Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago Suburbs
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-28-2013, 07:28 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,957,533 times
Reputation: 18725

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lookout Kid View Post
Why does everyone always over-state the quality of Naperville's schools? They are (mostly) good, but "second only to Hinsdale" isn't really accurate.
I like Naperville and agree that it has some nice positives, but there are many other suburbs that have school at least equal to Naperville if not better. The various ranking that list some straight numeric order of schools is not very useful. Instead when it comes to the elementary / middle schools I recommend folks focus on those that have been cited by the State Board of Education on the Honor Roll for Acadmic Excellence. High schools that serve these towns and have the awarded schools feeding into them tend to be worthy of consideration. The US News rankings used to use gold / silver / bronze tiers exclusively and I find the high schools in Illinois in the silver and good tiers to be worthy of consideration.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-28-2013, 08:19 PM
 
35 posts, read 75,927 times
Reputation: 14
Now we have some more interesting view points. How about this:

I don't need to be in office every day - in fact, I might actually be in the Naperville office only 1 day a week or not even that. This means I am free to look at other suburbs.

So how would one rate Schaumburg / Arlington Heights vs. Naperville? Or are there any other interesting, great suburbs with great schools and affordable rent? If the difference is marginal (whatever that means) then I'd still stay with Naperville. But if not... then why not consider a different suburb?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-28-2013, 09:45 PM
 
11,973 posts, read 31,635,920 times
Reputation: 4641
Will you be going to O'Hare more frequently than Naperville then? If so, you may want to look at something closer to that airport. If you haven't figured it out yet from the forum comments, it can be a real pain in the rear to get around Chicagoland, and people often choose locations to limit their exposure to traffic-clogged roads.

If you truly don't need to commute much, but like the western suburbs, you really have a lot of nice choices. Naperville is really great, and has a really full range of housing options, but it's not your only option. Other than schools, what kind of amenities are important to you? What type of housing are you interested in? Age? Layout? Walkability?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-28-2013, 09:55 PM
 
35 posts, read 75,927 times
Reputation: 14
Hi Lookout Kid,

Yes - I will probably be going to O'Hare more than my workplace. But that doesn't change my #1 priority - great schools.

We're renting - so housing isn't a major factor. A good apartment complex is what I'm looking for (don't want SFH).. so are there some great suburbs near O'Hare that would fit the school requirement and a good community (libraries, parks, some Indian grocery...)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-28-2013, 10:44 PM
 
Location: Greenville, SC
6,219 posts, read 5,899,733 times
Reputation: 12160
I commuted for five years from Naperville to Arlington Heights, and wouldn't do something like that again. Some days the drive isn't bad, but if there's an accident on the tollway or icy weather, the commute can take two hours or more in my experience. I found my commute a major source of stress in my life. The Schaumburg commute to Naperville would be similar. However, Schaumburg and Arlington Heights are less than half an hour from O'Hare, so the commute there would be easier (though when I have to fly out of O'Hare, I take a limousine or taxi). But you have to consider time of day in commutes, too, as well as day of the week ... you tend to have a more difficult time with the O'Hare drive toward the end and beginning of the work week when everyone's flying in or out.

Regarding Naperville schools, as I recall they did have that reputation 25 years ago when we had my stepdaughter in district 204 ... that was 25 years ago so I think people's perceptions are still based somewhat on past reputations.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-29-2013, 08:16 AM
 
14 posts, read 36,832 times
Reputation: 14
Well, I've lived in the area for over 20 years, granted in Lisle, for most of my life and know a plethora of the past recent generation going through mostly Naperville North. For the area, they're some of the best schools you can go to. If you want to talk about overall, I much prefer New Jersey suburb public education, but I won't go there! My generalization was about the area extending from say... West Aurora to 294 and Plainfield to Wheaton (Darien to Oakbrook Terrace). I still say that given that, Naperville is his best option since the schools are great and his job is there. I sure would love that option on my side.

That aside, if the OP is going to the airport often, I'd say Elmhurst or Oakbrook would be good choices since it's between the two. You have the Oakbrook Center and Yorktown Malls, and from Elmhurst easy metra access to the city.

