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I have lived in St Charles all my life . I absolutely loved this video and how you explained all our historical sites. You really captured the beauty of our city.
@@mic1240 St. Charles is actually an "ex-Urb" it's too far out from the City to be a "suburb" and since all the family farms around the area are completely gone, all overdevelooped, it's not rural. When I was growing up there in the 70's & 80's it still had a "small town" feel to it while we still had actual farms within the city limits. Those were all gone by the 1990's when I returned to the city to raises my son.
I’m from St. Charles, and I must say this is the best video I’ve ever watched that covers our town. You did a beautiful job incorporating some of the city’s history into your narration. Well done!
I have lived in St. Charles the last 3 years... and I LOVE it. I am 5 min drive to all the bustle on main street but also 5 min drive in other direction to cows and open pastures in Campton Hills. It's wonderful. And yes, expensive. My 1 bedroom apt is $1492/mo.
Wow, thats crazy and absolutely ridiculous what they want for apts these days.. I pay 1600.00 a month for a two bed two bath here in Phoenix, Az.. And it the cost of living has gotten expensive here drastically in the last 9 years!!
I lived in Wood Dale IL. Over 20 years ago. But when it came to my fishing I would head west to the fox river and afterwards enjoy the rest of the day enjoying the downtown St Charles area there.
I live 5 minutes from Saint Charles and this video really makes me feel grateful to live so close to such a nice town. Sometimes you forget how good you got it. We need to slow down and take in the beauty that is all around us.
@@ChrisHarden I have heard that there are people from New York City that get bored after living there for a long time. Yet tourists are awed by all the things to do and see there! 🤔 Probably Paris, Rome, and other huge cities are the same thing. “Ho hum If you’ve seen one Eiffel Tower you’ve seen them all. 🥱”
downtown St.Charles is beautiful, we usually get down there at least once or twice during the summer to hobnob around and check out the river, we're about 25 mins east from there, and lots of famous bands have played at the Arcada, i hope to see a show sometime...
Although I have mostly lived in Southern California throughout my life, I did live in St. Charles for about 3 years as a preteen. Am grateful to have experience St. Charles, Illinois, and the Midwest by extension.
You are right about the property taxes - don't let the Government workers bully you into saying otherwise - just look at the population growth in the communities just across the state border.
The entire downtown district of my childhood home town, Mount Carroll Illinois, is a historical district. I imagine several older towns in Illinois are probably historical districts.
You mention that the St Charles trail is part of a larger trail. It’s part of the Fox River trail that goes from Oswego to Algonquin then turns into the Prairie Trail that goes into Richmond. It’s a great trail and the section going through St Charles near Potawatomi Park (thank god for spell check) is my favorite.
It really is and I live in Saint Charles and it’s beautiful here I go to summer camp right by where he was standing in the intro by the paddle boats that power may park
Loved the video! Went to the original Thompson High School that you showed at the beginning and worked at the Howell Company that was located in the old piano factory building - later to become the Piano Factory Mall and then torn down for homes. 😢 I’m also the reason there was a stop and go light installed years ago at the intersection of Illinois and Riverside (say thank you 😅). Lastly, PLEASE do a video like this of Jacksonville, IL - very historic town west of Springfield.
One of the town’s top employers is System Sensor! System Sensor is a fire alarm producer, and they make the best fire alarms out there! (And yes I’m a fire alarm collector) One of the company’s notable alarms was the SpectrAlert Advance, widely used in America-and got their reputation for being very loud. System Sensor has discontinued production of the Advance as of 2017.
OMG another place I heard of but never got to see until now. Many decades ago as a little kid waterways were often industrial wastelands one turned their back on. This excellent video shows how a riparian greenway can be a focal point of beauty, recreation and economic activity. In the area I live parks and hiking biking trails are being placed along waterways both big and small. The suburb I live in plans to move the City Hall next to a creek next to a hiking biking path. Great job Chris! Craig
Well malls that are good in our area is woodfield mall is huge mall off of 90 in Schaumburg and seemed to do great pre-Covid. and large strip mall “commons” areas as the one in Geneva to the south on Randall and Algonquin about 20 miles north of stc. Also aurora outlet mall,off of 88 not to far away. Yea Charlestowne mall has always been struggling. I tremeber it was like that back in 2013.
