When Mary Ochsenschlager moved to Kane County a quarter-century ago, cornfields crowded the horizon.
Today, new homes seem to be the crop of choice.
“The growth out here in the last 10 years has been explosive,” said Ochsenschlager, chairwoman of the Kane County Regional Planning Commission and a Sugar Grove resident since 1975.
“A lot of the county is changing before our very eyes,” added Ochsenschlager, who also is a naturalist for the St. Charles Park District.
Western DuPage County and eastern Kane County, in fact, have been experiencing the biggest population growth in their histories.
There is no end in sight.
“There’s a lot of room to grow here,” said Mahender Vasandani, chief planner for DuPage County.
“We’ve seen a lot of change, and we’re going to see a lot more change,” said Phillip Bus, executive director of the Kane County Development Department.
DuPage’s population is expected to climb from about 781,000, according to the 1990 U.S. Census, to about 1 million by 2020, according to estimates by the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission in Chicago.
In the same period, Kane’s population is expected to grow from more than 317,000 in 1990 to more than 550,000 people in 2020, NIPC predicts.
“The area is in the right place for (residential) growth for one main reason–the job growth that has occurred in DuPage County and northwest suburban Cook County,” said Mark Thomas, a planner with NIPC. “If you’re looking to live in an area that’s close to where there’s a lot of employment opportunities, then that’s the area to be.”
Good schools and the commercial and retail growth in the Interstate Highway 88 and Interstate Highway 90 corridors also are attracting buyers to the two counties, Bus said.
“People also like the ambience of the Fox River area,” he said. “And we have relatively cheap land, and developers are attracted to that opportunity.”
Growth is occurring in specific sections of the counties, officials say. In DuPage, many homes are going up in Wayne, Naperville and Winfield Townships.
“The towns there have a lot of vacant room to grow,” Vasandani said.
In West Chicago, for example, there is construction at Cornerstone Lakes, a 244-acre residential development that opened in 1997. When completed, the subdivision will have more than 725 single-family homes. About 150 homes are built now.
The town also has approved the 232-acre St. Andrews Square single-family homes development.
Wayne is reviewing the proposed 351-acre Dunham Club, which would have more than 340 homes.
The county has other possibilities for growth, Vasandani said, if county officials change the status of land designated for industrial parks to residential status.
“That would add a lot of acreage for homes,” he said.
Residential growth also is taking place on a smaller scale in the older downtowns of communities such as Naperville, “where we’re seeing a resurgence in townhouse and apartment/condominium buildings,” Vasandani said.
There also are some Kane County towns that people are moving into in record numbers.
“There’s been a leapfrogging of the Fox River,” Vasandani said. “The Tri-Cities of Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia have all extended beyond Randall Road. There’s a lot of activity there.”
The 1,500-acre Mill Creek subdivision at Fabyan Parkway and Randall Road in Geneva is the biggest development right now in Kane County. There will be nearly 2,000 homes when the project is completed, the majority single-family, and about 100 townhouses. There also will be an 18-hole golf course.
Begun four years ago, the subdivision already has 400 homes. Prices range from about $200,000 to $785,000.
West Aurora, West Dundee, Elgin and South Elgin are other Fox River towns that have seen healthy residential development.
In the county’s north end, Algonquin and Carpentersville also have seen a lot of home building.
“In the unincorporated areas of the county, we also have a couple of larger planned-unit developments that are doing very well,” said Sam Santell, director of planning and special projects for Kane County.
One large development is Fox Mill in Wasco. Opened in 1995, the 735-acre development will have nearly 700 single-family homes when it’s completed in a few years. About 280 homes, priced from $350,000 to $750,000, already have been built.
Another change in the county’s landscape is Sun City in Huntley. Developed by Phoenix-based Del Webb Corp., the project will encompass nearly 2,000 acres–and 6,000 homes–north of I-90 and west of Illinois Highway 47.
Opened two years ago, the community is geared toward older home buyers. One person in each household must be at least age 55, and guests younger than 19 face restrictions on how long they can stay in the community.
The project also will feature a 77,000-square-foot recreational campus, an 18-hole golf course and a 192,000-square-foot retail outlet center.
“It’s not just the numbers that are huge there, but the demographics–people who are 55 and older, and people who have more time and money and are fairly well-educated,” Santell said.