Also in regards to Arlington Heights and Schaumburg, they're wonderful places. Gameworks, Mitsuwa, Woodfield Mall, Downtown Arlington Heights... all exceptional. South Arlington Heights feeds into the Rolling Meadows district which isn't as good as the others, but otherwise you really can't go wrong. My only vice is the distance to Naperville. It's much more lively up there for that 21+ crowd, and I would move up there if it didn't mean making my current 20-25 min commute into a 40-60 min commute + toll fare! Granted, there's little south bound traffic in the morning (and in retrospect north bound in the afternoon), but with the distance involved, I would reconsider, especially since you're just renting.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-01-2013, 06:23 PM
 
4,152 posts, read 7,875,952 times
Reputation: 2727
Another vote for Naperville. Try to get it in the area near 1-88 or the northern part of Naperville. Lisle too might be a consideration. At the elementary school level, many schools will fit the bill as most are good in the area.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-02-2013, 10:43 AM
 
Location: Greenville, SC
6,219 posts, read 5,899,733 times
Reputation: 12160
Bear in mind that personal taste is also a factor ... I've always liked Naperville and Lisle-Woodridge, and Arlington Heights, as well as Downers Grove to the east. Warrenville and Winfield are charming little outliers to the north of Naperville. I don't particularly care for Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, or Elmhurst to the northeast of Naperville, or Aurora to the west. And Schaumburg has always seemed rather sterile to me, and I wouldn't particularly care to live there. But that's just me ... a lot of people love these towns.

So in addition to the factual attributes of these communities, you might find that some of them excite you, whereas others leave you cold. I feel that way about much of the areas of Naperville south of 75th and west of Washington ... that's not really Naperville, that's where all those New People live. (apologies to my many friends who live south of 75th) :P
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-02-2013, 12:53 PM
 
Location: All Over
4,003 posts, read 6,057,854 times
Reputation: 3162
Naperville, Lisle, Downers Grove, Oakbrook, parts of Lombard. Pretty much all these areas have good schools. There's alot of companies in general but also tech companies in the 88 corridor that runs through all these burbs. Also you have some decent size companies in all these cities such as Sarah Lee who has some great IT jobs, some large grocers have headquarters around here. This area will be packed with job opportunities for her, plus close to work plus good schools, low crime and overall nice place to live in any. To narrow it down I think will come to personal preferance ie Naperville most is new so if your looking for older home stock Naperville has more established neighborhoods but much is in the last 10 or 20 yeras. If you like established neighborhoods with trees and stuff maybe downers would be better. One tip I'd give you is live near an expressway. On the south end of Naperville it could take you 40 minutes in the morning just to get to I88, however if your near 88 you can make it downtown or to the airport in like 40 min.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-02-2013, 02:28 PM
 
Location: Greenville, SC
6,219 posts, read 5,899,733 times
Reputation: 12160
Quote:
Originally Posted by doodlemagic View Post
To narrow it down I think will come to personal preferance ie Naperville most is new so if your looking for older home stock Naperville has more established neighborhoods but much is in the last 10 or 20 yeras. If you like established neighborhoods with trees and stuff maybe downers would be better. One tip I'd give you is live near an expressway. On the south end of Naperville it could take you 40 minutes in the morning just to get to I88, however if your near 88 you can make it downtown or to the airport in like 40 min.
"Older Naperville" is mostly north of 75th street; it's true that most of the neighborhoods south of 75th were built in the last 20 years or so; when I moved here over 25 years ago, south of 75th was mostly farmland with a few developments here and there.

However, this isn't exactly true of "older Naperville"; there are plenty of areas with older homes south of the downtown area, south of 75th street off Washington, off Hobson Road and in the Green Trails areas on the east side of town. My ex and I owned a home off Hobson (behind Seven Bridges, which didn't exist back then) 25 years ago that is about 40 years old now. There are neighborhoods scattered through "older Naperville" that are more than 20 years old ... many of them with very mature trees. You just have to search for them.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago Suburbs
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top