Relocating to St. Charles or Geneva, IL

[maia71]

We're considering a move to St. Charles or Geneva. We have an infant son and two dogs. We're interested in learning more about each of these areas. What are these communities like? Are the schools good? Are they family friendly? What's the real estate market like? Thanks!

[gingerstar]

They do have good schools - each community has schools which were listed in the top 50 in Chicagoland. There are also Montessori and Waldorf schools within reasonable driving, if you prefer those.

I wouldn't call it a "crunchy" area, but the La Leche League group is terrific, and you should be able to find like-minded friends, pretty much whatever your interests.

The housing is pricey for the Fox Valley area, but reasonable for Chicagoland. Not sure where you are coming from, so hard to compare. My old boss moved here from PA, and nearly had heart failure at the prices.

Any specifics I could answer?

[purplelilacs]

They are both quaint little river communities. We live equidistant to both and frequent Geneva often, but St. Charles (downtown) very little. My perception is that St. Charles is much more middle class and Geneva is upper middle class. The downtowns seem to reflect this, though in the outskirts of both towns (which basically merge), I am not sure you will find too much difference.

I have heard good things about both school districts, but impressions of Geneva's schools have been higher. Geneva has also has a good park district. Geneva is on the train line down to the city and St. Charles is not.

When seaching for a house 5 years ago, we could not have afforded Geneva. We could have afforded St. Charles, but it was still a bit high for us, but the main factor was distance to my DH's work. They are both pretty far west so you might want to consider that. The roads in to both towns, Route 64 to St. Charles and Route 38 into Geneva get quite clogged up during evening rush hour.

I think you would be happy in either suburb, though if I had to pick, I would choose Geneva without question, particularly in terms of being family friendly - not that St. Charles isn't, but I just think Geneva has a lot more to offer.

[punkrawkmama27]

If we had the money we would have moved to Geneva/St. Charles. It is a really nice area. I used to work at Animal HOuse Veterinary Hospital in St. Charles on rts. 38 and randall road. I really liked it out there. I have heard alot about how great the schools are out there. My sister lives about 5 minutes outside of St. Charles in unincorporated south Elgin and it is very quiet and peaceful there.

If you like antiquing (like we do) or country crafts, Geneva has a lot of great stores!

[yogamerd]

Hello, I live in Winfield, IL - which is about 10 minutes east of where you are talking about. Apart from the 4 years I lived in Colorado, I have lived in this area my whole life. The area is VERY family/kid friendly (all of the west suburbs of Chicago are that way). The schools are very good. I think that both have a very cute/quaint/fun downtown. As far as real estate market, it is kind of the same old story ALL OVER the U.S... however, one of my dearest friends in the whole wide world (and a heck of a nice guy) is a real estate agent in the area. Miraculously, he is doing very well in these tough times (I guess that speaks to his talent/charm). Private message me if you want his contact information. Either way, best of luck to you and your family

[stealthmode]

Hi there,

I grew up in Elgin and St. Charles, and attended school in St. Charles from elementary on up. It's a really nice town. It's not diverse AT ALL (I had one non-white student in my entire graduating class of 450). I would consider that a major drawback now, but at the time I hardly noticed.

Geneva is fantastic, very posh and the schools are even better than STC. The biggest downside that I have heard is that real estate tax is very high there. The nice thing about living in St. Charles is that you are super close to Geneva, but you don't have to pay for the privilege. You may also want to consider Batavia.

Overall, they are great towns to live in, and I have no complaints about growing up there. In fact, my husband and I are considering moving back there soon--we live in California now and it's even more crazy-expensive out here! It makes St. Charles seem cheap...all relative I guess.