The Big 3 in the Fox valley (Chicago, Naperville: house, buying, good schools)

[westburbsil]

Curious which suburb people on here find to be the best of the Fox Valley area: St. Charles, Geneva, or Batavia.

Here are some pros and cons of each

St. Charles
Pro's - Great schools, wonderful park district, downtown is lively as any suburb outside Naperville. Aracada is a treasure with big time acts as of late, beautiful fox river, plenty of fine dine and quality restaraunts, along with plentiful bar scene. A wide variety of housing stock.

Cons- No metra train service, highway access limited, high property taxes


Geneva
Pro's - Downtown maybe as mayberry as you can get. 3rd street maybe on the best streets in Sugar Suburbia with it's variety of shops, restaraunts, metra, etc. Schools are very good. More small town feel than St. Charles

Cons- Highway access limited, high property tax as well


Batavia

Pros- Highway access the best of the 3. Closest to I-88, closer also to premium outlets, plenty of chain restaraunts on Randall. Home prices much more affordable, good schools

Cons- No metra train service, downtown the worst of the three, but potential there.


My personal pick is a tie between Geneva and St. Charles.

How about you?

[Vlajos]

St Charles

[aga412]

Judging by my thread, I think we know my answer is Batavia. I think there's a lot less attitude in Batavia despite the fact that all three suburbs have relatively the same income per family. And schools are on par with St. Charles, it's not like St. Charles is "great" and Batavia is only "good." Batavia has more room to grow, and the rural areas of Batavia on the far east and west sides are gorgeous to live in/drive through.

[rfr69]

I would probably pick Elburn however that will be just like the other three if the RE market ever gets back to normal.

[linicx]

Which one has the properties zoned for horses?

[gardener34]

St. Charles township is in unincorporated Kane county. In unincorporated Kane county, if you are zoned F (farm) you can have any type of livestock, any amounts of livestock, on only a half acre of land, if they are housed 100 feet away from a residence (not your own) only needs to be 5 feet from the lot line for a pen/stable. In St. charles township, MUCH of it is zoned F even if it looks like a subdivision, esp. in older subdivisions right up and down the river, which is nice in theory, BUT your neighbor can house a pig right outside your dining room window or next to your outdoor patio and there ain't jack you can do about it. Call the zoning dept to get the lowdown on any property you are buying in unincorporated Kane to see what is allowed to see if you can "deal". Zoned F means just about anything goes.

Kane finally passed a blight ordinance a couple of years ago because of this zoned F being unenforceable issue.

Personally I like St. Charles and Geneva equally. Although I have to say the taxes out here are sure high for an area with hardly any train service and barely any jobs. Nice places to live, hardly any one works in these towns... most people I know work in either Schaumburg or Naperville. Good schools I guess.

Also as a note, St. Charles township (where I live and tends to get lumped into the "St. Charles" umbrella) rarely sprays for mosquitoes. Yes, they get real bad. I believe the town of SC does spray though. I am sure all the "river towns" have the bug problem.

Kane county in general has an AWESOME forest preserve system btw - so if you like outdoor activities biking, canoeing, fishing, etc. this is the place to be.

[sgresident]

I think all 3 of the tri-cities are interchangeable. Batavia has always been the most-down-to-earth and never get the same respect as st. charles and geneva. Geneva was always considered the cream of the crop when I was growing up. st. charles was always number two and batavia a distant number 3. Over the years, because st. charles had more room to grow and expanded outward, they got some really high-end homes and became a bit more snobbish. geneva still kept its reputation as more classy, old school. Batavia really developed the randall road corridor and moved up the ladder with its reputation. So, making a choice would require deciding what is most important to you...access to metra, easier access to the tollway or ability to access randall road with all the shopping and eating establishments. Heck, just go further west to the next layer of communities! Elburn, Sugar Grove!

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by westburbsil

Curious which suburb people on here find to be the best of the Fox Valley area: St. Charles, Geneva, or Batavia.

Here are some pros and cons of each

St. Charles
Pro's - Great schools, wonderful park district, downtown is lively as any suburb outside Naperville. Aracada is a treasure with big time acts as of late, beautiful fox river, plenty of fine dine and quality restaraunts, along with plentiful bar scene. A wide variety of housing stock.

Cons- No metra train service, highway access limited, high property taxes


Geneva
Pro's - Downtown maybe as mayberry as you can get. 3rd street maybe on the best streets in Sugar Suburbia with it's variety of shops, restaraunts, metra, etc. Schools are very good. More small town feel than St. Charles

Cons- Highway access limited, high property tax as well


Batavia

Pros- Highway access the best of the 3. Closest to I-88, closer also to premium outlets, plenty of chain restaraunts on Randall. Home prices much more affordable, good schools

Cons- No metra train service, downtown the worst of the three, but potential there.


My personal pick is a tie between Geneva and St. Charles.

How about you?

I think you summed up the pros and cons well, and I think its great to have all three so close that are all similar but a little different.

St. Charles: Most lively downtown, the best if you are single.
Geneva: Best if you are looking for the most small town feel.
Batavia: Most practical for a middle class family.

The Fox River Valley is a unique gem of Chicagoland.

[Chummy Waters]

Wonderfull towns all, since I can park my van by the river in any of them and go for a swim with friends.

[westburbsil]

Thank you all for the responses. Today in Geneva is Swedish Day. Anyone from the Fox Valley area should come on out, it is really a neat time for the town. I agree with most responses. No one town is better, it is more what you prefer. For me it is Geneva, with St. Charles coming up rignt next to it. This whole area has really changed and grown in the last 10 -20 years and I think for the most part the better.

Now to go to rural undeveloped areas you have to go all the way out to Elburn, Maple Park, or Sugar Grove. Some like and some dislike Randall Road with all the shopping and dining. I personally like it. Now I don't have to leave the area for all shopping.

Also our restaraunt scene is without a doubt on par or even greater than most suburban areas. So much selection for fine dining.