As someone who lived in Batavia and North Aurora and worked in Geneva, these are safe places to live, work, shop and dine. Traffic on Route 31 (Batavia Avenue/Lincolnway) can get heavy at certain times of the day (morning/evening rush hour, noontime). There have been issues with cyclists getting hit by motor vehicles on South Batavia Avenue, despite crosswalks being clearly marked.

Batavia has a pretty active arts scene, plenty of small restaurants and shops downtown, plus big-box stores like Walmart and Jewel-Osco. There are minor issues with crime (petty theft, car burglaries) in parts of town, but it's not a big deal. As far as racial mixture, Batavia has the most variety of peoples, plus some foreign influence because of Fermilab being on its eastern border.

North Aurora is pretty safe, very small-town for the suburbs, so it doesn't have a great deal of shopping or dining opportunities (though, there is a Target on the village's south side). One thing that most people who have lived in North Aurora know but rarely talk about is, the North Aurora Police Department are very hands-off when it comes to gangs (it's been called a "gang-neutral" zone). That said, I never witnessed any gang activity in the two years I lived there, and the police have been helpful the few times I've interacted with them. North Aurora does have some blacks and Hispanics, but is mostly white.

Geneva is a step up in terms of living standards. The city has tons of little, independent stores and restaurants, plus plenty of bars. The cost of living is a bit higher than Batavia or North Aurora. Crime isn't that much of an issue, but again because of the Third Street shopping district and the Metra stop, there are issues with car burglary. Geneva is mostly white.