Chicago, Chicago! That toddlin' town. All you see in Downstate is money. Farm land is worth thousands of dollars an acre! Illinois is a great state and the heart of America. It is too bad it has such a poor brood of politicians.

UPDATED JANUARY 28, 2009:

By genghisthehun

I'd give Illinois a 4 because I love Chicago but since this is the 'real' home of Hillary, then gotta drop it to 3 stars, sorry.

I love the city of chicago but the people are another story. Full of the scum of the earth(liberal democrats)

I love Chicago, a great city!

Illinois is very flat. The stretch of highway 55 between Springfield and Bloomington at night time is always fun because there are few cars and I can shine my laser pointer into people houses and at road signs.

Anyone who dislikes Illinois women is a sexual predator that needs to be destroyed!  I don't care!  Disabled or not, less popular people are to be forbidden in the community!  Other than that, Illinois has very beautiful scenery and the people are very polite and nice.

Dangerous, Cold, Ugly, Windy, & Boring.

Illinois is okay, Chicago is fun to visit sometimes but wouldn't want to live there.  The rest of Illinois seems to be Indiana's twin-full of hicks who think they are in the south and speak with southern accents.

Better than most, as long as you stay out of the Chicago area the cost of living isn't too high and even Chicago really isn't that bad compared to other large cities. Chicago is a bit overcrowded for my taste but the rest of the state has a reasonable population density. It seems like at any given time large stretches of either I-80 or I-88 are always under construction, which does make driving across the state a pain at times. Also, my debit card doesn't work over half the time in Illinois. What's the deal with that?

I love this state.  I'm from the midwest and I find the people in Chicago friendlier and more down to earth than other big cities. The parks are beautiful and there is so much to see and do in Illinois.  Would move there in a heartbeat if the cost of housing wasn't so high.

Chicago is the best city in IL, and definitely the capital of the Midwest. You can drive 100 miles an hour on the interstates and no one cares! Certainly not the cops, if you drive 55 they will pass you going 90. The rest of IL, while nothing special is also not terrible. Peoria and Rockford have their charm for a visit, think of the movie "A League of Their Own". While not a place for me to live, you may like it if you are into small town atmosphere.

Peoria, IL sucks! being the headquarters for the Caterpillar Corporation, you'd think that they would be able to dig us out of 14 inches of snow within 5 days!

Outside of the wonderful Chicago area- there is very little to say that is positive.

To rate this midwestern state 1 star would be unfair. It does have one of the top tiered cities of the world in Chicago. Trouble is outside of the 'Chicagoland' area, the state has nothing that comes close.

The Chicago area is top rate, as is Chamapaign-Urbana the rest is strangley lackluster- a cross between Indiana and God knows where.

The Illinoyances should keep their drivers out of Wisconsin!

I love it too and I've never been there!

Sophisticated liberal state, nice towns, home to the Simpsons, good food.

Downstate Illinois is underrated, size isn't everything. I'm from Chicago and I'm secure enough to say the cities of Peoria, Springfield, Bloomington, and Champaign-Urbana are wonderful and beat Chicago's sprawling suburbia by a long shot. Southern Illinois is also very beautiful and green, with lush forests and hills, a break from the corn fields.

The northern part of the state- which includes Chicago has its attributes- the regions to the south leave much to be desired.

Rated far too high here- outside of Chicagoland there is really nothing.

My life has been spent living in three states- Illinois (hometown), Michigan (college), and Missouri (adult life). Of these three, Illinois was by far the best. I lived in the south suburbs of Chicago and so many doors were opened by this experience. The culture abounds in this stirring landscape, where the differences between people can really be appreciated. I spent some time living in the southern part of Illinois as well, and although I would not say it was enchanting or exhilarating, it was definitely aesthetically pleasing in its own way and peaceful as well. [For reference, I lived near big cities in all of these states (Chicago, Lansing, and St. Louis), so the experiences are comparable.]

Nothing really too exciting going on here outside of the Chicago area. Some of the Lincoln stuff is ok. But physically the state is boring , and the people downstate are mostly nice quiet conservatives. Climate actually not too bad here.

I haven't been through most of Illinois -- but from what I have seen, it's pretty OK. I drove through Chicago when I was nine -- but the rest of the time I spent in Southern Illinois near the Carbondale area and I am starting school there in the fall. Being from up north, admittedly, Southern Illinois does have some odd people that are behind the times -- but it is far less conservative than Kentucky and Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and all of those southern bible belt states. Much due to the presence of SIUC, Southern Illinois is a growing community. And yes, it is a place where people will look at you odd if you are an out of towner --but wouldn't you look at them odd if they came up north? Southern Illinois has beautiful sunsets and the landscape is magnificent.

