Naperville...Any thoughts?
 

Hi everyone,
we are a family with 2 elementary aged children. We are relocating to Illinois this summer. We think that we have narrowed down our choices to either Naperville or Wheaton. We have visited each several times but feel that we may be missing something. I always think that is is wonderful to have an insiders take on a particular location. Can any natives comment on these communitites? Housing prices in each are within our range, so thankfully that is not a limiting factor in our choice. Our top priorities would be an excellent school system, lots of kids around as well as a kid friendly environment. Any thoughts on pros/cons of each would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

Hi,

I live in Warrenville which is smack dab between the two communities. Both are generally nice places to live for families. It also depends on what you like and where exactly you live. Naperville is enormous. There are beautiful, homey areas near downtown and in the older sections. Furthere south, you have lots of new construction and some of the snobbier neighborhoods. To me, I prefer Wheaton because of the greater character overall and the reduced snob factor. Wheaton has a strong religious tradition which may or may not appeal to you. Both areas have great school systems although the school district in the southern part of Naperville is in great turmoil over the building of a new high school. It has brought out some real ugliness among the afore-mentioned snobs. Some of these people act like middle class folks are all in street gangs and live in the slums!

My little granddaughters (oldest in first grade) are growing up in Naperville south. They live in a nice older subdivision just north of 75th St. - there are also lots of newer subdivisions south of 75th.

There are many nice shops and restaurants in Nvlle, art festivals and a big community "swimming hole" downtown. Lots to do. Many park reserves for hiking and biking, lots of wildlife. I love visiting there. Can take the El straight to downtown Chicago.

Wheaton, in my estimation, is more conservative.

My sister and her family (including a 5 year old and 8 year old) live in Naperville. They love it. People are very friendly and very family oriented. My sister quickly made friends with many of the moms. I know more people in her neighborhood than in mine and I've lived in the same house for twenty years! Naperville is always rated as one of the top spots to raise a family.

At the risk of getting flamed here, I'd broaden my search-both are nice places but very insular communities (especially Naperville)--my experience has been that people in Naperville tend to ignore the fact that they live anywhere near one of the nation's major cities and take a "there is no need to ever leave Naperville" attitude. To me it's the consumate suburb of strip malls, subdivisions and chain restaurants. Wheaton is a much more established community with a very conservative past, which may or may not appeal to you. Given that Wheaton is more established, it doesn't have the growing pains of Naperville that some have alluded to here-a majority of Naperville was cornfields 20 years ago.

Is Wheaton a mix of different faiths? or one predominant? Would someone feel like an outsider if they weren't necessarily of a certain faith?

I live in Westmont (about 20 minutes east of Naperville). The main decision, IMO, should be based on work/travel, family, etc. There are many cities to choose from (that have excellent schools). Do you have family or friends that live in the Naperville area? Is your job near Naperville? Do you need to go to the airport regularly? Do you work downtown? How would you park or go to the train station? I would take these factors into consideration.

If you work downtown, you can live anywhere you're near a train station. If you work in the suburbs, though, make sure you live nearby. I'll assume you either will be working in DuPage County or downtown if you're looking at Naperville and Wheaton. Wheaton is home to a conservative Christian college, but I don't know that it would be accurate to classify the whole town by the school. It may have been true at one time, but the area is so big and diverse now. Personally, I would choose Wheaton or another nearby town. Naperville is nice, but it's also huge. The population is nearly 140,000 and it's the second or or third largest city in the state. I think you'll have more of a neighborhood/ community feel in Wheaton. Another reason for this is Naperville is where people often go when they get transfered, and while this may be you, it does mean a more transient population in some areas. Because of it's size, I think Naperville does tend to be more insular, and forget it's part of Chicagoland. I think Naperville is also more expensive in general, especially in the older parts of town. I don't know what type of housing you're looking for, but if you want a more modest home in an established community I think you might be better off in Wheaton.

In response to your question about the religious history of Wheaton, there is a very conservative Christian college located there, but flamingomonkey is right, where it used to dominate the community of Wheaton, it's not that way any more. It tends to be more conservative, but probably not much more conservative than most other suburbs, so I wouldn't worry about that.

I would also add that Glen Ellyn, right next door to Wheaton, is a nice community similar to Wheaton in terms of character.

Both are great for families. Naperville is the new "hot" suburb so may get less house for the dollar. Growing a ton. Has a cute downtown and shops/restaurants.

I've lived in/around both and prefer Naperville.

Yes, it is quite large, but it's "sprawling" and not so much a big booming metropolis. The historic district is great if you can afford it. There has been drama about the new high school in district 204, but I wouldn't let that deter you. We liked it for the proximity to everything (shopping, restaurants, great hospital, schools, etc.).

