Cherry Valley

Cherry Valley is a village of 8.72 square miles (22.6 km²) in the Kishwaukee River valley, which lies primarily in Winnebago County. The village is within the Rockford, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area, and borders the southeast side of Rockford. The population is 2905 at the 2020 census, down from 3,162 as of the 2010 census. 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 core of the village, centered on its main street businesses in small brick buildings, is surrounded by several blocks of houses built in the 19th century. 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 and commute to work in the Chicago suburbs. 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. Most of Cherry Valley is within Rockford School District, with a small portion in the Belvidere School District. Schools closed and demolished in 2019. The north branch of the. Kish Milwaukee River travels through Cherry Valley's central business district. The community is located a little north of the confluence of the north and south branches of theKishwaukee river. There is a slight depression as one moves towards the center of thevillage, which is a formation of the Kish Milwaukee river valley.

History

The first settler within Cherry Valley was Joseph Griggs who, along with his family, settled on the north bank of the Kishwaukee River in 1835. The village was incorporated as a village on January 31, 1857. 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. Most of Cherry Valley is within the Rockford School District, with a small portion in the Belvidere School District. Schools closed and demolished in 2019. Cherry Valley today 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 was the reason for the removal of toll booths in 2006. The name of the village was selected by a woman from Cherry Valley, New York who put her name in a hat and that name was selected. The current name is "Cherry Valley" and was adopted by a vote of the residents of the town. The city of Rockford has been in contact with Cherry Valley since the early 20th century, when Rockford grew and expanded its boundaries. Since that time, there have been land control-related issues between the two municipalities. For the most part, these issues have been resolved with a boundary agreement between the communities.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Cherry Valley has a total area of 8.66 square miles (22.43 km²) of which 97.09% is land and 0.25% is water. 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. The north branch of the. Kish Milwaukee River travels through Cherry Valley's central business district. The town is located on the banks of the river, which runs through the center of the village. It has a population of 1,788. The city of Cherry Valley was founded in 1883 and was named after Cherry Valley, Wisconsin, a town that was once part of the state of Wisconsin. The current mayor of the city is John Zuckerman, who was elected to a second term in 2010. The mayor is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where he was a member of the Board of Trustees and served as president of the board of trustees from 2007 to 2010. He is the son of the late John Zinkerman, a former mayor who served two terms as mayor. The community is located near the confluence of the north and south branches of theKishwaukee river. It is the only town in Wisconsin that is not located in the National Forest System.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 2,905 people, 1,240 households, and 739 families residing in the village. The racial makeup of the village was 82.27% White, 3.06% African American, 0.10% Native American, 4.99% Asian, 2.24% from other races, and7.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.13% of the population. The village's age distribution consisted of 13.3% under the age of 18. The median income for a household was $68,397, and $79,750 for a family. Cherry Valley has the highest income and education levels of any community within the Rockford metropolitan area. The per capita income for the village is $35,460. About 3.4% of families and 6.6% of people were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size is 2.21. The population density was 335.57 inhabitants per square mile (129.56/km²). There were 1,338 housing units at an average density of 154.56 per squaremile (59.68/km 2). The median age was 52.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.5 males. ForEvery 100 females age 18 or over, there are 94.0 males.

Development and growth

The CherryVale Mall is one of the first enclosed shopping malls in Illinois. The town is home to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Rockford, formerly Magic Waters, which is owned by Rockford Park District and is managed by Six Flags starting 2018. The Kegel Motorcycle Company has a strong claim to being the world's oldest Harley-Davidson dealership. Cherry Valley does not levy a municipal property tax, making it one of only a handful of communities within Illinois that does not. The village has a 1% sales tax that is levied and collected by the State of Illinois and then distributed to the community. It is the only community in Illinois that doesn't have a property tax. It has a population of around 3,000. The city has an average annual growth rate of 2.7%. It has an unemployment rate of 1.8%. The town has a median household income of $30,000, the lowest in the state. The average annual household income is $25,000; the average yearly growth rate is 2.9%. Cherry Valley has a crime rate of 0.7%, the highest in the city. The community has a high school graduation rate of 10%. The village's population has grown from 1,000 to 3,500 in the last 20 years. The population has increased from 2,500 to 4,000 in the past 10 years. It had an average population of 3,200 in the year 2000. The current population is 3,100.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Cherry Valley, Winnebago County, Illinois = 72.9. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 56. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 20. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Cherry Valley = 3.5 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 2,905 individuals with a median age of 35.4 age the population grows by 7.13% in Cherry Valley, Winnebago County, Illinois population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 345.63 residents per square mile of area (133.45/km²). There are average 2.5 people per household in the 7,566 households with an average household income of $55,753 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 15.90% of the available work force and has dropped -4.54% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 15.02%. The number of physicians in Cherry Valley per 100,000 population = 226.5.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Cherry Valley = 36.4 inches and the annual snowfall = 34 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 117. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 191. 84 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 11 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 45, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Cherry Valley, Winnebago County, Illinois which are owned by the occupant = 62.17%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 29 years with median home cost = $127,220 and home appreciation of -10.75%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $25.64 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,696 per student. There are 18 students for each teacher in the school, 1729 students for each Librarian and 987 students for each Counselor. 7.59% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 17.04% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 6.67% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).