As mentioned below Illinois is the all American State. Chicago rocks! It's skyline is magnificent and Lake Michigan is a very stimulating body of water and makes a great setting for the city. Outside of Chicago lies the quintesential midwest and a lot of farmland. It's not a spectacular landscape but it is very pretty in it's own way and very peaceful. Illinois has a whole lot of friendly people as well which you don't encounter as much on the coasts.

Allaround nice state. Chicagoland is like that All American area. Love it there.

This is my true homeland, and whenever I go home to visit relatives, it feels so good to see all those soybean fields and gorgeous sunsets they have there. Not everyone can enjoy this, but just the feeling of home is a great feeling.EDIT: It's funny how many people put such little stock in farming. If you have miles of fields, I would think that would be a GREAT thing, especially in this time of huge developing throughout the USA. Illinois and all the midwest has a lot of stuff to offer,but it's main reason to exist is to provide food, for us and for livestock, which in turn provides milk, cheese and meat. You might not find it thrilling because there's no man-made recreation for miles. There's woods to explore and streams to fish in and all sorts of places kids can have fun. You don't have to have rollercoasters and whatever else to have fun. You can't go to those places on a daily basis anyway, so what's so wrong with some wide open country land?

what i herd from this, i would never think of going there!

The longest year I ever spent was the two weeks I was in Chicago. The weather was terrible muggy oppressive heat and then tornados. John Hancock building was ok but I was not impressed with the rest of it.

I think if you're looking for the heart of America, Midwest atmosphere with the open fields and wide blue skies, Illinois is your place, although I would avoid Metropolis -one gigantic flea market and a gambling boat. I was not impressed. Chicago is a different story. The skyline is beautiful; the museums are great. I like the food and the downtown atmosphere. But most of all, I loved waking up and opening the drapes in my hotel room to the magnificent view of Lake Michigan.

No ocean!

Chicagoland is a great North American City- the rest of the state is rather uninteresting.

I hate Illinois. East St. Louis isnt as dumpy as some say from the interstate, St. Louis, Missouri is far worse. However, Chicago is very boring for the very large city. To many industrial sites, to close to Downtown Chicago. The buses look old, unreliable and unsafe. Effingham is likely the nicest city in Illinois.

Chicago is gorgeous, but the state as a whole is largely uninteresting.

When i think of Illinois, the first thing i think if is Lanford, yes, i know its not a real town but it just is what i think of. I also think of Chicagoland, Chicagoland i could live in quite comfortably, and maybe Rockford. a town like Lanford, which i am sure is based on some real Illinois town or in many ways just happens to be like one, is another story. If everyone in Illinois outside or Chicago or Rockford is like the people in the made up town of Lanford, i don't think i would really want to live there.

Illinois is Chicago- and its a great city! The rest of the state is flat and part of the cornbelt- the southern part of the state is part of the bible belt.

Chicago is great (the downtown section). The rest of the state, not so great. In fact this state would be another Iowa or Nebraska without Chicago.

I moved to West-Central IL from South-West Missouri. I'm not really that impressed. If I liked cornfields, I would be in heaven. I live in a small town where the roll up the sidewalks at 8PM and it takes an hour to get to Springfield, which is the biggest city we can easily get to. Not bad, not good...just ok I guess. I miss Missouri.

What is Illinois anyway? It's really seven small states packed into one. You have Chicagoland. Then there is the northern tier of the state which includes Galena that is a lot like southern Wisconsin. The Quad Cities area is unique and distinctive, and of course the Iowa side of the river counts here too. The greatest part geographically is one big corn field, but thankfully some of the original prairies are being restored. Springfield and vicinity because the state government resides there kind of stands apart and a large part of SW Illinois is suburban St. Louis which is part of Missouri. Southern Illinois has more in common with parts of Kentucky than it does with the rest of Illinois. So Illinois is a fractured decentralized place that in many ways lacks an identity that is so much a part of other American states. It's not on the ocean and outside of Chicago is quite ordinary, lacking any spectacular geographical features. Still, in many ways it is the most American state of all. It's got more than its share of history and intrigue even if you take Chicago out of the mix. There are no mountains or oceans or famous national parks. Still, to me the simplicity and beauty of a pristine Illinois prairie is a rare site to behold.

Ok, im from Metro East St Louis. For those of you who dont know that means i'm just east across the river from St. Louis. Yes Southern Illinois has its fair share of hicks and rednecks, but it is still a great place to live. I have never had any serious problems with people from any area of the state, with the exception of Cub Fans of course. Go Cards

amazing, everyone likes to bash and trashtalk but lets' take a step back and look at ourselves and the states we all live in. Want me to bash NY? Cali? nope, I won't bash what makes this country it is, the People. Reflect what this Weekend was and if you don't like what this country has to offer then leave. Remember, NO ONE is perfect.

