Wheaton versus Geneva (Chicago, Naperville, Elgin: apartments, theater, high school)

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by pandabear

Give me a break... so there is a REHAB center in wheaton..big deal. you where else they have rehab scenters, buffalo grove, barrington, hoffman estates, schaumburg, I could go on. Yes drugs are a problem, especially with suburban youth.

And why you would know that 95% of the people in a rehab are "ex inner city folks"( a completely unfounded statistic) is beyond me..did you do a stint in there or somthing....


So wheaton has an area that is "hohum". The only difference between that and Geneva is that instead of living in a shack in wheaton your going to live in a tract home in geneva. Geneva just gives off the illusion that its somthing nice, homes out there are DIRT cheap for a reason. Thats kane county.

There are a few new McMansion developments in Geneva, that are still quite lovely, but not as old-school as most of Wheaton's neighborhoods. Actually, the homes around downtown Wheaton are the same as those around downtown Geneva (wonderful Victorians, some Georgians, some Italianates, etc). I just prefer Geneva, its quieter, offers more, has great schools, excellent shopping/dining/hotels/etc. Wheaton is by no means a shabby town, but like Nanannie said, I just prefer Geneva, its lovely beyond belief.

As for the re-hab center, I new a kid in high-school who's abused mom stayed there, he was from Chicago, as was most of his buildings tenants.

[all mixed up]

Maybe they should forget both towns and go to Naperville

[gardener34]

I really like geneva, it is very very nice esp. the downtown area off of route 38. And Mill creek subdivision if want a new home. It is more in the country. Excellent downtown shopping district and geneva commons is there on randall road.

BUT if he is working in Downers grove, honestly I would say Wheaton for an easier commute. Wheaton is the same, newer homes and the downtown part has nicer more historic homes. And college of dupage is there, if you need to take classes that would be handy.

[SJohnson]

Thank you for the information, you have given me more to think about. Naperville is not out of the question either, some people seem to have very nice things to say about it, while others seem to feel it has become way too congested these days.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by SJohnson

Thank you for the information, you have given me more to think about. Naperville is not out of the question either, some people seem to have very nice things to say about it, while others seem to feel it has become way too congested these days.

Its quite congested, but only in certain areas, really. Rt. 59, Ogden and 75th are your worst, especially Rt. 59, which I avoid at all costs. If you know the town as I do, you can get anywhere taking the uncongested side roads, and its worth every minute. Naperville is a great town, its booming population increase proves that. Everyone wants in, but you cant get in these days unless youre buying a resale, theyve pushed the boundaries in every possible way.

[pandabear]

I'm simply pointing out that you(steve-o) are trying to paint some picture of wheaton that is simply, well exaggerated. Here is why

1
you claimed wheaton and their schools have gang problmes, yet the only thing really confirmed as truth is that wheaton's schools perfromed well. This evidence is available to anyone. I would like to see evidence of wheatons "gang problem".

2
you claimed a rehab center in the area (which after you described sounds more like a half way house for unfortunate) had a bunch of "ex inner city folk" that accumulated to about 95% of the centers population. And than offered no evidence, save the fact that you had a friend thier and because you or your friend percieved somthing a certain way, came up with 95%.

To me that is even more offencive because with no evidence you try topaint this false immage specific area of wheaton as being overrun with section 8 folk, like streamwood..when wheaton isnt like that at all.

Thats like trying to judge barrington around route 14, right near the village pool and skatepark. The area looks really shabby and even has migrant immigrants that live there in some of the old appartments, and yet the name barrington is reveared. No different than wheaton..except that you find one bad strip in wheaton and than base that as one of the main reasons to write the whole area off, like its not safe.

3 You cite wheatons high property values as another reason to avoid the area. The same scare tactics you are using are the same things that real estate agents did in chicago( i know because my grandfather was a real estate agent back than) you are doing now.
"Oh you don't want to live here property values are getting out of control, by the way did i mention there are some colord folk down on that street...high property values and riff raff, better off going further west..."



Now here is what i am going to point out. The average household income and average family income in wheaton is WAYYY higher than in Geneva. As is the median home value. As a result wheaton has many more tax dollars to spend, as a result they have better public amenities, such as schools, clinics, roads, police and fire, etc. I never said Geneva was a dump, by all means Geneva and St Charles are the jewels of the fox river valley. But it takes more than a riverfront downtown to keep me sold. Those cities have been putting more into their riverfronts and tracthomes than anything else and eventually over time its going to show when other amenities start suffer. Fortunatlly Geneva isnt THAT big YET.

