You drive to Bloomington and hang out there for a change of scenery

You remember the Manual Rams basketball state championships

You’ve ever been to the Heart of Illinois Fair

Mayor Maloof is the only mayor you’ll acknowledge

You’re familiar with the term ‘Molinarmy’

Going out to eat is your #1 thing to do with friends

You’ve been to Bicycle Safety Town

You consider University Street during evening hours as ‘rush hour traffic’

You rep the Bears and Cubs as if you live right in the middle of Chicago

Whenever you tell someone you’re from Peoria they immediately ask you how far it is from Chicago

You know the bad things they say about Pekin

You’re always telling everyone you plan on moving to Chicago but for some reason still live in Peoria

You can’t imagine life without Caterpillar

You get that warm fuzzy feeling when you’re approaching the city from I-74 when you’re about to cross the bridge

Your idea of ‘twin towers’ are totally different than everyone else’s

You’re totally into the bar scene only because there isn’t really any other scene to be into

You still don’t understand the whole ‘Peoria Heights’ thing

You wonder why Bloomington always gets everything years before Peoria does

You’re adamant about the fact that Peoria is equal distance between St. Louis and Chicago

You’ve attended the Festival of Lights

You really can’t give a good answer to the question ‘why do you live here’?

The Shoppes at Grand Prairie is about as fancy as it gets

You never go to Rivermen games but would raise hell if the team ever left town

You just found out Peoria has an indoor football team

You remember the glory that was the Gus Macker tournament downtown

Two words: Steamboat Days

The downtown area is still a little cool to you for some reason

The awesome view at the lookout tower in Peoria Heights gets you every time

You can always impress visitors from out of town by taking them on Grand View Drive

You shake your head when approaching and leaving the Greater Peoria Regional Airport

You know the words to the ‘Goldie & Gus’ song

CityLink will always be known as GP Transit to you

Some of the one way streets downtown are just a bit much and still give you fits when driving around down there

You still call Nova Cinemas ‘Landmark’

Dating someone who went to another high school than yours made you pretty cool

You bought new outfits for the following occasions: Fee Day, Gus Macker, the Fair, Taste of Peoria, Steamboat Days, the Manual vs. Central basketball games

You can count the number of times District 150 schools closed due to bad weather on one hand

You think going to ICC for a couple years then transferring to a big university is a good idea

That KMart at Evergreen Plaza will always be Venture to you

You’ve gone to the grocery store with someone from out of town and they’re baffled that you can actually buy any type of booze you want from the grocery store!

It gets no hipper than hanging out at Barnes & Nobles or One World

You LOVE Avantis food

You remember when the Tree of Lights was actually something worth looking at instead of what it is now

You remember spending Saturdays cruisin for hotties at Northwoods Mall

You know at least a few people you grew up with that had a kid before the age of 21

You know at least a few people you grew up with that had a kid before the age of 18

You could answer the question ‘What is Richard Pryor’s hometown’? when most people in the country couldn’t

You would never go to Bradley because it costs too much

You cringe at the thought of what might be swimming around in the Illinois River

You’ve been somewhere and tried to make yourself look cool by saying you’re from Chicago instead of saying
you’re from Peoria

Culver’s is the best

You’ll call people you know to tell them where the cheap gas is

The car you’re driving was obtained somewhere on or near Pioneer Parkway

You remember KZ93.3 radio station

You remember the ‘all new’ B92 radio station

You LOVE the Bob & Tom show

You know what the term ‘Brown Bag’ is!!

You remember The Al Capone sign above Big Al’s and got upset that it was taken down.

You thought it was stupid that Peoria City Counsel allows strip clubs but hesitated on a Hooters.

You think it’s normal to wear pants five sizes too big and hanging 3/4 the way down your *^%…

You know people who think drinking at the bars til 4 am every night is a normal lifestyle

Playing darts and/or pool is a livelihood

You think Willie York should be mayor

You hear people boasting about Mudvayne being from here and enjoy the multitude of bands that try to sound exactly like them

karaoke is bigger than open mic nights

You notice more people go to see cover bands than they do original bands

You really thought you were going to die in three days when you touched the door at Stone Church and were chased down the road by the Farmer’s Haunted Truck