I have the misfortune of being stuck in Southern Illinois right now but I am going to run away from this place like a bat with it's a$$ on fire as soon as possible. This place is a god awful garbage dump with lots of junk trailers and dumpy houses with one car in the yard that works and three that don't. Popular fashions here are the mullet, the Ku Klux Klan look ( skinned or shaved head), camouflage clothing ( even when not going hunting), baseball caps, and beards that have not been trimmed in months. We have the ugliest guys and some very, very butt ugly women who can't even wear anything that matches and weigh 300 and 400 lbs and insist on showing off their bodies by wearing tight clothing and halter tops. The people here are a bunch of weirdos who have no knowledge of the outside world and won't even talk to you if you happen to be an outsider or evn slightly different than themselves. People here are toothless, ignorant,inbred, smelly, unbathed, unkept nasty pigs. They are not friendly at all, either. They stare at you and won't even say hello. As far as entertainment if you don't like to get drunk, camp, hunt, or fish you will die of boredom here. There is no variety, diversity, education, decent paying jobs, public transportation, NO good health care, and if you visit be sure to rewind your watch about 50 or 60 years!

For me Illinois mostly means Chicago, and I do like Chicago. It's a city on par with any other in America, but the people are much warmer than Boston or New York (though the weather, unfortunately, is not). Pretty decent mass transit system too, especially if you live near an El. It's got it's problems and it's share of bad spots but it really seems to be on the right track at the moment. The few times I went down state I liked that pretty well too. For someone so used to mountains the landscape was a little blah, but it's pretty in it's own way, and the people are nice.

When I moved to Illinois from a much nicer place I felt like I had died and gone to Hell. I don't think St. Olaf was ever in Minnesota (as Rose spoke of so often in Golden Girls) I think it was in Southern Illinois. People in this area think mullets are a pretty good idea. This area is 15-20 years behind the times, mostly low income, poorly educated, obese, addicted to tobacco (or meth, or both) and some of the rudest people to crawl out from under their trailers than a Steven Spielberg movie effect could conjure. Thankfully we're higher income, college educated and reside in a secluded subdivision away from these mongrel-bred, barely educated schleps who have no dream, no desire, no direction and no brains. I only hope to move to a much more civilized area even if it is near Chicago just so someone will know what the heck I'm talking about if I ask them who Mannheim Steamroller is. And they have bad teeth too...scary.

this is the greatest state in the union. People say they are from chicago because they are from Chicagoland which encompasses about 10 million people. Southern Illionis is also great, a little bit country, but some great views.

You all really have tolook past southern illinois, which i admit sucks, but northern illinois is awesome. it has wonderful, quaint small towns full of good people and good charectar. if you are concerned about crime look at Galena, it is one of the cities with the least crime. And no one here is all that rude.

i dont think ive seen any other state in the midwest with less water than this state, sure, they have a few big rivers, but hardly any lakes, the people (especially in southern illinois) are a bit weird. this state is irrelevant without chicago

Rating it a 2 because Illinois' residents know how to drive on the freeway. I agree with nmysz about Wisconsin dominating Illinois.

First of all, I'm very insulted by the people who say that those from Illinois are bad people. Just because you've had some bad experiences with just a few residents doesn't mean that everyone in the entire state is mean. Good Lord, talk about being judgemental! Personally, as someone born in DeKalb IL (not far from Chicago) I DO NOT think I am from Chicago - we say this because this is pretty much the only city that people outside of the midwest are familiar with in Illinois. As for there not being much...ya'll just have do a google search to find tons of things to do. We're not a bunch of rude hicks in a nothing state and if you think that then you are deserve whatever bad treatment you get. Illinois is the type of place where if you are nice we are nice. And we try to be nice right the beginning. And no, Wisconsin does not dominate this hell hole. If you take just five minutes to compare the two states you'd find that Illinois has a strong influence on southern Wisconsin while Canada has a strong influence on northern Wisconsin. Try not to be so hasty in judging a location and it's people. We may not be perfect and we never say we are but we try to be helpful. Hell, just walk down Michigan Ave. in Chicago, ask for directions, and you're more likely to have someone actually SHOW you the way rather than just tell you. At least, if it's summertime that is. By the way, DeKalb is known for Cindy Crawford, Isaac Elwood (inventor of Barbed Wire), and the NIU Huskies. We are not a hell hole.

Chicago and everything surrounding it in the state of Illinois (pronounced Ill-a-noise because of all the racket in it's horrible signature city) can get lost!! Worst sports' fans in the country.