South Elgin and North Aurora (Naperville, St. Charles: new home, neighborhoods, school district)

[aga412]

I posted about this in the "bad reputation" topic, but it sparked some curiosity in me. What do people think when they hear South Elgin and North Aurora. Since they have the name "Elgin" and "Aurora" in them, would that automatically give them a bad reputation?

What I'm saying is they don't really have an identity like the other Fox Valley towns. It's not like people say they're absolutely awful like the "main" towns with their name, but people don't lump them in with the Tri-Cities. So what is the overall opinion of them?

[koriemo]

Having lived in both Elgin and South Elgin before, I have an "at home" perspective, but in general I think South Elgin has a better reputation than Elgin, perhaps because it is so close to St. Charles, and parts of it are in St. Charles school district.

[aga412]

So they're more like buffers with a slightly more positive reputation than their "main" town?

[chet everett]

To folks familiar with the region South Elgin carries no stigma, quite the opposite it is mostly a desirable area. It never really any out of date pollution heavy industrial uses or other things that scare off development.

The situation with Aurora / North Aurora is different. Folks that know the vast differences between the mostly desirable portions of Aurora served by West Aurora schools and the vey nice extreme eastern edge of Aurora that borders Naperville understand it is nothing like the rundown portions served by East Aurora schools. North Aurora is kind of annex to Batavia and neither as nice as the poshest spots in Aurora nor anything like the rundown portions served by East Aurora...


As I recall there are other parts of the country with a similar history to these river towns, where manufacturing once was vibrant and them rot took over some of the more desirable neighborhoods. Multiple decades passage of time has sort of turned some of the formerly industrial areas near the river or in the newer outlying areas into desirable destinations again, but the areas where rust and decay have so overwhelmed any ability of developers to turn things around make for sadly depressed areas...

[yogao]

Originally Posted by aga412

I posted about this in the "bad reputation" topic, but it sparked some curiosity in me. What do people think when they hear South Elgin and North Aurora. Since they have the name "Elgin" and "Aurora" in them, would that automatically give them a bad reputation?

What I'm saying is they don't really have an identity like the other Fox Valley towns. It's not like people say they're absolutely awful like the "main" towns with their name, but people don't lump them in with the Tri-Cities. So what is the overall opinion of them?

I have a good friend that lives in South Elgin, and I visited the area monthly. From my perspective it's nothing like Elgin and is a nice area to live. I work for one of the Tri-Cities, so no, I wouldn't put it in the same classification as one of them, but I don't see the stigma attached to the Elgin name.

[aga412]

While I've been in South Elgin, I have seen very nice areas, so I would have to agree that it isn't very similar to Elgin, but I didn't know what the people that lived in the area (St. Charles/Elgin) thought about it.

Interestingly on North Aurora's website, it is said there is very little history about it. So I guess like now, unlike the other Tri-Cities, Aurora, Elgin, and I think even South Elgin to an extent, it was always just kind of there. Though it is notable for having the headquarters of Oberweis and the ever-famous North Aurora Auto Mall. Hehe!

[westburbsil]

Tri cities person here and here is my take:

South Elgin has no stigma and is a very nice town that border the northern edge of St. Charles. Very nice new homes, a little farther north so closer to the 90 than the tri cities. No real identity or sense of community, more affiliated with St. Charles.

North Auorora is just kind of blah(dont mean to offend anyone from there). Great access to I-88 and the tri cities. Has both older and new homestock, really no sense of community either. I would assume West Aurora would be the school district.

[aga412]

It is the school district, though I think some is absorbed into Batavia. South Elgin does have a nice shopping area along Randall Road and does not seem to carry the Elgin ties, save for the school district, which is truly unfortunate.

North Aurora has potential to be interesting, but just seems to be generally uncared for and definitely lacks the community feel of the other Tri-Cities, people either identifying more with Aurora itself or Batavia.

[sgresident]

South Elgin has seen a lot of growth along the Randall Road corridor. newer homes, lots of retail, restaurants etc. The older part along Rt 31, somewhat rundown, could use revitalization. They do have a relatively new high school and middle school on the east side of the River. When I was growing up, my grandparents, aunts and cousins lived in south elgin. they had very vital community businesses, as did my parents. over time, the Rt 31 corridor changed and the new businesses located along randall. South Elgin does have easy access to Elgin community College too. North Aurora has also seen a growth corridor along Randall Road and Orchard Road. most of their new growth is on the west side of the river. east of the river, no too attractive. Students do attend West Aurora school district.

[yousah]

I don't think that most people associate these towns to be similar to each other simply because they share part of a name. They are distinctly different towns.