The quiet community of Monticello
The quiet residential community of Monticello is popular with homebuyers looking for highly rater schools, a vibrant park system and proximity to the cities of Champaign, Decatur and Bloomington. "It's a really great place to raise a family," says Realtor Steve Littlefield with Keller Williams Realty. "It's a quaint little village."
Bungalows, ranch-style and New Traditional homes
Monticello has mostly single-family homes. Housing options include older bungalows, midcentury ranch-style homes and New Traditional homes. "They do have some new construction going in, so they have some opportunities there," Littlefield says. Neighborhood streets in Monticello are often tree-lined. Some have sidewalks. Homes here sell for between $100,000 and $700,000, but an occasional older fixer-upper may sell below that, and a spacious new build may sell above that. Monticello has a 2 out of 10 CAP Index Crime Score, well below the national average of 4.
Learning in Monticello Community Unit School District No. 25
Monticello Community Unit School District No. 25 gets an A-minus grade from Niche. Washington Elementary School receives a B-plus, White Health Elementary School gets an A, and Monticello Middle School and Monticello High School get A-minuses. Monticello High School offers dual credit courses with Parkland College and Eastern Illinois University. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 22 miles away, enrolls about 35,000 undergraduate students annually.
Parks, trails and a swimming pool
Monticello has three parks, two trails, a dog park, a driving range, a community center and a swimming pool. Nick's Park is a 1-acre community park with a playground and a walking path. East Prairie Bicycle & Walking Path is a mile-long trail that welcomes walkers, cyclists, runners and roller bladers. Monticello Family Aquatic Center, or "The MFAC," is a community pool with six swimming lanes and a water slide.
Local restaurants, grocery shopping and fast food
"It's a very self-sufficient city," Littlefield says. "Anything you need to live, you can get there, from groceries to small shops to car dealerships." 3Ravens Food & Spirits is a local Irish-American pub and restaurant. Filippo's Pizza is a cozy local restaurant founded by Italian immigrants in the 1970s. Residents get groceries from County Market and can pick up fast food from chains like McDonald's, Dairy Queen and Subway.
Kirby Medical Center and Willard Airport
Monticello sits just south of Interstate 72, about 20 miles from Champaign, 30 miles from Decatur and 45 miles from Bloomington. Kirby Medical Center provides both primary care and emergency room services. To travel out of town, residents can drive 19 miles east to Willard Airport, which offers nonstop flights to Chicago O'Hare and Dallas-Fort Worth.