The Coca Cola bottling plant. I remember that there was a Coca Cola bottling plant in downtown Rockford when I first moved here. In 1970-ish. It was on North Madison Street. I used to like to walk by the plant and watch the Coke bottles moving along the little assembly line to be filled. It’s been gone for several years. Kinda cool to watch. Your troll might say that I was easily entertained, but to each his own. 🤷♂️
GreaT video overall. No mention of the convention center (I forgot the name of the place). You captured the worst thing about St Charles, the insane traffic. Seeing Potawatomi park would have been nice. Onto St Peters, MO video. My uncle lived there.
Thanks. I’ll admit that I don’t always mention everything that I possibly could about a place, or that I might not go to every single place of note within a town. As I gain experience I’m always trying to get better at those things, but I also don’t want my videos to keep being 40 minutes long or more, so my struggle currently is to find a way to show more without ramping up the speed while driving, while at the same time, attempting to cut down on the length of the videos.
The members of Cheap Trick are from Rockford. Rick Neilson has given assembly programs at Lincoln Middle School where he attended as a kid. From what I understand. His parents ran a music store on 7th Street for years before they passed away. I remember buying my first harmonica from them shortly after moving to Rockford in the 1970s. I played it as a hobby.
St. Charles is a great town, lived there for 6 years would move back there but the only bad thing is that the wells that city pulls from for city tap water tastes bad and needs heavy softening unfortunately.
For a second I thought I was watching a B3rdman video when the crazed voice chimed in. This is only the 2nd video of yours I’ve watched. I plan on binge watching today so I’ll make comments on some. If you haven’t done Woodstock yet, hit me up.
P.S. midwstern have such pretty pretty towns . atmosphere is great there ,and love towns whether if small or big county living it simply the best. i,m from deep suburban myself you ask for better ! GOD BLESS BE GOOD BE SAFE.
Yeah, they turned my Baker Memorial Methodist Church into a Catholic church in that movie. My husband and I had to go down Munger Rd after seeing the movie.
@@ChrisHarden My two sons went to Mexico as teenagers on a church mission trip. They said as soon as the bus crossed from El Paso , Texas into Mexico the air became putrid like sewage. I guess if you can get past the smell it's probably ok.
I left Illinois 5 years ago for Florida. It was definitely for the warmer climate and not the property or state tax. Matter of fact where I'm at my mortgage AND property taxes are higher than what I was paying in Chicago. But at least I have decent weather most of the year. Its just a lot of insects and bugs here, lots and lots of bugs.
@@ChrisHarden kinda depends on where you live in some parts of Lake County IL like or the south suburbs of Chicago your property tax will definitely be high because they lack other revenue streams. But the housing costs tend to be cheaper so it offsets for some I guess.
And alligators 🐊 I understand that they can be a problem in some areas of Florida. I’ve heard that some people have found gators in their swimming pools. 😱 I was in South Carolina in the Navy and I remember the size of some of the cockroaches. They could kick your @$$. 😵💫
Yeah. The roaches are big and fast. I don't mind the reptiles that much. Iguanas and the curly tails lizards are literally everywhere. The worst part about them is that they leave their droppings all over the place. If you are allergic to humidity and creepy crawling things Florida probably isn't right for some folks But I don't mind.
You nailed it. It really was a beautiful mall but what really killed that mall was the fact of just how far it is from both 90 and 88, and 355 was even further away. Not to mention when the Geneva Commons opened that really ended the Charlestown’s Mall. That’s part of the reason why Woodfield Mall does so well because it’s right off of 90, 290/355, and 53
This is not what I think of when I think of the Chicago metroplex. This is a really nice suburb. Chicago's not that far away and some other parts around it. Nice video.
I think several towns have the utility wires underground in their newer parts. I go to some of the wealthier parts of Rockford and I don't see any telephone poles except for street lights.
I live just south of Downtown, along the river, the bedrock is so close to the surface we still have overhead lines, a small trade off for the Fox River and Bike Path and Parks. Downtown has lost a lot due to McMansions subdivisions, but there are still some good melting pot spots, and taxes although climbing, are not deal breakers. A nice place to live and raise children!
Te faltó entrar. Alas sonas residenciales. Vieras. Visto. Unas casononas. Grandes. Todas de lujo todas de señores. Empresarios. Casa de lujo. Muy bonitas unas mamciones. Deberda. Yo vivo aki es hermoso.
