Everything about Cherry Valley Illinois totally explained
The
village of
Cherry Valley,
Illinois is a small community located on the south east side of
Rockford located in the
Kishwaukee River valley in
Winnebago County, with a portion reaching into
Boone County, Illinois. The population was 2,191 at the 2000 census. Its current population (2007) is estimated at 3,042.
Cherry Valley is part of the Rockford, Illinois
Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Cherry Valley was settled in either 1835 or 1839, depending on your source, by
Joseph Griggs, and incorporated as a village on January 31st 1857. Early landmark events for Cherry Valley was the establishment of a mill on the Kishwaukee river, and the coming of the railroad in 1852.
Cherry Valley was originally called
Griggs Ford, and then other names, none of which were found suitable. Accordingly the leaders in the Village decided to change the name; people could make choices and put their suggestions in a hat. A Mrs. Butler, from
Cherry Valley, New York placed the name of Cherry Valley in the hat and that name won. The core of the Village, centered on its main street businesses in small brick buildings, is surrounded by several blocks of houses built in the 1800s. This late 19th century appearance is further accentuated by turn of the century style lamp lights as well as the original brick paving along the eastern end of main street.
Relationship with Rockford
Although located close to Rockford, Cherry Valley was far enough away to be considered, for most of its history, not a part of the Rockford community. However, with the advent of modern transportation Cherry Valley became in essence a suburb of
Rockford in the later decades of the 20th century. As the city of Rockford grew and expanded its boundaries it came in direct contact with Cherry Valley. Since that time there have been land control related issues between the two municipalities. Ultimately these "issues" culminated in a boundary agreement between the two communities in 1991.
Cherry Valley is a contributing member of the Rockford Area Economic Development Council (RAEDC). Cherry Valley has declined to pay for
Rockford Mass Transit to operate bus service within the village; given that the demand for mass transit service comes from Rockford residents, not Cherry Valley residents.
However, sometime after mid-2007, RMTD began operating bus service to CherryVale Mall. Bus service to the mall was done without securing permission from the mall; and neither the mall or Cherry Valley was notified of RMTD's actions prior to a press release being issued.
Cherry Valley today
In the last dozen years Cherry Valley has seen a shift towards
Chicago, with roughly a third of its new residents being former Chicago suburban residents who live in the Village and commute to work in the Chicago suburbs. Being near to an interchange on I-90 (
Jane Addams Memorial Tollway) contributed to this shift, and in 2006 the toll booths on the Cherry Valley interchange and exit were removed because of increased traffic flow and the need to remove the chronic traffic jams that had built over the years.
Cherry Valley is considered by many to be a progressive community within the region. Cherry Valley was the first community in the area to implement a comprehensive, curb side recycling program for all its residents. It was also the first community in the area to require full urban improvements for all new subdivisions (sanitary sewer, municipal water, curb, gutters, sidewalks, etc.) Cherry Valley was also the first community in the region to require subdivison developers to dedicated land or fees for the development of parks and open space. Cherry Valley is a member of the Illinois Municipal League, National League of Cities, International City / County Managers Association, the American Planning Association, and numerous other organizations.
Most of Cherry Valley is within the Rockford School District, with a small portion in the Belvidere School District. There is only one school within the village center, which is named Cherry Valley Elementary, taking children in grades 3 through 5, with village children in grades K-2 going to White Swan Elementary outside the village center.
Geography
Cherry Valley is located at (42.239287, -88.962187). The core of the Village is located a little north of the confluence of the north and south branches of the Kishwaukee river. There is a slight depression as one moves towards the center of the Village, which is a formation of the Kishwaukee river valley.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.9 km²), of which, 3.8 square miles (9.7 km²) of it's land and 0.1 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (1.31%) is water. The north branch of the
Kishwaukee River travels through Cherry Valley's central business district. The largest body of water in the village is Cherry Valley Lake which is situated just east of the Kishwaukee River in Baumann Park. The Village is served by
Interstate 90,
Interstate 39,
U.S. Route 20 and
U.S. Route 51.
