Relocating from East Coast to Naperville (Chicago, Aurora: new house, established neighborhood, to buy)

[benson304]

My wife and I may be relocating from the east coast (Boston area) to Chicago for work. She has a cousin in Naperville and absolutely loves the suburb, we live in the western burbs of Boston right now (right about 25 miles west of the city) so we're basically aiming to do the same thing in Chicago. We find out if she's definitely getting relocated or not at the end of the month and would have to move to Chicago by June 1st. She'll be commuting into the city daily to a building right next to the Willis Tower. I will be commuting to client sites that could be potentially anywhere in Chicago or the surrounding towns.

Had some questions about Naperville that I was hoping I might be able to get some help answering as we begin our home search. We've been in touch with a realtor out there and have already been scouring the listings to get an idea of what is available and what we like.

1. There are new housing developments down in the southwest corner of Naperville, beautiful houses, but they seem like they may be far away from a lot of things like groceries, shopping, etc. The drive is straight up 59 to the Metra Station and would be about 20 mins it seems. Would it be harder living down there in terms of amenities? (The area is Ashwood Pointe/Park)

2. Is it worth the premium to buy into a more established neighborhood? One of the homes on our list is on Bedford Court - it's older obviously, but has been completely renovated. Would it be much more convenient to live there? Are the neighborhoods more highly regarded?

3. As a follow on to the second question, are there certain neighborhoods that are thought of as better than others in terms of quality (whether it be neighbors, amenities, or whatever else)?

4. What are the good grocery stores in the area? I don't know if folks here know about Wegmans, but we've been spoiled by its quality and would like to get something of similar quality if possible, but I have no idea what brand store that would be.

5. How big is the difference between the 203 and the 204 schools? We don't have kids, yet, but in the event that we either move back east after her program (2 years) or stick around we'd like to have the better of the two if it helps our home values/for our kids.

That's about it for now. Thanks for the help in advance.

[ToriaT]

I would stay away from the RT 59 corridor. The traffic is horrible and its very suburban in nature. There are better areas to live in Naperville. Some nice areas around the downtown, some new houses there or being built. I was just in Naperville and was thinking how nice it was. I was around the downtown area but I did drive around some of the residential streets to the east of downtown.

[benson304]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

I would stay away from the RT 59 corridor. The traffic is horrible and its very suburban in nature. There are better areas to live in Naperville. Some nice areas around the downtown, some new houses there or being built. I was just in Naperville and was thinking how nice it was. I was around the downtown area but I did drive around some of the residential streets to the east of downtown.

When you say horrible how bad is it? Like a 15 min drive taking 45 or a 15 min drive taking 20? That's a big factor if my wife is planning on driving up to the Route 59 Metra on a daily basis from somewhere like southwestern Naperville.

[mattywo85]

Originally Posted by benson304

My wife and I may be relocating from the east coast (Boston area) to Chicago for work. She has a cousin in Naperville and absolutely loves the suburb, we live in the western burbs of Boston right now (right about 25 miles west of the city) so we're basically aiming to do the same thing in Chicago. We find out if she's definitely getting relocated or not at the end of the month and would have to move to Chicago by June 1st. She'll be commuting into the city daily to a building right next to the Willis Tower. I will be commuting to client sites that could be potentially anywhere in Chicago or the surrounding towns.

Had some questions about Naperville that I was hoping I might be able to get some help answering as we begin our home search. We've been in touch with a realtor out there and have already been scouring the listings to get an idea of what is available and what we like.

1. There are new housing developments down in the southwest corner of Naperville, beautiful houses, but they seem like they may be far away from a lot of things like groceries, shopping, etc. The drive is straight up 59 to the Metra Station and would be about 20 mins it seems. Would it be harder living down there in terms of amenities? (The area is Ashwood Pointe/Park)

2. Is it worth the premium to buy into a more established neighborhood? One of the homes on our list is on Bedford Court - it's older obviously, but has been completely renovated. Would it be much more convenient to live there? Are the neighborhoods more highly regarded?

3. As a follow on to the second question, are there certain neighborhoods that are thought of as better than others in terms of quality (whether it be neighbors, amenities, or whatever else)?

4. What are the good grocery stores in the area? I don't know if folks here know about Wegmans, but we've been spoiled by its quality and would like to get something of similar quality if possible, but I have no idea what brand store that would be.

5. How big is the difference between the 203 and the 204 schools? We don't have kids, yet, but in the event that we either move back east after her program (2 years) or stick around we'd like to have the better of the two if it helps our home values/for our kids.

That's about it for now. Thanks for the help in advance.

I sent you a direct message please check your inbox.

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by benson304

When you say horrible how bad is it? Like a 15 min drive taking 45 or a 15 min drive taking 20? That's a big factor if my wife is planning on driving up to the Route 59 Metra on a daily basis from somewhere like southwestern Naperville.

Friends who live in south Naperville will often use Eola Road instead of 59, especially around rush hour. And from Thanksgiving through New Year I avoid 59 entirely because of the shopping traffic.

