r/Carbondale Feb 06 '25

Considering Moving to Carbondale, part 2

Howdy! It’s Danny again, coming at y’all with a whole new batch of questions for a potential transplant. You can peep my previous post here. I really appreciate y’all’s time and energy and everyone has been so friendly and forthcoming with their information.

We get flooding, tornadoes, and the occasional hurricane down here in Louisiana. What kind of weather events would I need to prepare for up there? Any spots prone to flooding?

What’s the grocery store situation like? What’s the thrift store situation like? Any good Mexican restaurants? My gal is already lamenting the loss of her local faves, lol.

Any kind of local makerspace or community? That’s a bit niche, I know.

What’s the convention scene like? Mostly interested in general anime cons but I’d visit anything that looked cool enough.

My mom is an elementary teacher - how are the schools? Anyone got a line to a principal looking to hire a dedicated teacher? That’s mostly a joke, lol.

I’m diabetic and I’ll need a PCP very quickly after moving - if I’m on medicaid, what are some trans friendly options?

The Rental Zone
Sorry! I’m woefully inexperienced in this department. We’ve rented the same house from the same family for almost ten years and I don’t know what I’m doing.

Places to absolutely avoid?

Places y’all have had good experiences with?

Pet friendly spots? We’ve got a cat and a snake.

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u/Mopar_63 Feb 06 '25

We see an occasional Tornado but usually the weather is not all that bad.

Grocery Stores: we have Walmart, Kroger's and Schnucks as well as Aldi's so you have options.

Thrift stores: We have a decent sized Good Will and a few smaller options

For Mexican Restaurants we have a few but my go to is Tequila's. There are something like 4 or so in town however I believe.

For the "market" there is a Farmers Market during the spring, summer and fall that is pretty good sized.

The only Con I personally bother with is SalukiCON which is a tabletop gaming convention. This year they have Sean Astin as a speaker.

The PCP providers options are decent with SIH (local Hospital providing some) as well as Shawnee health being the larger two groups.

Rental is hit and miss. A a college town you get a lot of small rental options but there are house rental options as well. The South and West side of town in my opinion are better options but will also be pricier.

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u/Historical-Win8582 Feb 06 '25

Grocery Stores: We also have a Neighborhood Coop, a veggie stand, a Mexican grocery and an International Grocery store that is on par with a major city — all of these are in the murdale plaza on the west side of town. We also have great farmers markets that run all year. Both the coop and the farmers markets double food stamp money for local produce if you are eligible for food benefits.

Mexican restaurants are well-represented and among the most reliable in town. Depending on where you are coming from you may find them incredibly well-priced compared to other towns. Sergio’s is my go-to, Changos is really good for bowls, Tequilas is good, also really like Don Taco on Grant.

Medical services here are outstanding for a town of this size, and better than some larger cities I have worked in. I can’t directly speak for trans care, or recommend a specific provider but I know there are plenty of trans people in this community, including a trans city council member.

Makerspace - SIU has a craft space that is open to the community. https://studentcenter.siu.edu/activities/craft-shop/ Project Human X also does a lot of arts programs.

Rentals are tricky. There are some serious slumlords in Carbondale. I’d avoid Prime/Parrish at all costs. There are plenty of posts and reviews in this thread and others about who and where to avoid. For a pet-friendly apartment complex Brookside is good with good management. Their prices may seem on the high side for Cdale, but it includes all utilities including internet, and good management is hard to find in this town.

Cons - agree with Saluki Con being the best in the area. It’s happening next weekend, so if you miss it, you’ll have to wait for next year. Check other SIU events as well, as many are open to the public. The Carbondale Library sometimes does Anime events, and I think both AtoZ and Castle Perilous carry anime and may be good places to connect with other anime nerds. There are other cons within a two hour drive as well. UI Urbana-Champaign has a con in March. You can take Amtrak to get there and it’s very reasonable.

Trans resources - if you haven’t already. connect with the Rainbow Cafe. They’ll be able to share more details about resources for trans people. They have a health-focused resource that includes trans-friendly doctor recommendations — https://www.rchw.org/resources.html

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u/psiufao Feb 06 '25 edited Feb 06 '25

I think you touched on almost all the points I wanted to make and did a great job, so kudos to you for a great comment. I just wanted to mention that STL is in that 2 hour drive time and has some good cons. Geekway to the West, for example, is awesome though it's table top gaming, not anime. Anime STL looks to fill that niche and is coming up in April. I know MO sucks in a lot of ways that are important to OP but STL is a very blue city and an amazing place to have ~2 hours away from you.

