What about St. Charles and Geneva? (Chicago, Aurora: condo, hotels, new home)

[waldo]

I read where Kane County has some of the lowest property taxes in that area of Illinois...is that true? I will be working in the area but will not have to travel downtown so commute to city is not an issue. How are those two cities for family life and the schools? Seems like housing would be more affordable than Naperville and some of the the other "popular" cities nearby.

[llama214]

Kane County more than likely does have higher taxes. Neighboring DuPage is way ovepriced for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

When we were looking at houses in that area, when we moved back from Indy, our personal standards were: safe area with high educational standards, clean and well kept, low commercial and zero industrial, powerful healthcare system, since that is the buisness I'm in, and a small town feel without to much of the country lifestyle.

Our top five list was(in no particular order): Plainfield, St. Charles, N. Aurora, Oswego, and Geneva. We loved Hawthorne Woods, but I'm afraid that is where my superior medical supervisors would choose to set up shop. To pricey for me!

While all of these towns fit our bill, St. Charles was our dominant choice. Both Genva and SC are beautiful, and IMO are the best places to live in western burbs. They really have that small town feel, but give you everything at your fingertips. Even though we didn't settle down up there, I would have very little problem moving up there when we are ready to retire.

Towns that I would personally avoid: Aurora(to big and total small town loss) Naperville(gorgeous, but is still just a huge extension of neighboring Aurora) Carpentersville(I was lost in that town for a few hours and was rather unnerved) Joliet(can be nice, but need to stay as close to the west side as possible) Elgin(not a very nice area at all) and of course there are other smaller areas that are just not up to specific standards. They stick out like a sore thumb, next to all the wealth that is poured into the area, so they won't be hard to miss.

Batavia is not bad, but has its run down areas. When we lived in Fishers, Indiana, and then moved to Bloomington, we thought that the town must be bad just because the west side of the town is rather rundown as well. This was a little shocker just because that is just not seen in Fishers, unless you make your way into the city. Believe me, just because a part of the town is run down doesn't mean that it is bad. Afterall, Bloomington-Normal has two huge universities, and a run down area, and is still labeled as one of the best areas to live in the coutry. But with Geneva and St. Charles you really can't go wrong. Good choice! Hope it works out for the very best!

[Drover]

The school districts in both are quite good. In my opinion the St. Charles school district gets more attention than it deserves (fueled, I believe, by its proximity to two iffy school districts, Elgin/U-46 and West Chicago) whereas the Geneva school district does not get enough attention. Each district has high expecations of its students and pushes them to meet those expectations. I would not have any qualms sending my kids to either. In fact, I am a product of the St. Charles school district.

As for property taxes, I guess it's relative. My parents live in Geneva and their property taxes are, in my estimation, borderline outrageous; but I've seen worse.

[Steve-o]

Both are nice towns, but Id give the nod to Geneva, its more quaint, has a better downtown, etc. Both have great school districts and both towns are very scenic, lots to do. If you need more info just ask, I spend lots of time in both towns, and lived in St. Charles as well for awhile.

Oh taxes, Im sure theyre pretty comparable to areas of DuPage, maybe a slight bit less. If youre into towns like St. Charles/Geneva, try your hand at Wheaton or Glen Ellyn, those are lovely towns as well. There is also Bartlett and Wayne and Warrenville, nice towns!

[llama214]

Oh, and I would be carful about where and what you eat up there. Geneva just had a really bad outbreak of some virus. I don't think anybody died, but some were sent to the hospital. Although it must not be that bad, if our local media was reporting it, then it must have crossed the line somewhere.

[waldo]

Thanks for the replies folks. How about Sycamore area? I think that's Dekalb county? Schools, taxes? Still suburban lifestyle with cheaper houses?

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by waldo

Thanks for the replies folks. How about Sycamore area? I think that's Dekalb county? Schools, taxes? Still suburban lifestyle with cheaper houses?

I lived in Sycamore for a year and liked it. Where do you plan on working? Its a bit far out, but worth the drive. I used to drive 40 miles one way to work, would take me about 35-40 minutes. Not too bad considering...

Sycamore has a cute downtown with some nice bars, hotels, ma n pa shops. The schools arent that great, but are far from bad. We put our son in school out there and ended up taking him out and putting him in a private school before we moved. The teachers there dont seem to like to spend much time with the kids. Of course thats not true for ALL of them, but teh two he had seemed to neglect the kids in our eyes. Made me sad...

The houses are cheaper since its in DeKalb county and taxes are less than Chicagoland, but you also pay for it with less shopping, dining, etc. Rt. 23 runs between DeKalb and Sycamore and has some decent stuff, but its all strip malls and average chains... although there is a Portillos out there (mmmm). There used to be a Za Za Trattoria, but it closed down and moved to St. Charles. There are some beautiful new homes (500K and up) along Rt. 23 north of Rt. 64 and nice condo developments going in. Soon enough Sycamore will get discovered and outgrow itself.