Recent annexations (January of 2007) to the South West of the Village along the
Kishwaukee River to Baxter Road and Interstate 39 have increased the total area of the Village to 7.44 square miles.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 2,191 people, 857 households, and 623 families residing in the village. The
population density was 583.3 people per square mile (225.0/km²). There were 887 housing units at an average density of 236.1/sq mi (91.1/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 93.98%
White, 1.69%
African American, 0.18%
Native American, 2.56%
Asian, 0.05%
Pacific Islander, 0.87% from
other races, and 0.68% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 2.19% of the population.
There were 857 households out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.9% were
married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.3% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the village the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 33.9% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 101.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $59,871, and the median income for a family was $70,833. Males had a median income of $50,943 versus $29,153 for females. The
per capita income for the village was $23,725. About 4.7% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 9.6% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over. Cherry Valley has the highest income and education levels of any community within the Rockford metropolitan area.
Development and growth
The village is home to the million square foot
CherryVale Mall,
Magic Waters Waterpark (Illinois' largest water park), and Kegel Motorcycle Company (the world's oldest Harley-Davidson dealership). Cherry Valley is currently experiencing the greatest amount of growth in its history. Recent retail development includes the "District At CherryVale" lifestyle center which encompasses over of upscale retail stores. Tenants for the District include Coldwater Creek Granite City Food And Brewery and Barnes & Noble. CBL, the owners of CherryVale Mall, recently expended millions of dollars renovating the interior and exterior of the mall. In addition; JC Penney constructed a store on the north side of the mall in 2004. The addition of the JC Penney store provided a fourth anchor to the mall; the other three anchors being Sears, Macy's and Bergner's.
Cherry Valley has used "sales tax rebates" as a primary means of promoting economic development without risking its own revenues. Its most recent success story was redevelopment of a vacated "Menards Cashway Lumber" big box store for use by Collier RV - the largest RV dealership in the Rockford metro area.
Cherry Valley is one of only a handful of communities within Illinois that doesn't levy a municipal property tax. Operations of the Village are paid for by a 1% sales tax that's levied and collected by the State of Illinois and then distributed to the community. As a result, the overall property tax rate is significantly less than other communities within the Rockford metro area.
The Village recently (January, 2007) annexed over three square miles of land which will include the development of the "Rock 39" Industrial Park located at the Interstate 39 / Baxter Road interchange. Historically a retail oriented community; this annexation will allow the Village to pursue industrial development. The first announced project within Rock 39 is the Con-way Trucking facility which broke ground on November 5, 2007.
Ground was also recently broken on a branch campus of Upper Iowa University along Interstate 90, just north of Newburg Road. The building is expected to be completed in March of 2008.
According to a WREX-TV report on March 27, 2007 a
Crystal Lake based developer was working to annex two square miles within unincorporated
Flora Township to Cherry Valley. There are plans to build as many as 2,000 single family homes in the area. WREX-TV reports that the developer would look to Stillman Valley, Illinois for the development if Cherry Valley doesn't allow the annexation. The developer took his proposal to various communities within northern Illinois. As of September, 2007 the entire project has been withdrawn, and Illinois State law has been changed to prevent a similar situation from occurring again.
The Village of Cherry Valley actively pursues retail development. Cherry Valley is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and hosts a booth at its various midwest trade shows.
Major Employers
Manufacturing
Retail
Bachrodt Auto Mall: Chevrolet, VW, BMW
Macy’s
JC Penney
Bergner’s (Division of Carson Pirie Scott)
Sears
Hilander (Division of Kroger supermarkets)
Menards
Kegel Motorcycle Company
Magic Waters Water Park
Collier RV CenterFurther Information
Get more info on 'Cherry Valley Illinois'.
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