I do not know if St. Charles is my vision of Utopia but it was my dingbat mothers. It appears to be a nice place to live if you work in Elgin, Aurora or Wheaton but other than that forget it and save half of your 100K a year job paycheck to pay your mortgage and property taxes. I lived in Chicago for years and for awhile I had to work in Aurora. I remember Friday afternoons driving back at rush hour if it was raining it was over a 2 hour drive to go 40 miles down I-88 and where I lived and worked at was nowhere near a Metra Train Station so driving was the only option. My ex wife and I bought a beautifully restored turn of the century house in a historic neighborhood in Chicago. When I called my mother to tell her she replied in her typical dingbat voice WELL WHAT DID YOU PAY FOR IT? when I told her and she replied WELL FOR THAT KIND OF MONEY YOU COULD HAVE LIVED IN ST. CHARLES. The only problem is it is nowhere near where we worked at and I do not feel like driving 4 hours a day. Also did you know Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg got married in St. Charles? Donnie Wahlberg had to charter a luxury Bus to drive his mother there from Boston because she was afraid to fly or take the Train there which would have been easy while staying on the ground. So I guess I am not the only person that has a dingbat Mother. I think the Mall there appears to be dying because there is the nearby Aurora Outlet Mall right of I-88 that appears to be doing quite well.
Two Middle schools? There WERE three, Thompson, Haines, and Wredling. Haines Middle school was always a middle school while Thompson is the old original High School before St. Charles East was built. When St. Charles East was built it was originally called Dunham Jr. High School but only remained a "middle "school for two years before it transitioned into being the new High School, turning Thompson into a "Junior High School." Nearly twenty years later, Wredling Middle school was built next to St. Charles East High School. St. Charles North High School was also originally built as a middle school before being transitioned into the second high school in the city. For DECADES St. Charles city council refused to have two high schools, their argument being that they thought having two high schools would "Divide the town." Ironically, and pathetically not taking into account that the Fox River already did that! St. Charles East High School was so overcrowded at one point that not only did they have mobile classrooms taking over the soccer fields, the students actually had to go to school in SHIFTS! Yeah, I was born and raised in St. Charles. I graduated in 1984. After my time in the US Navy and my subsequent diviorce, I moved back to St. Charles to raise my son, where he also attended ALL the same schools I did. Even having a few of the same teachers I had. My mother, Francie G Smith, was the original founder of the St. Charles Convention and Visitor's Bureau as well as the former President of the Kane County Tourism Council and the Northern Illinois Visitor's Bureau. She was also the Editor in Cheif for both Foxway magazine and Fox Valley Sampler magazine. BTW: St. Charles is Forty-Five miles due west of downtown Chicago, not Thirty-Five. The low poverty rate is due to the city essentially forcing lower income residents OUT by only having granted building permits for upper income housing developments and raising property taxes to the point where lower income families were unable to maintain their properties and were forced to either sell or have their propreties forclosed! I loved my town growing up but really hated the massive urban sprawl that took over, mostly due to the efforts my own mother spearheaded back in the early/mid-80's.
i grew up in batavia as did my parents. sadly, it's true about the illinois property tax being a 'buzz kill' to illinoisans...we call this the "mafia tax" as it's common knowledge the chicago mafia has major influence over the legislators in springfield, the capitol. i moved to wisconsin fortunately and now live further north in northern michigan. too bad about illinois...maybe they'll clean up the state although i seriously doubt if j.b. pritzger is the man to do it.
@@glennso47 right on, Glenn. It’s about an hour from me in Geneva, IL (next to St Charles). Perhaps our channel host could add Lake Geneva to his future video list…7 million dollar mansions make for lotsa eyeballs on RUclips. 😆
Lol it is kinda strange how Elgin is not that far away yet there area is beautiful and nothing like Elgin. South Elgin is fine and actually part of South Elgin I know goes to St. Charles North
I went to high school in St. Charles. There are a bunch of snobby rich people there who are too busy drinking to pay attention to their out of control kids who are also drinking or getting high. At least that was the case in the 1980's
@@Champwsox05 It especially greives me because I was born there. I also had wanted to move back there when I eventually come back to Illinois, but I know thats not going to be possible because it's just too expensive. It's really disappointing.
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I have lived in St Charles all my life . I absolutely loved this video and how you explained all our historical sites. You really captured the beauty of our city.
