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.
After some serious considerations and thinking, my parents finally decided to buy a house in Naperville! We're originally from Evanston, and we do have a few questions about the Naperville area. I understand there are kabillion threads on Naperville on here already, but those aren't providing the answers that we're looking for. This is why I'm making a separate thread.
Questions:
(1) Since we're originally from Evanston, our social life and circle heavily depends on Chicago (I'd say we're used to the urban lifestyle rather than the suburban one). I've heard Naperville is a very secluded place, and I have a strong feeling that our social life is going to be within Naperville and no longer Chicago. Is Naperville welcoming to transplants, or most people would have a hard time developing their social circle there? What are the best ways for transplants to really find a community there?
(2) I'll be graduating college soon, and I'm in the process of looking for jobs. I don't mind living with my parents (gotta help paying the mortgage somehow), but I'm concerned about whether I should focus on looking for jobs in downtown Chicago, or looking within the Naperville area. Does Naperville provide a lot of job opportunities for recent grads? Are there any millennials working in Chicago but commute to work? Naperville doesn't look like it has a huge young population.
(3) What are some of the areas we need to avoid? I've heard the south and southwest side of town has the worst traffic, is this true? What are some things we need to know about the north, east, and west side of town? Anything would be helpful for our house hunting journey!
I am sure you can make friends quite easily in Naperville. Chicago is still very accessible maybe not as much as Evanston but there is the train and the highway (I-88) that will take you into the city.
As far a jobs go, there are many suburban places to work in the Naperville area and beyond. Working in Chicago is not out of reach as you can take the train in.
There are no real unsafe areas to avoid. There can be traffic jams in some places.
If the OP has heard Naperville is a very secluded place they really are listening to the wrong people and/or unfamiliar with common English usage of the word. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secluded Naperville has almost 150,000 residents. It has multiple connections to tollways, rail-lines and super-arterial roadways. There are several enormous strip malls, as well as what is one of the most well developed downtowns of any town in the whole region, with literally tens of thousand shoppers and diners swarming over the area. It is so far from the definition of secluded that I wonder if perhaps the OP is confusing it with another area.
When it does come to employment the ease of rely on express trains along the BNSF OR driving to any of the employment centers that lie along the tollways make Naperville preferable to places like Evanston that really are sort of a challenge even to other suburbs because of poor access to the better employment options along the Tri-State...
It is true that traffic along the Rt 59 corridor, especially south past 75th St can make for more frustrating commutes BUT that is somewhat offset by the larger homes at lower prices.
Homes closer to I-88 tend to be from eras that might now need more updating, though the nice mix of parks / shopping / dining / entertainment are all pluses.
After some serious considerations and thinking, my parents finally decided to buy a house in Naperville! We're originally from Evanston, and we do have a few questions about the Naperville area. I understand there are kabillion threads on Naperville on here already, but those aren't providing the answers that we're looking for. This is why I'm making a separate thread.
Questions:
(1) Since we're originally from Evanston, our social life and circle heavily depends on Chicago (I'd say we're used to the urban lifestyle rather than the suburban one). I've heard Naperville is a very secluded place, and I have a strong feeling that our social life is going to be within Naperville and no longer Chicago. Is Naperville welcoming to transplants, or most people would have a hard time developing their social circle there? What are the best ways for transplants to really find a community there?
(2) I'll be graduating college soon, and I'm in the process of looking for jobs. I don't mind living with my parents (gotta help paying the mortgage somehow), but I'm concerned about whether I should focus on looking for jobs in downtown Chicago, or looking within the Naperville area. Does Naperville provide a lot of job opportunities for recent grads? Are there any millennials working in Chicago but commute to work? Naperville doesn't look like it has a huge young population.
(3) What are some of the areas we need to avoid? I've heard the south and southwest side of town has the worst traffic, is this true? What are some things we need to know about the north, east, and west side of town? Anything would be helpful for our house hunting journey!
Thank you all!
1) It really depends on how you approach things regarding your social life. I haven't made any friends in Naperville yet, but I haven't tried either and I've been here since September. I have a few in the western burbs, but most are in the SW burbs where I grew up or on the north side of the city. I would imagine I'll get to know more people if my wife and I have kids at some point, though. Depending where your friends live post-college you can try to convince them to hit up the more popular spots in downtown Naperville with you. There's likely intramural sports and what not that you can join as well, but I haven't looked into that yet. The couple park district program books I've received are pretty robust, though. When I would go to the Fort Hill gym to work out, there were basketball and volleyball leagues that were mainly populated by people in their 20s and 30s. Most of my neighbors have been very welcoming, but it turns out I bought a house surrounded by neighbors that are all probably at least 55 or older so I typically have socialized with them while doing yard work. I've seen things online, can't remember if it was just through Google or on Facebook, but there was a Naperville newcomers group or something. That might be something your parents want to look into.
