Like St. Charles, residents of Batavia like the small town atmosphere that the city offers. Linda Allewalt, an 11 year resident of Batavia, cited "the small town feel, good school system, and being at the ‘edge’ of suburban sprawl" as reasons for living in Batavia (7/18/00). Also like neighboring St. Charles, Batavia has recently been dealing with increased commercial and residential growth. Commenting on the amount of commercial and residential growth the city has experienced recently, Smeaton said, "We have seen a lot of growth. We have built out along Randall Road from Fabyan Parkway south to Main Street and some other miscellaneous developments and there has been a large industrial growth along the Northeast side. There has also been an increase in residential developments. Most of this growth has been occurring on the fringe" (8/4/00). By stating that most of the growth is along the fringe, Smeaton is referring to the Randall Road corridor on the west end of the city. Batavia, like Elgin and St. Charles, has encouraged this growth for the tax base the developments provide (Santell 12/26/00). Batavia recently approved a resolution reaffirming the city’s comprehensive land use plan, which pegs the western edge of town (there are about 250-300 acres bordering the west side of the town the city could annex) for low-density development and open space (Chanzit "Batavia Worried" 1). Many of the recent growth issues impacting Batavia are similar to those found in Elgin or St. Charles: Randall Road development vs. development in the historic downtown area, the establishment of historic districts, the proposal of a second bridge crossing the Fox River in the downtown, and the controversy over a development planned adjacent to Braeburn Marsh along Randall Road.

The "Great Unknown" that was once Randall Road is no more. Sam Santell, director of the Planning Division for Kane County, believes that what is happening along Randall Road in all three of the communities is unfortunate, that it is becoming "Anywhere USA" with the construction of chain stores with the same corporate designs that are seen all across the country. He believes that "none of these communities, and no communities in this region, have done a good job in pushing plans to do something better to improve their communities. But of the three communities, Batavia has come the closest. Batavia has some of the toughest landscape requirements along Randall Road" (12/26/00). Batavia has also integrated windmills into the landscape of several developments, reflecting the city’s history of windmill manufacturing (Santell 12/26/00). All three of these cities develop along Randall Road because they are looking for extra tax dollars which they can use to help revitalize older parts of town, such as the downtown (Santell 12/26/00) While many residents enjoy the new shopping, others are opposed to the development. Blobaum had this to day about westward expansion in Batavia, "I don’t like it at all. It is pretty disgusting. Last year I watched a bean field bulldozed before they even harvested it. I just think that it is wrong, it is just terrible, what a waste. Northern Illinois has some of the best soils in the world, and to cover it up with concrete is ludicrous" (22 Dec 2000). While this view represents one end of the spectrum, many residents, while they do not like to see the consumption of open space, realize that the growth is inevitable. Allewalt, as an informed resident of the community, had this to say about westward development:

I feel the growth is inevitable because of our population. However, the housing only strains the economy and is changing the type of people who live here because the new houses are so expensive. The biggest mistake our city government made was to offer tax incentives to developers to develop Randall Road. We should have made developers pay into a pot to revitalize our downtown. We essentially "gave away the store." Now we have infrastructure problems (bridge) and business closings that are hurting our downtown and our taxes keep going up to pay for these problems (7/18/00)

While most of this growth is fueled by the community’s need for tax dollars, some of it is also spurred by competition from neighboring communities. For example, if a large commercial developer comes into the area looking to build, each community will most likely want the tax dollars from that particular development. If it does not locate in their community, it will locate in a neighboring community. Among the three-city study area, most of the competition is between St. Charles and Batavia because they are so close to each other, with competition among the three communities only on a larger, commercial scale (Santell 12/26/00).

Batavia, being the oldest of the three cities, has the oldest downtown district, but has only begun to make revitalization efforts within the past two years (Santell 12/26/00). According to Smeaton, the downtown was not doing very well, but, over the past 2 ½ years, they had a MainStreet program come in and "that has been turning the downtown around" (8/4/00). This MainStreet Program is "a not-for-profit, community-based organization devoted to enhancing downtown Batavia’s identity as the heart of the community through dedicated volunteer efforts" (Bennett 3). Through this program, Batavia was awarded status as an Illinois Main Street Community, established a board of directors and a program manager, as well as organized several Grand Opening Celebrations for new Downtown Batavia businesses (Bennett 1). The city also received a block grant from Kane County to do a Downtown Master Plan, which is almost complete and should spur redevelopment downtown (Smeaton 8/4/00).

Some recent improvements to Batavia’s downtown include a new parking deck, the creation of a building façade improvement grant program, and the acquisition of a building that was deemed a vacant eyesore standing in the way of downtown revitalization (Foster "Back in Batavia" 1). Mark Foster, reporter for the Kane County Chronicle, maintains "that the downtown’s biggest problem is that it doesn’t meet the perception that some people have of what a downtown business district should be" ("Back In Batavia" 2). He believes that with Batavia’s industrial past, it will never be the kind of commercial center that is found in St. Charles. Foster believes the "downtown business district is important because its where the community comes together. It provides the community with a sense of identity" ("Back in Batavia" 2). The mayor and city staff recently proposed the need for a second in-town bridge to the south of the existing and aging Wilson Street bridge. This would help alleviate excess traffic through the downtown and help downtown businesses (Foster "Back in Batavia" 1). Voters were overwhelmingly against the construction of a second bridge in the downtown, but did approve the replacement of the existing Wilson Street bridge (Foster "Back in Batavia" 2). During the course of several town meetings to discuss the bridge issue, it became clear that the city did not want to make the Wilson Street bridge a four-lane road through the downtown, while many residents supported this option (Foster "Batavians Debate" 1). City Planner Kai Tarum argued that parking needs to remain on Wilson through the downtown, "From an Urban downtown standpoint, this is the center of the community, and we want to ensure that it is comfortable, attractive, safe and secure" (Foster "Batavians Debate" 1). Chris Aiston, the Geneva Economic Development Director, advised that "on-street parking is critical to the success of the central business district," and that, "This is particularly true in the face of increasing shopping opportunities in regional malls and the Randall Road corridor" (Foster "Batavia Plans" 2). The approved replacement of the bridge will cost Batavians around $2 million, thanks to a grant from state and federal transportation officials (Chanzit "Emotionally-Charged" 1).

While Batavia is older than Elgin and St. Charles, the city has yet to establish any historic districts. Smeaton explained that they are working on first adopting a historic preservation ordinance, then establish the historic districts to prevent residents from opposing their homes being located within the district (4 August 2000). However, Batavia does work to preserve much of their history. City Hall is housed in what was the home of the Appleton Manufacturing Company. The building is also surrounded by classic windmills produced by Batavia companies (Village Profile 3).