Thanks for the kind words!
St. Charles is one of the most gorgeous suburbs of Chicago. I was taken aback when I first drove there
For sure. I would consider it if I were moving to the area.
It is nice, but a truly far flung, far edge of what would even think of suburbs. Far away from city, airports and about everything else.
@@mic1240 St. Charles is actually an "ex-Urb" it's too far out from the City to be a "suburb" and since all the family farms around the area are completely gone, all overdevelooped, it's not rural.
When I was growing up there in the 70's & 80's it still had a "small town" feel to it while we still had actual farms within the city limits. Those were all gone by the 1990's when I returned to the city to raises my son.
I’m from St. Charles, and I must say this is the best video I’ve ever watched that covers our town. You did a beautiful job incorporating some of the city’s history into your narration. Well done!
Thanks!
I have lived in St. Charles the last 3 years... and I LOVE it. I am 5 min drive to all the bustle on main street but also 5 min drive in other direction to cows and open pastures in Campton Hills. It's wonderful. And yes, expensive. My 1 bedroom apt is $1492/mo.
Wow, thats crazy and absolutely ridiculous what they want for apts these days.. I pay 1600.00 a month for a two bed two bath here in Phoenix, Az.. And it the cost of living has gotten expensive here drastically in the last 9 years!!
Beautiful and welcoming older neighborhoods. Big shade trees, gracious and well maintained older homes with big front porches.
Born and raised in St Charles. Now live a little north of from it off Randall Rd. Love my old hometown
I lived in Wood Dale IL. Over 20 years ago. But when it came to my fishing I would head west to the fox river and afterwards enjoy the rest of the day enjoying the downtown St Charles area there.
I live 5 minutes from Saint Charles and this video really makes me feel grateful to live so close to such a nice town. Sometimes you forget how good you got it. We need to slow down and take in the beauty that is all around us.
It's easy to get bored of your local area, especially if you've lived there for a long time.
@@ChrisHarden I have heard that there are people from New York City that get bored after living there for a long time. Yet tourists are awed by all the things to do and see there! 🤔 Probably Paris, Rome, and other huge cities are the same thing. “Ho hum If you’ve seen one Eiffel Tower you’ve seen them all. 🥱”
@@glennso47 Wouldn't surprise me!
I always enjoy driving through St. Charles and Geneva on a nice spring day when I got out of the city.
I grew up in St. Charles, I have good memories of that town.
It's a nice place.
You got nice videos my friend keep up the good work!
Thanks!
downtown St.Charles is beautiful, we usually get down there at least once or twice during the summer to hobnob around and check out the river, we're about 25 mins east from there, and lots of famous bands have played at the Arcada, i hope to see a show sometime...
Although I have mostly lived in Southern California throughout my life, I did live in St. Charles for about 3 years as a preteen. Am grateful to have experience St. Charles, Illinois, and the Midwest by extension.
Hey, your videos are looking much better. Better color saturation. Keep up the good work!
You are right about the property taxes - don't let the Government workers bully you into saying otherwise - just look at the population growth in the communities just across the state border.
The entire downtown district of my childhood home town, Mount Carroll Illinois, is a historical district. I imagine several older towns in Illinois are probably historical districts.
You mention that the St Charles trail is part of a larger trail. It’s part of the Fox River trail that goes from Oswego to Algonquin then turns into the Prairie Trail that goes into Richmond. It’s a great trail and the section going through St Charles near Potawatomi Park (thank god for spell check) is my favorite.
Thank you for mentioning this!
Foxway Magazine was the first area "lifestyles' magazine to have published the official Fox River trail maps!
It really is and I live in Saint Charles and it’s beautiful here
I go to summer camp right by where he was standing in the intro by the paddle boats that power may park
Loved the video! Went to the original Thompson High School that you showed at the beginning and worked at the Howell Company that was located in the old piano factory building - later to become the Piano Factory Mall and then torn down for homes. 😢 I’m also the reason there was a stop and go light installed years ago at the intersection of Illinois and Riverside (say thank you 😅). Lastly, PLEASE do a video like this of Jacksonville, IL - very historic town west of Springfield.
I was born and raised there. So were both of my parents. It was a great place to grow up
A buddy of mine went to St. Charles East High School.
