Batavia (Aurora, St. Charles, Geneva: apartments, homes, neighborhoods) - Chicago Suburbs - Illinois (IL) - City-Data Forum

aga412 · 06-08-2011, 10:07 PM

I stumbled across these forums recently, and saw that my hometown of Batavia has been very incorrectly represented in these forms, in my opinion. People keep comparing it as being "lower" and "not as good" as St. Charles and Geneva, but that is total BS. Geneva and St. Charles might have a better developed downtown, but the people that live in the Tri-City area are all basically the same. The ACT scores of Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia are all basically the same, and the quality of education at all the schools are pretty on par with each other. The only reason Batavia wasn't making the "big ranks" was because, until recently, it didn't offer many AP programs and didn't have great facilities. However, Batavia High School now boasts an impressive fieldhouse as well as a beautiful and technologically superior auditorium.

Also, it was made out to be like crime-infested or something in comparison to Geneva and St. Charles? Just because it backs up to Aurora? Also false. I won't deny there are not-so-nice areas, such as the Batavia Apartments, Lorlyn and the Meadows, as well as some parts of the neighborhoods off of Prairie Street, but that goes for the same in Geneva and St. Charles. There are also very, very nice parts of Batavia, such as on the far East side of town by the middle school, Tanglewood, parts of Mill Creek, the Millview neighborhoods and the older homes near HC Storm School.

Also, of the three Tri-Cities, Batavia easily has the best section of Randall Road. Pretty much anything you need is available to you on this stretch of Randall Road, be it clothes, groceries, fast food or a nice restaurant. We have three very nice breakfast places, Lumes, Apple Villa and Honey Jam Cafe (Portillos' decided to pioneer its new breakfast restaurant in Batavia), and arguably our Portillos is better than the one in St. Charles and draws more business. Also, our theater, Randall 15, has an IMAX, which theaters in St. Charles and Geneva cannot boast. While the downtown does need some work, it does appear to be going under some renovation and I think in time, it will end up becoming a lot similar to Geneva and St. Charles lookswise. Batavia's bike paths and areas by the river are also very beautiful, and there are many beautiful areas in the town.

When it comes to people, they're all the same really. St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia are all basically the definition of white upper-middle class suburbanites. Though in my opinion, I think most Batavians are a bit more down to Earth than our Geneva neighobrs. People I've met from St. Charles are more down-to-Earth like Batavians in my experience. And this bull that people in St. Charles and Geneva are richer? I checked the census data. An average family in Batavia makes 103,000, an average family in Geneva makes 105,000 and an average family in St. Charles makes 95,000. So also before you say we're a bunch of run down slums, we're all pretty much the same, income wise.

So for all you people out there looking to move to the suburbs and are considering the Tri-City Area to move, don't just count out Batavia because these people on here are underselling it. It's definitely a town on the rise and not something to be cast aside.

aga412 · 06-08-2011, 10:12 PM

Also we have Fermilab. Do other towns get to boast a particle accelerator within their city limits? I don't think so. Batavia just kind of has a quirky charm to it that you don't get in many other towns or suburbs.

gardener34 · 06-09-2011, 06:11 AM

Agreed.

sgresident · 06-09-2011, 07:59 AM

I would agree with you as well. people commenting that it is "less" of a town compared to st. charles and geneva are wrong. However, over the years, Batavia always seemed to get the short end of the stick. I grew up in rural st. charles, unincorporated and not the high end homes that came later. once the high end stuff came, people started having a certain attitude.

chet everett · 06-09-2011, 08:06 AM

I like Batavia but the facts are the for folks looking for things like Metra service or cutesy shops & cafes they tend to choose Geneva.

Kind funny that mention "quirky charm" as Fermilab's most major accomplish involves QUARKS, mostly the "top" but also confirmation / more details on the "charm" quark -- Inquiring Minds

Charm quark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

aga412 · 06-10-2011, 12:52 PM

It's not like these things are far away if you live in Batavia though, all the Tri-Cities have easy access to each other. If you're looking for chains in the Tri-Cities, Batavia is the place to be. We have our own nice restaurants too, like Tribella and the Thai restaurants. Our library is also gorgeous. But that's funny about the charm quark! I didn't even intend it that way.