there soon. Do you have any suggestion as to what he should do, and what he should not do?

And yes,I would like to hear more about it. Thanks.

Wasn't that Shrek's analogy???? ;)

name:billy
location:tallahassee, fl-florida state u.

fsu is kind of the party school in florida and is a big college town. we worship the football team and seem to have a decent music scene, as far as local bands go, nobody big comes here though.(except for TOOOOOOL!!!!!) I'll post a picture later, the only one I have is at a friends batchelor party and isn't really appropriate ;)

I'm from Sydney, Australia. Australia is quite a large country but with only 20 million people. Sydney is the largest city and probably the most well known with 4 million people. I love living in Sydney because it's very much an outdoor city, because of the Harbour and the beaches, and it's surrounded by national parks. Its also very mulitcultural and for the most part safe, though crime is defineltly on the rise. It's also extremely expensive and traffic can be a nightmare but it's liveable. I would probably say that Australia is a lot like America in many ways, though there are a few differences as well.


http://www.sydneyreservations.com/ga...icture_01.html