Moving to Naperville from Cali (Aurora, Wheaton: real estate, hotel, houses)

[Toosh]

Wow. Well my husband has accepted a job in Naperville. The whole reason we even openned ourselves up to relocating was because it has just gott'n too darn expensive to live here, but I'm feeling nervous as I research Naperville and it's surrounding areas..... Schools and a nice town that we can find a decent home around $350 we could go to $400 but the whole point in our move was to decrease the mortgage, so we don't want to spend on a home what we had to spend out here. Our daughter is six, and I will need to find a new job ....

What I really would like is suggestions of communities for me to research where my husband will be really close to work, but we won't be making a lateral move. What towns should we stay away from...we live in a really nice community right now, this honestly is going to be one of the hardest moves I have ever faced..could really use some encouragement.
Thanks, Toosh

[treeg26]

Look in Wheaton, St. Charles, Geneva, Glen Ellyn, Carol Stream. I don't like the Aurora school district personally. Wheaton and Glen Ellyn have higher home prices than St. Charles and Geneva. St. Charles and Geneva are along the Fox River and have great biking paths and cute downtowns. All are nice towns. Naperville is a good town, but quite a bit bigger than the others I mentioned.

[Toosh]

Thank you for the feedback. Geneva was mentioned in several other posts as well, and we love Mtn. biking, so I will start doing some research on Geneva. St. Charles: is it lacking in a cool little down town area? Everything on the real estate sites prop school districts 204 and 203 as the best but in researching it, yes there is definately some schools that stand above the others, while a couple had some pretty poor scores. In the two areas forementioned can you comment on Elementary schools...any suggestions anyone.

[J Randolph]

Look at NE Aurora in Naperville school district 204 --4 bedroom 2 1/1 bath available for $350K less than12 year homes.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Toosh

Thank you for the feedback. Geneva was mentioned in several other posts as well, and we love Mtn. biking, so I will start doing some research on Geneva. St. Charles: is it lacking in a cool little down town area? Everything on the real estate sites prop school districts 204 and 203 as the best but in researching it, yes there is definately some schools that stand above the others, while a couple had some pretty poor scores. In the two areas forementioned can you comment on Elementary schools...any suggestions anyone.

Downtown St. Charles is actually pretty decent. There are LOTS of pubs and eateries, antique galleries, a live-production theatre, ski shop, coffee houses, etc, etc. Geneva's downtown is better IMO, but St. Charles' is decent. Here are some things you can find in downtown St. Charles: Beehive (pub), Chord on Blues (pub n restaurant), Pi (pizza house--nice!), Filling Station (restaurant and beer garden), BBQ House, Steel Beam Theatre, Hotel Baker and the Waterfront Restaurant, Za Za Trattoria (Italian), Francesca's (Italian), Erik n Me, Pub 222, McNally's Irish pub, Miguels (excellent Mexican), Antique galleries I, II & III, Colonial ice cream parlor, etc, etc.

Whats also nice about St. Charles is all the wonderful festivals they hold. I have posted shots of St. Charles on the "Images of Illinois" thread if youre interested.