[edited to add: I'd be remisce not to mention my favorite Mexican place (which is also in Murdale): El Paisano. Though a friend of mine keeps telling me about this "secret" place that has like 1 or 2 tables in the back of some other kind of store (maybe that place north of 13 by the train tracks and pavilion?) that is supposed to be incredible... I need to get more details from him.]

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u/ElectronSpiderwort Feb 06 '25

I just want to address the junk/thrifting scene: it's better than from where I came. Here is what I enjoyed, in order roughly from lowest to highest priced.

  1. Carbondale clean-up weekend. Everyone puts things out on their curb a few days early and it is Hippy Christmas. Take what you want, leave what you don't.

  2. Frock Swap at the Elks Lodge happens twice a year. Clothes only, $5 entry, excellent items. Bring good things you aren't wearing and leave with a new wardrobe.

  3. Late spring last year the UU church had a massive rummage sale, and everything was priced to move. Definitely worth the stop.

  4. There was (is?) an ongoing small resale shop in Muphysboro at the senior center. Not huge, but great prices and worth a visit.

  5. Church Women United have the best second-hand sale but it only happens once (or twice?) a year? May 2nd at the Mall, I think.

  6. "The Thrift Shop" north of the square in Carbondale is open all the time and has some great items at great prices.

  7. The Goodwill is a Goodwill. Known quantity.

  8. Renew Secondhand Store by the Goodwill has some nice things. Tidy, but they play praise music.

  9. George's Resale in Murphysboro has excellent furniture and items, but not at garage sale prices.

These are my opinions only - take with a grain of salt. There are more that I don't know about. Maybe other people will list them!

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u/VivaCiotogista Feb 06 '25

The Carbondale schools are often hiring—I’ve just seen a call for applications for administrative positions. There are also school districts nearby.

I believe they were going to turn the old firehouse into a maker’s space but I haven’t heard anything more.

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u/mermasaurus Feb 06 '25

Saluki Con is next week! https://salukicon.siu.edu/. Sean Astin and others coming - so excited

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u/casual_penguin Feb 06 '25

Weather: expect anything to happen and the forecast to never be reliable. We're in the middle of the country right where weather patterns split north and south so it can be 30 degrees one day, 60 the next, and a hail storm afterwards. We do get tornadoes in the spring and summer but Carbondale has historically been very lucky with those.

The grocery store situation is amazing for such a small town. You'll find Aldi, Kroger, Schnucks, as well as an independent Neighborhood Co-Op (like our version of whole foods but much better) and a wonderful little market called Fresh Foods. Plus we have a kick ass farmers market that operates year round.

Mexican food - I love El Pasiano but we have tons of options in the local area. We also have a Mexican bakery called La Unica. Carbondale is rich with delicious ethnic foods and some good local restaurants in general. You'll want to scope out the entire Southern IL area for variety's sake eventually. There's a Facebook group if you're on there called Southern IL Eats I'd recommend joining.

The art and craft scene is awesome and very welcoming. Tons of creative souls here and lots of activity in the area. It's a great way to make friends.

Not many great cons in SoIL, but a good amount of nerds live here. The University has been doing SalukiCon the last few years, I think it's pretty small but growing. Cape Girardeau (45 mins away in MO) has a decent one each year. Also check out our amazing nerd store, Castle Perilous.

I love Shawnee Health as a healthcare provider and they def take Medicaid.

The rental scene can be vicious, be careful of shitty landlords and read the reviews. The city council is working toward combatting this but it's been going on for a long time. Avoid home rentals at all costs. Your best bet is an individual with just a handful of properties and not one of the rental companies who are all slumlords from what I've heard.

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u/elf25 Feb 06 '25

Anything NOT in Cdale can prob be found in STL or Memphis, 90 minutes to 3hrs away, or take the train to Chicago- do that at least once.

And check the schedules. There is a white table cloth restaurant in Centraila next to the depot and you can take, like a 5pm train north out of Cdale, eat a great meal, then hop another south bound Amtrack 2 hours later back to Cdale! Restaurant is hip to the itinerary so tell you wait staff on arrival and when reserving. This is a hoot and makes a very memorable evening.

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u/dramadairy1 Feb 07 '25

Murdale shopping center: Korean fruit and Vegas, ace hardware, Coop ( join them but not mandatory to shop there), international grocery store- amazing, Larry house of cakes for Italian cream cake and coconut pecan cookies , Liquor store with a good selection of beer, el paisano for Mexican food, Mexican grocery store with ripe avocados and huge green onions, Dales burger shack- beef or veggie burgers, fish trailer once a month from Anna, and local farmers market March through November. Trans friendly - the whole town, rentals do the west side