Speaking on the character part alone, some of the river towns on the Fox have a lot of it, like Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles.
I second this. The Geneva-Batavia-St. Charles corridor is pretty cool.
If you really want more of that at a better price, the Route 47 Elburn-Sugar Grove-Yorkville corridor might work, too.
And yes, things in Elmhurst have picked up the past few years. Not sure why, either.
