Returning to the Midwest (Chicago, Naperville: equity, hoa, jobs)

[Karrena]

I have been living in California for many years now and was originally born, and raised in Elgin IL. I miss the Midwest and have been thinking of returning. California life style and I have grown apart. I have been looking at making Naperville my permanent home. Could anyone give me an honest opinion of Naperville: ethnic diversity, neighborhoods, crime, well you get the picture.

I am of Puerto Rican and Caucassion decent if that helps. I have a A.S. and B.S. in Business Communications and working on my Masters. Finding a good job either in Naperville or surrounding area's shouldn't be a problem. So I need to know if Naperville is a place to plant my feet for good. Thanks

[aragx6]

If you use the search button on the top of the page to search for Naperville you will find more information than you'd ever want on the place

[Steve-o]

You cant go wrong with Naperville (minus the traffic). As aragx6 said, do a search on this site, youll find TONS of info on Naperville. Best of luck and uh, welcome back!

[Karrena]

Thanks so much. I have done some pretty intense research on Naperville. I guess I just wanted to hear from a personal point of view. As far as the traffic, well if I have survived the freeways of California and downtown Los Angeles, I think I hope I can survive downtown Naperville. Now adjusting to the weather again, that's another story.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Karrena

Thanks so much. I have done some pretty intense research on Naperville. I guess I just wanted to hear from a personal point of view. As far as the traffic, well if I have survived the freeways of California and downtown Los Angeles, I think I hope I can survive downtown Naperville. Now adjusting to the weather again, that's another story.

Yeah, Naperville's traffic is not nearly as horrid as L.A.'s. But for a suburb, it can be brutal. Chicago on the other hand....

And yes, the weather will be a big adjustment too, but its a small price to pay.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by Karrena

I have been living in California for many years now and was originally born, and raised in Elgin IL. I miss the Midwest and have been thinking of returning. California life style and I have grown apart. I have been looking at making Naperville my permanent home. Could anyone give me an honest opinion of Naperville: ethnic diversity, neighborhoods, crime, well you get the picture.

I am of Puerto Rican and Caucassion decent if that helps. I have a A.S. and B.S. in Business Communications and working on my Masters. Finding a good job either in Naperville or surrounding area's shouldn't be a problem. So I need to know if Naperville is a place to plant my feet for good. Thanks

Honest opinions of Naperville and this is not just me talking, I have read much of this on this very board over the past year. But these are my own impressions too.

Plusses=nice little downtown, very clean, very prestigous, nice well kept roads, good schools, well maintained parks, good shopping nearby, Metra is very convienent, great jobs nearby in neighboring towns such as Lombard, Oak Brook, etc paying very well, plenty to do nearby and in the town itself, nice housing stock.

Minuses=town has become extremely crowded/congested, WAY too much traffic, long commute times into and out of the Loop by car and about 60-70 min by train, over crowded schools, outragously expensive as you are paying for the mailing address...not the property's "outstanding-ness", homes are no better than in nearby towns such as Orland and Palos Park...Homer Glen... Lemont or Downers Grove; yet are about twice as expensive, high taxes, cost of living is extremely high (grocery stores, restaurants, bars, entertainment), not diverse at all (mostly all rich white people), in parts people are becoming VERY snobby with their "My $h!t don't stink" attitude and thinking they are better than everyone because they live in Naperville.

Now the nitty gritty, Naperville was rated #2 best place to live in the US for suburban areas proving it is overall a nice place to live, but the downside to Money Mag's article is that it has caused a higher demand to live in Naperville causing housing costs to only go up even more. Great for current homeowners (building equity), bad news for newcomers to the town.

[Karrena]

NYrules, thank you for your honesty. Although, it has been a long time since I have lived in the midwest I had always made it a point to visit now and again. I completely understand how demand skyrockets pricing from groceries to housing. We have that problem here in California and it has gotten ridiculously out of control. One reason I want to return to the midwest.

Although Naperville does sound appealing, I believe I will continue to look at my other potions. Thank your for your input, very helpful.

[Steve-o]

Of all the Napervillans Ive met, Ive NEVER met one who thinks their crap dont stink. Sure there are some (like most places) there that might have that attitude, but theyre definitely NOT the majority. Most are quite down to earth and very nice. And it is true theyre very prideful of their town, and rightfully so! Its a great place to live if you can handle the traffic. Theres a reason it has grown so fast so quick, and there are reasons its rated very high.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by Karrena

NYrules, thank you for your honesty. Although, it has been a long time since I have lived in the midwest I had always made it a point to visit now and again. I completely understand how demand skyrockets pricing from groceries to housing. We have that problem here in California and it has gotten ridiculously out of control. One reason I want to return to the midwest.

Although Naperville does sound appealing, I believe I will continue to look at my other potions. Thank your for your input, very helpful.

You're welcome. That is one thing on here I really don't care about (not offending anyone) I just tell it like it is. I am very fair and will tell good and bad, and have taken TONS of slack from numerous other "regulars" on this board.

Now, by no means am I saying Naperville is bad, because its not, but, under the same token, it like all areas it does have it's minuses. I just wanted to make sure you knew what those minuses were. No the town is not dangerous or having declining home values such as burbs off to the far SE, but with litterally hoards of people moving into the area, problems are coming up such as overcrowding. Just wanted to make you aware of that.

[Glamona]

I like Naperville and a "small town feel" once I am in downtown. Reminds me so much to some small European town with those little shops and narrow streets. Here you will see always the people walking outside (so rare in the other cities), no matter if it is cold or hot outside. I like also their riverwalk. There is a swimming pool too, that more looks like a small lake with grass and trees around. Naperville also organizes lot of activities during a summer. I did not choose Naperville as my place to live because it is too far from downtown. But if you take express train, with no stops, you can be in Naperville in 34 minutes (I have Metra time table in front of me). But will all stops, it would take 50 minutes. You can check here yourself http://metrarail.com/Sched/bn/bn.shtml . Once, when I was driving from Naperville to La Grange (other very nice west suburb town) after 5 p.m. it took me soooo long to get there, instead of only 20-25 minutes. So I guess the upper comments about the traffic are right. Maybe you can consider La Grange, other very nice town and it takes only 35 minutes to get to downtown (but from 7- 8 a.m. and from 2-6 p.m. probably 1 hour) by car and 20 min. by train.