2) I am right on the border of being considered GenX and Millennial (born in '83) depending where you look for your definition, but I commute to the Loop from Naperville. There's some people on Metra younger than me, but a majority are my age or older. Between Naperville and Oak Brook, Downers Grove, etc, which aren't that far away, I'm sure there's some place to look for work depending on where your degree is from and what your degree will be in, but again, the Metra is pretty convenient for getting to the Loop depending where you live in Naperville. Express trains are 40 and 33 minutes from Rt 59 and Downtown Naperville, respectively. If you are accustomed to easy transit into the city on weekends coming from Evanston for entertainment, this move will be an adjustment. The Metra takes more than 80 minutes on the weekend to get to Union Station, then additional time if you're going to another neighborhood after you get off the Metra. I typically will drive into the city on a Saturday, and that typically takes an hour to get there and about 40-50 minutes to get home at the end of the night.
3) Has the house not been purchased yet? You'll get a different style and size of house for your money depending where in town you move. The downtown area is pretty different than say, anything closer to like 95th Street and Route 59, or anything near Route 59 for that matter. I've felt safe pretty much everywhere in town so far. There's portions of Ogden between Washington St and Naperville Road that can use a facelift, but they're perfectly safe.
4) Something else to consider: Downtown Naperville's Metra parking might be the most difficult in the suburbs. Wait lists for the two permit lots are 5 and 12 years supposedly. Take the 6:45am train at the latest if you want to get a daily fee parking spot. Pace runs several bus routes to and from the Metra and are timed based on the train departures and arrivals. You might want to check out the Pace website for more info on the routes. Daily fee parking is supposedly more available at the Route 59 station.
Naperville has a lot of traffic. Not as bad as Evanston. It's in between Glenview and Skokie traffic wise. Downtown has the most.
It's your Choice of where your social life is at. You can go to Chicago 2 to 3 times a week if you wanted to. Naperville has a lot of things to do for people your age, Not on the scale of Evanston, but more than most suburbs.
SW Naperville tends to be more exclusive and far out, so I would try to look elsewhere. Maybe northeast Naperville.
(1) Since we're originally from Evanston, our social life and circle heavily depends on Chicago (I'd say we're used to the urban lifestyle rather than the suburban one). I've heard Naperville is a very secluded place, and I have a strong feeling that our social life is going to be within Naperville and no longer Chicago. Is Naperville welcoming to transplants, or most people would have a hard time developing their social circle there? What are the best ways for transplants to really find a community there?
I think as with most areas this depends on the neighborhood you choose, even the block you choose. Some people are friendly others aren't but I think Naperville is pretty friendly and people are pretty approachable. Don't be worried about any of the snob keeping up with the joneses stuff you hear. Sure those people are around but it's not the norm imho.
I think your at a tough age when it comes to making friends period, you start to lose touch with college friends and its tough to find new friends if you don't get involved in meetups, extracurricular sports, meet people at work, etc. That said Naperville has a great bar scene as far as suburbs go, very few places outside Chicago can match it imho.
(2) I'll be graduating college soon, and I'm in the process of looking for jobs. I don't mind living with my parents (gotta help paying the mortgage somehow), but I'm concerned about whether I should focus on looking for jobs in downtown Chicago, or looking within the Naperville area. Does Naperville provide a lot of job opportunities for recent grads? Are there any millennials working in Chicago but commute to work? Naperville doesn't look like it has a huge young population.
Naperville and surrounding suburbs have a ton of opportunity. There's the whole I88 corridor from Aurora to Warrenville/Naperville to lisle, Downers, Oakbrook, etc. Tons of companies over there. Just take a drive down I88 and look at all the office buildings, many of which large companies which you'll recognize. Lombard/Oakbrook themselves have a ton of employment opportunities.
Can you commute, sure alot of people do. It's not terrible but also not ideal. I did it for about two years and normally didn't mind it but the occasional snowy day or the day a car decides to drive in front of the train and you get stuck on the train for 3 hours and then let off on a stop thats not your own, those days suck. As a temporary thing though I wouldn't hesitate to do it for a year or two until you save up and move into the city if that's what you want to do.
(3) What are some of the areas we need to avoid? I've heard the south and southwest side of town has the worst traffic, is this true? What are some things we need to know about the north, east, and west side of town? Anything would be helpful for our house hunting journey!
I'm not great with directions but traffic all over Naperville sucks at rush hour, especially route 59. I lived on the south end and it could on a bad day take me 45 minutes just to get to I88. For that reason I would suggest living near an expressway for work or even period just incase you wanna ride out to Oakbrook or whatever else just makes life easier. The downside however is even if you dont commute tothe city just leaving or comming home your going to have to go through the worst of the traffic.
I spent my post college years in Naperville and enjoyed it.
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.
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.
