Magazine touts Geneva as best place for kids
By Denise linke For The Beacon-News December 19, 2012 6:28PM
During the Cub Scouts’ Wild…Wild West Day Camps in July 2011 at Good Templar Park in Geneva, youth got to play and learn wood carving, craft skills, archery, conservation, leather working, conservation, ecology and participate in nature hikes, sporting activities, an obstacle course and camp fires. | Courtesy of Nancy Loftus
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Updated: December 19, 2012 9:37PM
GENEVA — Residents and officials alike can add another gold star to the city’s report card, as Bloomberg Businessweek magazine has named Geneva the best place to raise children in Illinois.
“This suburb on the outskirts of Chicagoland has many charms,” the magazine said in its ratings report this week. “The Fox River Trail allows kids and parents to bike along the waterfront, and the Kane County Cougars, affiliated with the Cubs, play minor league ball at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark. Geneva also boasts well-maintained homes with diverse architectural styles, built by early settlers from New England.”
Editors chose the winning town in each state based largely on local school district performance, though they also factored in crime rates, median income, housing costs, work commute times and number of households with children.
Stating that urban couples often move to smaller communities when they start raising children, Businessweek wrote that editors limited their search to towns with populations of between 5,000 and 50,000 and excluded towns with a median income of $115,866, which is the cut-off marking the top 20 percent of American families. The magazine lists Geneva’s median income as $104,848 and states that the average family spends 22.6 percent of its income on shelter; both figures are larger than they are in most of the other towns listed.
“Geneva is a wonderful place to live, and we are very pleased that Geneva has received this much-deserved recognition,” Geneva Schools Superintendent Kent Mutchler said Wednesday.
“We are fortunate to have such strong intergovernmental partnerships in Geneva, and this collaborative effort reflects very well on all those who live and work here.”
Mayor Kevin Burns would undoubtedly agree.
“Here in Geneva, it’s all about the kids. They are why we exist,” the mayor said at a previous Red Ribbon Week candlelight vigil.
