Gilberts No. 1 for homebuyers in website ranking

The website Niche has ranked Gilberts as the best small suburb in Illinois to buy a house.

The ranking - based on home values, property taxes, housing costs, and age of new homebuyers - places the village at the top of what Niche defines as a suburb, or "a place located within a Census-defined urbanized area, but outside the principal city with a population of at least 1,000."

The second spot in Niche's suburbs list went to Warrenville, followed by Manhattan, Vernon Hills and Lake in the Hills. Gilberts was ranked 24th overall among suburbs across the United States.

Niche has separate rankings for towns, such as Schaumburg, and cities with more than 100,000 residents, such as Elgin.

The recognition isn't surprising to those who know Gilberts, said Trustee Elissa Kojzarek, who moved from Elgin with her husband and child in 2012. "I think Gilberts is one of those communities where people who want to be close enough to the action can live but kind of still have that smaller town feel," she said.

Gilberts' list of amenities continues to grow, such as a splash pad that opened in May and a new "movies in the park" series, both at Town Center Park, she said.

The village has changed a lot in the last decade or so, Trustee Guy Zambetti said. "In Kane County alone there's a lot of very good municipalities that we ranked above in this (Niche) category," he said, "and here we go with small little Gilberts, where it seems that progress is being made."

He pointed to the installation of streetlights, building rail crossings, a water treatment plant and Gilberts Elementary School, along with an array of community events, such as a fall bonfire and an annual Easter egg hunt, and sports activities run by local leagues as part of that progression.

Also, Gilberts did a good job in managing the aftermath of the economic recession, such as ensuring that foreclosed homes wouldn't deteriorate and become eyesores, Zambetti said.

Pittsburgh-based Niche was founded in 2002 by Carnegie Mellon University students as CollegeProwler.com, according to information on niche.com.

It now has three products: Niche Local, which offers rankings and statistics on neighborhoods and cities across the country; Niche K-12, which provides reviews and rankings of more than 120,000 schools; and College Prowler, which offers reviews, recommendations and information regarding majors and scholarships.