I agree with other posters - Wheaton is very conservative. What with Wheaton College and the large number of churches in town, you tend to see lots of those little "Jesus fish" on the back of people's cars and lots of Republican signs in yards during campaigns. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those things - just my observations. That said, it's very charming. They have a great farmers market during the summer.

Just my opinion, but I would definitely vote for Wheaton between these two. That's considering that the job commutes are comparable, as that makes a huge difference.

Bigger isn't always better, I've found overall.

IMHO, I would pick several other suburbs over these actually. Hinsdale being one.

I have lived in Naperville for 15 years and I vote for Naperville.

They have a great newspaper, "The Sun" that keeps me informed of all the local happenings.

They have a great library, "Nichols Library", they have a wonderful community beach, "Centennial Beach", they have two park district golf courses, they have lots of open space, where one can walk paths, bike, take your dog to the dog park.

There is a skateboard park for the kids, the DuPage Children's museum, North Central College where you can see a lot of concerts, plays etc. I saw community theatre productions of "Evita" and "A Little Night Music" there. Plus the local ballet school puts on a production of the "Nutcracker" every year.

They have great festivals, from the famous "Ribfest" to the Sep Art fair and "The Last Fling". Plus a terriffic Farmer's Market every Saturday.

They have a beautiful downtown area with the River walk along the DuPage River, as well as great shops & restaurants.

If people from Naperville seem insular it's because Naperville has everything.

Cheribob just proved my point...

Grew up in Wheaton in the 1970's when it was the same size as Naperville. Returned from CA and lived in Glen Ellyn from 1998 through 2004. Our kids are now 16,14,10 and 6.

My take would be that Naperville is now populated by a large number of transferees. It is also big enough that different parts of the city will give you different experiences. Wheaton is a great town for kids. Not nearly as many transferees "passing through" and not facing growing pains to the extent that Naperville is.

For younger kids, I'd recommend south Wheaton in either the Farnham subdivision or Seven Gables. Very nice parks and lots of kids around.

I'd also recommend Glen Ellyn and Hinsdale as great places. However, the housing is more expensive in those towns.


Kevin

Kevin really is a ChiDad and has hit the crux.

All my friends and acquaintances from Naperville love living there, yet always complain of the 2 or 3 year neighbor- and then they are gone. Many of the families there are corporate mobile.

Remember...this is the town in which the mother killed all of her children a few years ago. National news. Not your typical normal place. This is still the midwest. . If you like what I consider the worst gridlock traffic I have ever experienced in my life, hot humid summers, brutally cold winters, and overpriced housing ad mosquitos, hey-go for it. Ex-longtime chicago resident--finally moved the hell out.

Kevin, I'm not a fan of Naperville (which affectionately refer to as Napertucky) but I fail to see how one woman's unfortunate case of psychosis has to do with quality of life there.

rpcb, if you're white, Republican and Christian you may well like DuPage County, where both Naperville and Wheaton are located. If you're not, you probably won't.

HTH,
Racy

Kevin in Seattle glad to see you finally left cause clearly not the place for you.

I have lived in Naperville for the past seven years and while it is not the most ideal place for single people it does seem to cater to families. Pretty much everything is geared toward families and couples and not so much single people.

I also think any of the other areas mentioned would also cater to the upper middle class families that everyone is so quick to bash Naperville about.

I find that last generalization to be fairly offensive, because although I don't live there, I know immense amounts of people who do. And they are far, far more of diverse origins, races, and religions that your statement conveys, Racy.

It really concerns me when there is this kind of overview. Do a stats study of the latest census, if you think this is so true.

I might agree about the economic incomes being higher there, and that the vote has at least some strong Republican percentage in any election, but that a Democrat or a person of color would not be happy there. That's just plain hogwash. Seems to me that mosques are being built too.

Why the nasty dispargement for someone's choice who is assuming good intent. And bad things can happen anywhere, and they do.

When I first moved to Illinois in 1988 I settled in Naperville. At the time its population was about 80,000 and I almost immediately felt it was growing too rapidly for my taste; you could hardly get through town at rush hour. And at the time I recall reading that the average duration of residents living there was under five years. It felt like that to me -- transient.

Eighteen months later I moved to Wheaton and remain glad of it. Wheaton does not have downtown restaurants or shopping comparable to Naperville, but in general I'd say the community has an atmosphere that is calmer, with less pretense.

As for diversity, I find it there, contrary to what many might believe. We have friends in town who are gay, straight, young, old, white, people of color, religious, non-religious, etc. I run into people all the time who assume it is unbearably conservative. Undeniably it tilts that way politically. But I have never felt that has much affected my life there. I think the general attitude is somewhat libertarian.