[pandabear]

Wheaton was home to my orthodontists' and my doctors' offices...other than that i haven no connection to the city other than i grew up in a rather nice part of glen ellyn. Im lucky now I live in the northwest suburbs now. Lombard was always seen as a red headed step child to glen ellyn, where as wheaton was well the younger sister that was a bit of a tramp. Both those places (GE and wheaton) how ever are completey better than living all the way out in Geneva.

As for naperville, well naperville is basically shaumburg with a river front. Other than the downtown and the tract homes spreading further into the boonies, naperville is alot like schaumburg.

[Steve-o]

Hold up there... I never claimed Wheaton was "overrun" with Section-8 folks. Where did you get that nonsense? Visit the home Im talking about on County Farm and 38, youll see what Im talking about. Its got gangs, its got Section-8 folks, its got drugs (yes, even at a rehab center). Its located right next to St. Francis Catholic school...

And apparently you did not read my statements correctly. If you think I wrote off the whole area, youre sorely mistaken. Re-read again. End of story.

And comparing me to a real-estate agents, stating I use their "tactics", is ludicrous. Yes, Wheaton is expensive, it doesnt take a genius to figure that out. Apparently you cant see that. And if you disagree, then you need help. Geneva, while still very expensive, is more affordable than Wheaton. Not only is it a nicer town, but its downtown is better, has better shopping, equally nice schools, more amenities. Geneva is more attractive to me than Wheaton is, Id move to Geneva in a heartbeat. Besides, noone is going to move to Wheaton just because its residents pull in more $$$, so why bring that up? And also, most of Geneva is very old, especially the central districts, hardly "tract" homes like you state. Most homes in Geneva are customs and quite nice. Wheaton has many of these type of homes too, in case you didnt notice.

[pandabear]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Hold up there... I never claimed Wheaton was "overrun" with Section-8 folks. Where did you get that nonsense? Visit the home Im talking about on County Farm and 38, youll see what Im talking about. Its got gangs, its got Section-8 folks, its got drugs (yes, even at a rehab center). Its located right next to St. Francis Catholic school...

And apparently you did not read my statements correctly. If you think I wrote off the whole area, youre sorely mistaken. Re-read again. End of story.

And comparing me to a real-estate agents, stating I use their "tactics", is ludicrous. Yes, Wheaton is expensive, it doesnt take a genius to figure that out. Apparently you cant see that. And if you disagree, then you need help. Geneva, while still very expensive, is more affordable than Wheaton. Not only is it a nicer town, but its downtown is better, has better shopping, equally nice schools, more amenities. Geneva is more attractive to me than Wheaton is, Id move to Geneva in a heartbeat. Besides, noone is going to move to Wheaton just because its residents pull in more $$$, so why bring that up? And also, most of Geneva is very old, especially the central districts, hardly "tract" homes like you state. Most homes in Geneva are customs and quite nice. Wheaton has many of these type of homes too, in case you didnt notice.

Well we are never going to disagree, im pointing out that your trying to make wheaton seem bad, because of one half way house....

So i dont think wheaton is expensive...maybe i have champaigne taste...on a beer budget

The reason i bring in the fact that wheaton residents pull in more money than geneva is because its the tax dollars from those incomes and those properties which pay for the cities amenities.

All the reasons you say to move to geneva " the downtown, the shopping, the victorians", thats nice and all if you are single, or you like old country homes.. but what if you are trying to raise a family... you wanna take your daughter through town to go to soccer practice through all that commercial traffic? You want to endure a rush hour commute out to KANE county?

You speak of better amenitites in Geneva, well lets compare LIBRARIES.. is geneva's library better than wheatons? No....

Does Geneva have any local colleges...NO....

Lets compare schools...actually lets not everyone knows wheaton's schools outrank...

How about fire trucks, policeman on duty, dispatchers on duty, all more abundant in wheaton.

Like i said origionally, wheaton is a lot nicer, with less riff raff and better amenities than geneva or anywhere in KANE county for that matter.

by the way im still waiting for some evidence of gangs in wheaton...or can we just conclude there probably arnt very many gangs in wheaton besides your typical displaced wanna bes ...

[nanannie]

[quote=pandabear



Thats like trying to judge barrington around route 14, right near the village pool and skatepark.

"


.[/QUOTE] I live here.There is no skate park anywhere near the pool or anywhere in Barrington.There is a McDonalds,and many many assorted shops around the pool,nothing "rehab" about it.Other then those buying burgers,I have no idea where the migrants are hanging.God Bless them if they can afford the home prices of Barrington