One of the town’s top employers is System Sensor! System Sensor is a fire alarm producer, and they make the best fire alarms out there! (And yes I’m a fire alarm collector) One of the company’s notable alarms was the SpectrAlert Advance, widely used in America-and got their reputation for being very loud. System Sensor has discontinued production of the Advance as of 2017.
OMG another place I heard of but never got to see until now. Many decades ago as a little kid waterways were often industrial wastelands one turned their back on. This excellent video shows how a riparian greenway can be a focal point of beauty, recreation and economic activity. In the area I live parks and hiking biking trails are being placed along waterways both big and small. The suburb I live in plans to move the City Hall next to a creek next to a hiking biking path. Great job Chris! Craig
I saw one of my favorite bands, Everclear at the Arcada last year. Beautiful venue.
Hey Chris,
Great video ...........I flew out of Dupage airport years ago and lived in St Charles ...........well done..
Thanks!
Lived there all most 40 years ago wonderful place to grow up
Hi sir, kindly make a vlog driving around Vincennes, Indiana pleaseee. Particularly near Good Samaritan Hospital. Thank you so much in advance! 😁
One day I will
Nice video and agree St. Charles is a great town.
If I never go anywhere, dont worry, Nostalgia Tours will take me there.👍👍
Well malls that are good in our area is woodfield mall is huge mall off of 90 in Schaumburg and seemed to do great pre-Covid. and large strip mall “commons” areas as the one in Geneva to the south on Randall and Algonquin about 20 miles north of stc. Also aurora outlet mall,off of 88 not to far away. Yea Charlestowne mall has always been struggling. I tremeber it was like that back in 2013.
St. Charles does appear to be a beautiful city. 👍
It is but you need to have the dollars. There is a reason why Donnie walhbureg moved there
The Coca Cola bottling plant. I remember that there was a Coca Cola bottling plant in downtown Rockford when I first moved here. In 1970-ish. It was on North Madison Street. I used to like to walk by the plant and watch the Coke bottles moving along the little assembly line to be filled. It’s been gone for several years. Kinda cool to watch. Your troll might say that I was easily entertained, but to each his own. 🤷♂️
GreaT video overall. No mention of the convention center (I forgot the name of the place). You captured the worst thing about St Charles, the insane traffic. Seeing Potawatomi park would have been nice. Onto St Peters, MO video. My uncle lived there.
Thanks. I’ll admit that I don’t always mention everything that I possibly could about a place, or that I might not go to every single place of note within a town. As I gain experience I’m always trying to get better at those things, but I also don’t want my videos to keep being 40 minutes long or more, so my struggle currently is to find a way to show more without ramping up the speed while driving, while at the same time, attempting to cut down on the length of the videos.
The Q Center, where Arthur Andersen training used to be.
I used to live in SC for 25 years. Lots of great places in the area.
The municipal building looks similar to the newpaper building in Rockford. It has a tower similar to the municipal building here.
If you are asked if you have been a certain place, you can always sing the Johnny Cash song “I’ve Been Every Where, Man” 😁
Haha I could though.
Great video. But, you never went west of Randall Road, which has a lot of beautiful subdivisions, park space, and bike trails.
Do you mean Campton Hills possibly? ruclips.net/video/BxsHK1rwrN4/видео.html
The video was 40 plus minutes long. How long do you people want these RUclips videos to be??? Lmao.
@@ChrisHarden 2.5hrs
Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg from New Kids on the Block are actually residents of St. Charles, IL
The members of Cheap Trick are from Rockford. Rick Neilson has given assembly programs at Lincoln Middle School where he attended as a kid. From what I understand. His parents ran a music store on 7th Street for years before they passed away. I remember buying my first harmonica from them shortly after moving to Rockford in the 1970s. I played it as a hobby.
I think REO Speedwagon is near Champaign
Ludacris is from Oak Park
You are so brave driving in all these different places. Wish I could, but the videos will have to suffice. Thanks.
Glad you enjoy them.
@@ChrisHarden yes, very much!
Love riding the trails all along the Fox River.
I grew up 20 miles west in Sycamore. St Charles used to be famous in my day for having Hot Chix ! What about the fairgrounds ?
Going to Sycamore Speedway for Saturday night racing is one of my favorite summer pastimes. I only live about 15 minutes away.