Of course all of this involves painting with a broad brush. You probably can't go too wrong with either community; it's a matter of taste. Wheaton feels more like a real community to me, but I also live where I can walk to the hardware and grocery stores, bank, post office, train stations, French Market, band shell and library. I might feel differently if I was in one of the car-based subdivisions on the south side of town, as I was in Naperville.

I agree with JJ5 on this. While I don't have the stats in front of me, my impression is that each minority group in DuPage county (each minority race, minority religion and democrats) has at least doubled in the last 20 years. I believe in the last presidential election it was roughly 55/45 vs. 70/30 or so when I was in high school.

Kevin in Madison

Naperville is >85% white and Wheaton is 88% white, according to the census figures I see. Even some of the "lower-end" areas like Glendale Heights and Carol Stream is nearing 80% white (most minorities were Asian and hispanic). Not tremendously diverse, IMHO.

I realize this isn't a scientific sample size, but a couple of years ago my colleague went to vote in Naperville and they could't locate a Democratic ballot for him.

Perhaps you think I overstated. Fine. But if you're a left-of-liberal ethnic minority (and we do exist), Naperville or Wheaton might not be the best fit. That's all I'm saying.

You've rounded up the fractions on your census figures, but they are almost accurate for 2000. Actually Naperville has a Hispanic/Latino/Mexican stated inclusion of almost 5% and a Black inclusion of over 3% and is increasing on both. Wheaton is almost similar.

And it was the overall glib tone of disdain in the former post that stereotyped these Dupage county locations that I really object to more than your opinion or politics, Racy.

I think what is the most instructive re the OP's query is the fact of the average income of $86,000 per year/household, far more than the stats on race or politics.

Racy, I think your opinion of DuPage County is quite outdated. I live in DuPage county and work in a public school that is probably 75% minority. This includes African-Americans, Hispanics, Pakistanis and Indians with a few central European immigrants thrown in for good measure. I myself am white, Christian (although Catholic which is probably not what you were going for) and most definitely NOT Republican. I'll admit that, when we moved here, I felt a bit disenfranchised every time I asked for a Democrat ballot in a primary! But things are changing. There's even a chance that a Democrat may win Henry Hyde's seat!

I have learned plenty from these posts and am curious enough to explore the towns around Naperville. Please tell me, why is this town referred to as "Napertucky"?

Naperville is ranked #2 in this years Money magazines best places to live issue:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...PL1751622.html

I don't live in Naperville, but do enjoy visiting.

Napertucky, I believe because it is so friggin far away from Chicago.

Its other nickname is Naper-H3ll.

One other point to keep in mind is I have heard many times that there is a long waiting list to park at the Naperville train stations. A significant point if you are commuting.

OK. If you read the listing in Money Magazine, you also read the CON of living in Naperville was congestion. The WORST traffic and highway I have ever been on. Worse than L.A. (I have lived in L.A.) hmmmm..lets see: traffic, horrible winters, worse summers, tons of bugs...sounds great!!

Seems Chicago has gotten a lot better since you left.

Wheaton....definately. I worked as a consultant for Amaoco (BP now???) and tried to lure people to Naperville. I would have rather lured them to Wheaton. Wheaton is not a churchy place unless you want it to be. No more than any where else. Naperville is far too large..to many growing pains. Wheaton is a community. The park department is awesome (where else in the country is there a better community pool?) The schools are fantastic. Naperville is subdivision afer subdivision... Wheaton is a TOWN...a communitiy. We live in the east now..Massachusetts, but if I were to move back to IL (which I would never do) I would concentrate on Glen Ellyn, but more specifically Wheaton. Make sure you look up the Wheaton Sports Center no matter where you choose to reside AWESOME!!!!! Just make sure you realize that Naperville is BIG and a HUGE bedroom community. Wheaton is a really nice town with a great school system! If i wete to move back to the atea, it certainly
WOULDN'T be to Naperville!!!!!!!

I suspect the OP has probably made a decision by now. :D

Warning: This is an old thread! I'm pulling it back up to "correct" something I said earlier. I responded on May 11 to say that I work in a school in DuPage County that is 75% minority. Well, we just received our Winter 2006 copy of the district newsletter (mailed to all residents). It contains an article with exact figures: 19.8% white, 18.2% black, 43.2% Hispanic, 17.2% Asian/Pacific Islander and 1.6% multi-racial/ethnic. Personally, I think the 19.8% white is slightly misleading in that it includes both immigrant and non-immigrant children.

The figures are included in an article stating that the school received a National Blue Ribbon, one of only 250 in the country! They were nominated because, contrary to state trends, they've consistantly made significant improvements in standardized test scores for the past 4 years.