Everyone in St. Charles still seems to be walking a few feet off the ground after the town was named the Number One Best Place to Raise a Family in the Family Circle Annual Survey of Best Towns and Cities featured in the magazine’s August 2011 issue.

“We’re hoping it will help with economic development,” Lori Hewitt, president and CEO of the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce, said.  

“Now that it’s become nationally recognized, someone that may have been looking to open a business along the Fox Valley may consider us now over another town,” she said.

Hewitt pointed to the diversity in a town the size of St. Charles as a big factor for the accolades.

“For this size of a town to have three live theatres is pretty amazing,” she said. “We have a lot of variety here that people really enjoy.

“The other thing that makes us stand out,” Hewitt added, “we have such a community-spirited group. Everybody really gives back in this town.”

St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte would have to agree.

“Certainly the designation confirms what we have all known all along,” DeWitte said. 

In his view, the difference is the government entities such as the municipality, park district, the schools, and the library, among others, all working together.

“No individual unit of government can make a great community,” he said. “It takes the cooperation and collaboration of all of the government entities in any community working together to create something that everyone can be proud of.”

Ray Ochromowicz, St. Charles Park District director, said he recalls a survey that indicated a majority of the community population may not participate in the amenities available, so an agency’s reputation is created on what people read and hear.

“It (the designation) enhances one’s reputation,” he said. “I think that’s good for drawing businesses to the community.  At the park district, we have some awesome facilities that are regional.”

Amy Egolf, executive director of the St. Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau, said “it’s a wonderful designation.”

“How can you put a dollar figure on it?” she said. “We’ve always had a wonderful product to sell.”

Egolf said she recently returned from a meeting with area planners and learned that Hilton Garden booked 100 room nights with a group that heard about the city from the Family Circle article. 

In case you missed it, you can read the full article here, watch the ABC-7 news story here, and watch WGN-TV’s coverage. The city of St. Charles website also has a news release on being named Number One. 

So for the time being, St. Charles will continue basking in the limelight. DeWitte summed it up by saying the city’s people are in a “we’re-in-it-together mentality.”

“It has everyone pulling the rope in the same direction,” he said, “which is forward.”