PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A lifelong Peoria resident is sharing his love for the city and the outdoor through a new online resource.
Peoria Outdoor Adventure is a website created by local realtor Mark Monge, who said the purpose of the site is to shine a positive light on Peoria and all the amenities it has to offer.
“I tried to point out all the different positive things the area has to offer. I’ve loved living here, I’ve lived here my entire life,” said Monge.
From 27 miles of bike trails to a vibrant arts scene and summer farmers markets, Monge said Peoria has something to do for everyone. You just have to know where to look.
“You might need to look a layer deeper or lean in a little bit more, but it has absolutely everything here…It’s just a matter of finding it, it’s a matter of wanting to find it, it’s a matter of wanting to be positive about what’s out there,” he said.
Lifelong Peoria resident Dave Poehls said the city is conducive to a healthy outdoor lifestyle.
There’s a lot of hiking opportunities, our park system is outstanding. I think our trails, our bike trails are great. We’ve reinvigorated that some. We used to have trains running through the middle of town, now we have bike trails,” he said.
Monge said Peoria offers everything a big city has, minus the traffic and high cost of living.
“We’ve got among the lowest costs of living anywhere. Its tough to go any place else in the country and find as affordable as it is here,” he said.
JD Dalfonso, president and CEO of Discover Peoria, said he’s encouraged when residents do something positive for Peoria.
“That is a true reflection of residents taking pride in where they live, building off of their passions, and informing others about what they know and love about greater Peoria as it pertains to the outdoors,” he said.
Whether you’re city-minded or prefer the farm life, Monge said you can find your niche and everything in between.
“You can be anywhere from the city to the country to the suburbs to downtown in 15 minutes. You can be in the middle of a river or in the middle of a cornfield,” he said.