You might look at the Brookdale area north of North Aurora and just east of 59 ... A nice mostly older area. I've lived around there for about 20 of the past 25 years, and have a ten minute drive to the rt 59 station.

[benson304]

Originally Posted by Vasily

Friends who live in south Naperville will often use Eola Road instead of 59, especially around rush hour. And from Thanksgiving through New Year I avoid 59 entirely because of the shopping traffic.

You might look at the Brookdale area north of North Aurora and just east of 59 ... A nice mostly older area. I've lived around there for about 20 of the past 25 years, and have a ten minute drive to the rt 59 station.

Will take a look up there. One of the things we're looking for is basically a completely move-in ready, nicely renovated home, which can be harder to find in the older areas. We're just hoping for good timing and that something comes on the market that we're interested in.

For reference our budget is $400-550k.

[pvande55]

Originally Posted by Vasily

Friends who live in south Naperville will often use Eola Road instead of 59, especially around rush hour. And from Thanksgiving through New Year I avoid 59 entirely because of the shopping traffic.

You might look at the Brookdale area north of North Aurora and just east of 59 ... A nice mostly older area. I've lived around there for about 20 of the past 25 years, and have a ten minute drive to the rt 59 station.

Route 59 will be under destruction for the next two years while they are building a DDI (Diverging Diamond Interchange) at Rt 88. They say traffic will be better when it's finished. I agree using Eola Rd: I get off there when traveling to the area.

[Diws]

Far southwest Naperville is more cookie-cutter, and pretty far from the best amenities. There is a decent supernmarket, Angel Cavuto's, at 111th and rt. 59. Rt. 59 traffic is bad, and downright apocalyptic at peak times.

There is a Whole Foods near 75th and 59 that is somewhat accessible from the far southwest.

I believe that the area around Bedford Court (Olesen Estates) is highly desirable; it is close to downtown and the Metra 5th avenue station, though not quite easy walking distance. It is also reasonably close to the northern end of the DuPage River trail system. I live in Naperville now, and have a contract on a new house. I looked at homes in this same area; wound up going with a house in the University Heights / Walnut Ridge area off of Naper and 87th.

If you are looking for 203 or 204 ( not a huge difference as far as I can tell between the two) then almost anything between Naper (and further south, the city limits) and Washington, south of the BNSF tracks and north of Royce Rd. is good. Some exceptions - notably a mini-ghetto on Bailey, of course. Then some adjoining areas - Knoch Knolls in the south , and Yorkshire Manor in the north, are nice. I don't know as much about the north and northwest, but again would not want to depend on rt. 59. To the west, there is Winding Creek and West Glen, west of Washington, south of 75th, but east of Plainfield-Naperville Rd, interspersed with starter type homes. The area north of there has nice spots too and is closer to downtown, but somehow seems more traffic intensive. Much further west / southwest, and its starting to get kind of far from central Naperville, but there are a lot of nice homes there, as well.

[benson304]

Originally Posted by Diws

Far southwest Naperville is more cookie-cutter, and pretty far from the best amenities. There is a decent supernmarket, Angel Cavuto's, at 111th and rt. 59. Rt. 59 traffic is bad, and downright apocalyptic at peak times.

There is a Whole Foods near 75th and 59 that is somewhat accessible from the far southwest.

I believe that the area around Bedford Court (Olesen Estates) is highly desirable; it is close to downtown and the Metra 5th avenue station, though not quite easy walking distance. It is also reasonably close to the northern end of the DuPage River trail system. I live in Naperville now, and have a contract on a new house. I looked at homes in this same area; wound up going with a house in the University Heights / Walnut Ridge area off of Naper and 87th.

If you are looking for 203 or 204 ( not a huge difference as far as I can tell between the two) then almost anything between Naper and Washington, south of the BNSF tracks and north of Royce Rd. is good. Some exceptions - notably a mini-ghetto on Bailey, of course. Then some adjoining areas - Knoch Knolls in the south , and Yorkshire Manor in the north, are nice. I don't know as much about the north and northwest, but again would not want to depend on rt. 59. To the west, there is Winding Creek and West Glen, west of Washington, south of 75th, but east of Plainfield-Naperville Rd, interspersed with starter type homes. The area north of there has nice spots too and is closer to downtown, but somehow seems more traffic intensive. Much further west / southwest, and its starting to get kind of far from central Naperville, but there are a lot of nice homes there, as well.

I appreciate all this information, it's very helpful. We're looking in the sub-$550k range, ideally under $500k if we can. I had a feeling it was more desirable to be in the area around Bedford Ct. will have to keep that in mind as we look.

[almost3am]

Originally Posted by benson304

I appreciate all this information, it's very helpful. We're looking in the sub-$550k range, ideally under $500k if we can. I had a feeling it was more desirable to be in the area around Bedford Ct. will have to keep that in mind as we look.

There are two neighborhoods I know of just north of Rt 59 that may work, Countryside and West Wind. It is easy access to the train stations and downtown and should be sub $550K. The houses were built in the late 1980s-90s, I believe, but from what I have seen many are updated. They appear to be mostly around 3K sq ft. Feeds 204 school district.