Along 25:00+ The area you are driving through is definitely not the slums! 😏 I’ve seen commercial buildings smaller than those houses! 🤷♂️
St. Charles is a great town, lived there for 6 years would move back there but the only bad thing is that the wells that city pulls from for city tap water tastes bad and needs heavy softening unfortunately.
For a second I thought I was watching a B3rdman video when the crazed voice chimed in. This is only the 2nd video of yours I’ve watched. I plan on binge watching today so I’ll make comments on some. If you haven’t done Woodstock yet, hit me up.
One of my favorite towns
My girlfriend moved here. I grew up in Chicago and there nw suburbs. Hands down best place to live in Illinois in my opinion
32:35. The Rockford airport is considered a “Chicago “ area airport just like the one you mentioned here. .
Thanks for the memories.
This is where I grew up and I miss it every day. I’m in Washington DC now and Washington has nothing on Chicago
That city sucks.
Come back. Chicago is way better.
Love your videos!
P.S. midwstern have such pretty pretty towns . atmosphere is great there ,and love towns whether if small or big county living it simply the best. i,m from deep suburban myself you ask for better ! GOD BLESS BE GOOD BE SAFE.
Auto machine on the right @6:03
You passed by Hotel Baker and didn’t say anything about it?
Sadly St. Charles Mall used to be a great place to go - now it's an empty shell
excellent video!! Thank you
Fun Fact: The 2017 movie "Munger Road" was filmed in ST. Charles 👍
Haven't heard of it, had to look that one up!
@@ChrisHarden it's a so-so movie it's just cool that it was made here 👍
Check out ‘Coach of the Year’ from the late 70’s with Robert Conrad ( it’s on RUclips ) filmed in St. Charles as well as Sean Penn’s ‘Bad Boys’….
@@chooch1995 yep - a few kids from my school were in that Conrad movie :)
Yeah, they turned my Baker Memorial Methodist Church into a Catholic church in that movie. My husband and I had to go down Munger Rd after seeing the movie.
If you are ever feeling adventurous take a trip to Mexico and drive the streets of San Miguel de Allende - a nice historic little tourist town.
I’ve never been to Mexico yet. Would like to though.
@@ChrisHarden My two sons went to Mexico as teenagers on a church mission trip. They said as soon as the bus crossed from El Paso , Texas into Mexico the air became putrid like sewage. I guess if you can get past the smell it's probably ok.
Just light some incense.
I left Illinois 5 years ago for Florida. It was definitely for the warmer climate and not the property or state tax. Matter of fact where I'm at my mortgage AND property taxes are higher than what I was paying in Chicago. But at least I have decent weather most of the year. Its just a lot of insects and bugs here, lots and lots of bugs.
Cool, glad you like it there. I know that some people definitely move for warmer weather, but I'm just saying that it's not the whole story.
@@ChrisHarden kinda depends on where you live in some parts of Lake County IL like or the south suburbs of Chicago your property tax will definitely be high because they lack other revenue streams. But the housing costs tend to be cheaper so it offsets for some I guess.
And alligators 🐊 I understand that they can be a problem in some areas of Florida. I’ve heard that some people have found gators in their swimming pools. 😱 I was in South Carolina in the Navy and I remember the size of some of the cockroaches. They could kick your @$$. 😵💫
Yeah. The roaches are big and fast. I don't mind the reptiles that much. Iguanas and the curly tails lizards are literally everywhere. The worst part about them is that they leave their droppings all over the place. If you are allergic to humidity and creepy crawling things Florida probably isn't right for some folks But I don't mind.
Great comment!
My only guess as to why the Charlestowne Mall failed is not being anywhere near a major interstate.
Maybe
You nailed it. It really was a beautiful mall but what really killed that mall was the fact of just how far it is from both 90 and 88, and 355 was even further away. Not to mention when the Geneva Commons opened that really ended the Charlestown’s Mall. That’s part of the reason why Woodfield Mall does so well because it’s right off of 90, 290/355, and 53
@@joejonas3684 And Fox Velley Mall still does well to given it being close to I-88.
The internet killed the mall….malls are in decline everywhere…..
This is not what I think of when I think of the Chicago metroplex. This is a really nice suburb. Chicago's not that far away and some other parts around it. Nice video.
notice no power poles the wires are all buried underground
At about 27:55 I see a guy really “digging “ the town. There was a hydraulic excavation machine parked along the road.
