Jay Stream's town grew all according to plan

Jay Stream wanted to build his own town - a model community with a mix of homes, light industries and well-planned growth.

In 1957, his vision became a reality. Stream purchased land to develop Carol Stream Estates, which he named for his daughter, Carol, who had been seriously injured in an auto accident.

Model homes in Carol Stream Estates - priced from $15,000 to $19,000 - featured three bedrooms, two full baths, living room, dining room and a kitchen with built-in oven and range. All had a concrete driveway and fully graded and seeded yards. Except for the least expensive model, the home came with an attached garage.

Today, Carol Stream offers the best housing value for your money, said Janice Burke, Realtor with Coldwell Banker. "You can get a beautiful three-bedroom house with a basement for less than $300,000."

Tim Binning, broker-owner of RE/MAX All Pro, echoes Burke. "A big draw is the wide variety of housing from starter homes to custom luxury homes," he said. "The nice thing is you can get an older ranch for less than $200,000 and a custom or semi-custom home for $600,000. It's the same thing for townhouses. You can get an older starter townhouse for $150,000 or a luxury townhouse in the $300,000s."

Stream planned his town so people would have a place to not only live and work, but also to play. Today parks take center stage in the community where several community parks and 38 neighborhood parks provide areas for recreation and add value to homes in the community. Most residents are within a five-minute walk of a public park.

The Carol Stream park district offers 440 acres of parks and open space, miles of walking and biking trails, playgrounds, ponds, streams and picnic groves. It also has many sports fields, tennis courts, a skate park and mini-golf course.

Other recreation includes the popular Coral Cove Water Park, which is adjacent to Simkus Recreation Center, and the Illinois Prairie Path that provides 61 miles of hiking, biking, equestrian trails and nature paths. 

"Carol Stream is very family-oriented," Burke said. They always have a lot of family things going on - lots of fests. It's a close-knit community."

To give the village a central focus, the village began developing a new Town Center in 1998 complete with park, water features, footbridge, native plant beds, pedestrian and bike paths and ornamental lighting. The center has an organic maintenance program.

"The Town Center is fabulous," Burke said. "They've got Flip Flops where neighbors can get together, relax and have a drink. It's beautiful with the fountain all lit up."

In his new town, Stream wanted residents to be able to work within the community rather than make the trip to Chicago every day. The prize of the village was his land set aside for an industrial and office park. By the time the village was 10 years old, it was attracting Fortune 500 companies who were looking for new plants or office sites.

Today the industrial park continues to attract major businesses and provides jobs for residents of the village who can live and work in their hometown. Enforcing strict industrial building codes, Carol Stream can boast some of the most attractive industrial buildings in the county with well-manicured and landscaped grounds.

With Stream's well-planned growth, he wanted to keep the residential and industrial areas separate. The central and western portions of the village consist primarily of residential housing while the east and southeastern sections developed into the economic base of the community. The village has no municipal property tax.

Just as Stream took transportation into account when he established the community, Carol Stream's excellent network of transportation is a big plus for residents and businesses alike. The village is in proximity to two Metra stations, two airports and easy access to Routes 59 and 64, I-355 and the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway. Six major streets go through the village.

"Carol Stream has a nice central location," Binning said. "It's close to everything and not too far from the city for commuters."