St. Charles VS. Geneva (Chicago, Aurora: foreclosures, crime, lenders)

[atcshane2]

I figure they're similar, but which would you choose to live in? Does either one have more of a sense of community than the other? What about polution and crime?

Thx!

[gardener34]

I live in St. Charles so naturally I am biased. It seems that St. Charles town has much more housing that is considered affordable, like smaller ranches and the like. As well as the multi million dollar homes that tend to be in St. Charles township. So there is something for everyone there. Geneva seems very expensive (possible exception, east side housing).

Neither town has a huge crime problem from what I see. School systems are both excellent. Geneva gets an edge because of its downtown shopping district though. And its proximity to the larger shopping areas along Randall road if shopping is important to you. St. charles is currently doing a very large (and it is taking forever!) remodel of their downtown to make it a riverwalk, so it remains to be seen how that will go. Right now there are numerous pubs. And a few good restaurants in SC.

St. charles has pottawatomie park and a nice library, and an excellent park district.

Geneva has a train, St. Charles does not. Although most people drive and park at Geneva station to take the metra. Ourselves, we drive the 90 to Cumberland, park and get on the el to the loop.

You can't go wrong with either.

[atcshane2]

Thx gardener for the quick response...

So would you agree that if we end up buying a house right near the river, that Geneva is more "set up" at this point? My wife and I love a "walkable" area, especially one with decent restaurants and shops.

[Drover]

Six of one, half-dozen of the other. The primary advantage I see of one having over the other is:

1) St. Charles over Geneva for high school facilities

2) Geneva over St. Charles for Metra access if that's a factor.

They both have walkable downtowns with nice little restaurants and shops. Geneva has the added bonus of the 3rd Street shopping corridor right off of downtown.

[sgresident]

I grew up in the rural st. charles area. depending on what you want, either one would be good. If you have kids, you might want to consider st. charles. their are two high schools and numerous middle schools. in geneva, there is one high school and two middle schools(both on the same site). st. charles library is better than geneva, but I hear that geneva wants to build a new library. park districts..st. charles probably has the edge there too. quaint, walkable shopping..I would give that to geneva. st. charles has an ok downtown, not near as nice as geneva. geneva has two great farmers markets..one on thursday, and the french market on sunday. the geneva commons shopping is also nice. commuters have the train in geneva. so, all in all, it just depends on which features are more important to you.

[chet everett]

While I like aspects of both towns, and have friends that live in both, those that work in the broader Fox Valley are much happier with their choice than those that must commute toward Chicago.

The train service is OK, but not as efficient as the Metra to Naperville or even Aurora.

As as far comparing St. Charles to Geneva the differences can be neighborhood by neighborhood, with newness and price being a factor too. The school rankings are not top tier, but neither is either troubling in any way, though many folks do question the results for the taxes and there are fairly healthy private schools that attract a good number of students too...

[TennisDD]

These two fox valley burbs are both delightful. They both have old school downtowns with plenty of shopping & dining.
If you like bars, St. Charles is a no brainer for there are plenty of pubs around. I would say St. Charles is for younger, Geneva for older due to all the anitque shops in Geneva(i.e. Little Traveler)
The first street project may seem slow, but is acutally going quite well with the economic conditions and will look fabulous when completed.
If gardener thinks that is taking forever, go check out communities like Elburn or Sugar Grove where there is a whole lot of nothing. I think Sugar Grove still only has that one restaraunt.

The only downfall is commuting to Chicago. No highway directly to either burb. Kind of in the middle of 88 and 90. Good luck for they are both great choices.

[gardener34]

yeah - if you want do a daily commute, live closer into the city for sure. 1 hour and 10 from Geneva to the downtown on metra.
Yeah - not much going on in Elburn, but it is developing as well as is sugar grove... and all the growing pains that come with it I am sure. I do know several people in Elburn who like that town as well. I personally would like an east side of st. charles home, so I could walk to Pottawatomie park... if I could move that is what I would do. In st. charles and Geneva both, Getting across the river on North ave. and route 38, during rush hours can be bad traffic.

[dcsae]

My husband looked at a few houses in the St. Charles area yesterday and the realtor mentioned that the property values have dropped due to the new Kane County Jail. He thought she said it was in Geneva, but when I checked it out, it looked like it was in St. Charles. I have never heard anything about this, and was a little surprised.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by dcsae

My husband looked at a few houses in the St. Charles area yesterday and the realtor mentioned that the property values have dropped due to the new Kane County Jail. He thought she said it was in Geneva, but when I checked it out, it looked like it was in St. Charles. I have never heard anything about this, and was a little surprised.

The Kane County lock up is REALLY NICE. I think the HORRIBLE MESS that lenders have created with their WHIPSAW from ridiculous leniency to hyper scrutiny have roiled property values a HECKUVA LOT MORE than anything the County has built.

Heck, even if you are talking about a neighborhood that backed up to the facility the fact that there are HUNDREDS of foreclosures in the area is A LOT BIGGER DEAL than a facility that most houses people that get put in the klink for a weekend DUI than anything else...