No mention of the St. Charles Country Club. My father was a member in the forties and fifties. Was club champion several times.
Was it like Caddyshack?
in the newer parts of St. Charles all utilities wires are underground
I think several towns have the utility wires underground in their newer parts. I go to some of the wealthier parts of Rockford and I don't see any telephone poles except for street lights.
I live just south of Downtown, along the river, the bedrock is so close to the surface we still have overhead lines, a small trade off for the Fox River and Bike Path and Parks. Downtown has lost a lot due to McMansions subdivisions, but there are still some good melting pot spots, and taxes although climbing, are not deal breakers. A nice place to live and raise children!
Do a video for St Charles Missouri
One day
@@ChrisHarden yo that would be dope
Theres also St.Charles Missouri as well.
Yup, have plans to go there soon.
@@ChrisHarden Awesome brother.
St Charles Mo is a nice City too
Yup. They're like the same place.
I used to ride my motorcycle out there just because ❤
Te faltó entrar. Alas sonas residenciales. Vieras. Visto. Unas casononas. Grandes. Todas de lujo todas de señores. Empresarios. Casa de lujo. Muy bonitas unas mamciones. Deberda. Yo vivo aki es hermoso.
Thank you!
Can you do Elgin not that great but can you still do it
I will one day just don’t know when I’ll be able to.
I do not know if St. Charles is my vision of Utopia but it was my dingbat mothers. It appears to be a nice place to live if you work in Elgin, Aurora or Wheaton but other than that forget it and save half of your 100K a year job paycheck to pay your mortgage and property taxes. I lived in Chicago for years and for awhile I had to work in Aurora. I remember Friday afternoons driving back at rush hour if it was raining it was over a 2 hour drive to go 40 miles down I-88 and where I lived and worked at was nowhere near a Metra Train Station so driving was the only option. My ex wife and I bought a beautifully restored turn of the century house in a historic neighborhood in Chicago. When I called my mother to tell her she replied in her typical dingbat voice WELL WHAT DID YOU PAY FOR IT? when I told her and she replied WELL FOR THAT KIND OF MONEY YOU COULD HAVE LIVED IN ST. CHARLES. The only problem is it is nowhere near where we worked at and I do not feel like driving 4 hours a day. Also did you know Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg got married in St. Charles? Donnie Wahlberg had to charter a luxury Bus to drive his mother there from Boston because she was afraid to fly or take the Train there which would have been easy while staying on the ground. So I guess I am not the only person that has a dingbat Mother. I think the Mall there appears to be dying because there is the nearby Aurora Outlet Mall right of I-88 that appears to be doing quite well.
Aurora has not one, but two Metra stations. Also, not only did Donnie & Jenny get married in St. Charles….they also live there!!!
Is there an adding, multiplying, subtracting street to accompany the “division street “ ?
Lol nah.
@@ChrisHarden oh heck. I tried.🤷♂️
No, but the next street over is Union St.
Division Street ‘divides’ Geneva from St. Charles…it’s the border…the ‘divider’….
You should do carpentersville and elgin
Do they have gambling on the riverboats ? several towns have riverboat gambling . Especially towns along the Mississippi.
Not the ones in St. Charles.
@@ChrisHarden Thanks. So they are just for giving rides on the Fox River. 🙏😬
The Fox River does have one in Elgin though. (North of Saint Charles)
Two Middle schools? There WERE three, Thompson, Haines, and Wredling.
Haines Middle school was always a middle school while Thompson is the old original High School before St. Charles East was built. When St. Charles East was built it was originally called Dunham Jr. High School but only remained a "middle "school for two years before it transitioned into being the new High School, turning Thompson into a "Junior High School."
Nearly twenty years later, Wredling Middle school was built next to St. Charles East High School.
St. Charles North High School was also originally built as a middle school before being transitioned into the second high school in the city.
For DECADES St. Charles city council refused to have two high schools, their argument being that they thought having two high schools would "Divide the town." Ironically, and pathetically not taking into account that the Fox River already did that!
St. Charles East High School was so overcrowded at one point that not only did they have mobile classrooms taking over the soccer fields, the students actually had to go to school in SHIFTS!
Yeah, I was born and raised in St. Charles. I graduated in 1984. After my time in the US Navy and my subsequent diviorce, I moved back to St. Charles to raise my son, where he also attended ALL the same schools I did. Even having a few of the same teachers I had.
