Life is good in Sugar Grove, according to Business Week

Sugar Grove has been selected by Business Week magazine as one of the nation's best affordable suburbs in which to live.

The Dec. 7 issue featured Sugar Grove as one of only 50 suburbs across the country -- and the only one in Illinois -- to get high marks on affordability, low crime rate, good schools and a reasonable commute.

"We're very excited to have this honor," Village President Sean Michels said. "Our board, staff and residents have worked hard to make Sugar Grove a good place to live.

"Business Week didn't look at just one factor," Michels added. "The survey also considered crime and good schools, and other things. The selection was based on key statistics and we consider all of these."

The Business Week article cited a Sugar Grove unemployment rate of 4.3 percent, a median household income of $89,821 and a median home price of $399,900.

"I know that an average home of $400,000 may seem expensive, but I think the survey reflects the diversity of housing that we have," Michels said. "Sugar Grove has a lot of starter homes as well as high-end homes. Families can start out here, stay and move up."

Sugar Grove was the second Kane County community to be lauded by the magazine in recent months.

In November, Batavia was ranked 21st by Business Week among its 50 best places to raise children. Business Week also cited factors such as education and low crime in that survey.

Business Week compiled the list of the 50 best affordable suburbs using information from Sperling's Best Places, founded by Bert Sperling and based in Portland, Ore.

According to Business Week, Sperling drew data from the U.S. Census Bureau, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and from FBI crime statistics.

The median listing price for Sugar Grove homes was taken from Multiple Listing Services across the country for the fourth quarter of 2007.

"We're not going to rest on our laurels," Michels added. "We're improving our open spaces, creating bike paths, and extending our road network to make commuting easier. We want to continue to improve our community."

For information and a link to the article, go to www.sugar-grove.il.us.