My mother, Francie G Smith, was the original founder of the St. Charles Convention and Visitor's Bureau as well as the former President of the Kane County Tourism Council and the Northern Illinois Visitor's Bureau. She was also the Editor in Cheif for both Foxway magazine and Fox Valley Sampler magazine.
BTW: St. Charles is Forty-Five miles due west of downtown Chicago, not Thirty-Five.
The low poverty rate is due to the city essentially forcing lower income residents OUT by only having granted building permits for upper income housing developments and raising property taxes to the point where lower income families were unable to maintain their properties and were forced to either sell or have their propreties forclosed!
I loved my town growing up but really hated the massive urban sprawl that took over, mostly due to the efforts my own mother spearheaded back in the early/mid-80's.
Ummm….St. Charles IS 35 miles west of Chicago. 45 miles would have you around Route 47…..
i grew up in batavia as did my parents. sadly, it's true about the illinois property tax being a 'buzz kill' to illinoisans...we call this the "mafia tax" as it's common knowledge the chicago mafia has major influence over the legislators in springfield, the capitol. i moved to wisconsin fortunately and now live further north in northern michigan. too bad about illinois...maybe they'll clean up the state although i seriously doubt if j.b. pritzger is the man to do it.
Lived there for years. It had potential once, but it's dying, like the rest of Illinois.
Eh, I wouldn't say that St. Charles is dying. The rest of Illinois, yes.
@@ChrisHarden Some of the Democrat politicians are helping it die, sadly.
If I’m not mistaken St. Charles was named after the Catholic Saint Charles Borromeo
St. Charles Borromeo
@@goldtopazasylum Thanks for the correction. I didn’t know the exact last name but I knew it was a Catholic Saint.
@@goldtopazasylum Thanks. My "forgetter" was working pretty well. But my"rememberer" needs service.
You’re mistaken….
and recent alumni include this years grad Evan Asher Jenny McCarthy's son you forgot
Best places to live is saint charles, South Elgin, geneva, batavia.
That's my ex girlfriends dad's red truck on the right at 29:52
I live in Geneva. IL. Yay! It’s the best!
There is a Lake Geneva in Southern Wisconsin
@@glennso47 right on, Glenn. It’s about an hour from me in Geneva, IL (next to St Charles). Perhaps our channel host could add Lake Geneva to his future video list…7 million dollar mansions make for lotsa eyeballs on RUclips. 😆
I'm 30 mins east of St. Charles
I'm 30 minutes west of St. Charles.
People are leaving Illinois for other cold weather states so it’s not the weather. I guess you told that to your troll.
Elgin would’ve made a great video as well
I suggested Joliet.
Have you done Elgin yet? I noticed that you passed by a sign saying “Elgin, 9 miles.” Asking for a friend. 😬
Lol it is kinda strange how Elgin is not that far away yet there area is beautiful and nothing like Elgin. South Elgin is fine and actually part of South Elgin I know goes to St. Charles North
I went to high school in St. Charles. There are a bunch of snobby rich people there who are too busy drinking to pay attention to their out of control kids who are also drinking or getting high. At least that was the case in the 1980's
Such is the case in any metropolitan, or , for that matter rural areas.
Jalapeño grill yum
Why is St. Charles the only Chicago suburb you did a video on?
Because most Chicago suburbs are cookie-cutter. Most people cannot tell one town from another because they're basically all the same.
GoPros make it look like your driving fast when you're not. It's difficult to get an eyeful without driving real slow.
Also just do people know I live in south elgin I pay 8000 dollars in property tax
So many algorithms. So little time. 😬
This town has been completely ruined by upscale suburban sprawl. It made me sick to see it.
It used to be a workingman's town. All the old factories have turned into posh bars and breweries.
@@Champwsox05 It especially greives me because I was born there. I also had wanted to move back there when I eventually come back to Illinois, but I know thats not going to be possible because it's just too expensive. It's really disappointing.
I live there
I don't know I have always though of St Charles as not as Anfluent. Mostly because Geneva is right there too.
Used to live on Indiana Ave. Just east of river Kinda Sketchy.
Moved to Barrington, so much Nicer
It looks alright. I prefer Schaumburg or Vernon Hills.
Most of this isn’t even at.charles
Batavia is better 🤷🏻♂️