Information about Aurora, IL (Chicago, Naperville: loft, high crime, house)

[BIGMB81]

Instead of moving to Aurora, move to Montgomery or Batavia. Or if you're going to live in Aurora for sure for some reason, live near the border of Batavia. It is a really nice area.

[rrah]

I lived in Aurora for about 7-8 years. I agree with the advice from Keith and donnellprobst. (As a matter of fact our first house was in Golden Oaks--brand new at the time and very affordable then) Liked the neighborhood because it was very convenient to 88 (tollway)

There are some lovely areas east of downtown as these posters stated. I would recommend staying away from the areas just east of the Fox River. Pretty scary at times--enough so I would not drive through them at night alone.

The far east side of Aurora, also called Fox Valley, is next to Naperville. The children there attend school in the Indian Prairie district. Housing costs are a lot more expensive there. Frankly with the congestion you couldn't pay me to live there--same with the area one poster near Eola mentioned.

[beebster]

As a 40 y/o hispanic i still live in the house i was born in. It is on the East side of aurora and i would'nt call it "cabrini green" but It IS ethnic and we know it's not park avenue, i feel comfortable here. I could join the " tight a** " club and move to naperville or wheaton or oak brook, but they wouldn't want me there as much as i wouldn't want them here! Also i wouldn't enjoy the $ 1300 per year taxes. If you want to move to aurora, there are many neighborhoods you'd feel comfortable in.
Growing up here i've seen many changes but our motto has always been 'Aurora, a great place to live and work" As far as traffic and rude people, does anyone think that moving to the " high rent district" is gonna make that disappear! I have a lot of nostalgia living here, a girl i went to school with is now a state rep. The current mayors wife was my 4th and 5th grade teacher! Aurora IS a town that takes a certain amount of "street smarts" to live in, but if a couple of cynics on THIS forum can scare you into thinking that it's all gangbangers and poverty, keep looking, this may not be the city for you.

beeb1421@hotmail.com

[janjan]

I am selling my Geneva home and relocating to the university neighborhood in Aurora. I do like the prices on the homes and we are downsizing. We have found an adorable home. I like Geneva, although I find it quite snobby and white. If that is what you are going for then move to that area. The people of west aurora are very friendly and down to earth. I hear a lot of these same negative remarks from my friends in geneva about Aurora. If you live in the school district of Herget or Washington middle schools , you are in a good area. If you live in the university neighborhood I feel that is the gem of Aurora if you like down to earth nice people. I will miss being in Geneva for the bike trail and river and downtown that I live by now. The trade off will be that I downsize and pay off my home in 5 years. Can't beat that. Living in a $400,000 and up home in geneva can eat up a lot of your cash , Also if you have kids be prepared to keep up with the "Jones'" so if you have plenty no problem. If you want a more simple life as I do move to the university neighborhood or prestbury if you like to be farther out of town. Aurora is a big suberb and has plenty of crime also gangs so educate yourself. Don't kid yourself these people frequent the other suberbs as well. I hope this is helpful

[cherish2]

I live in a medium home in Naperville, based on stats. I've lived here for 18 years and this community has served me well.

I see a lot people on this board promoting Aurora. And, while I have to agree that the east edge of Aroura is nice, I also have to believe that they, shop in Naperville, they are in a Naperville school district, they go out-to-dinner in Naperville.

If I were focusing on raising a family in Naperville and were looking for my starter home, I would consider Warrenville before I would consider Aurora.

Southbond traffic in Naperville from I-88 is really bad. The majority of new developements in Naperville is far south of I-88. Traffic in northside Naperville is a problem. If you are considering moving to Naperville and intend to commute downtown, look for an easy access.

Naperville is a beautiful community. It's a great place to raise a family. We have great schools, great shopping, great parks, great restaurants, great night-life.

It just concerns me that whenever someone brings up Naperville, some people on this board suggest Aurora. There is a huge difference.

[Talulah]

Being the second largest city in IL (next to Chicago) you are going to run into everything that you see in large citites!

The West side is viewed as the good side of town and the East side is viewed as bad for the most part. The far East often gets called Naperville due to the sprawl that has spilled over. There are 'bad' neighborhoods and 'nice' neighborhoods. There are homes under $100k and over $1M homes.

There are great landmarks, museums, historical palces, theatres, universities, landmarks, commemorative street names, sporting teams, noteable residents, etc. throughout all of Aurora that are all worth learning about.

There are ok schools, good ones, and better ones! Just like any other larger city you might visit.

Crime is bad in comparison to Naperville, but not as bad as Chicago according to the 2005 Crimes per 100,000:

Crime Aurora Chicago Naperville
murder 10.1 15.6 2.9
rape 44.2 56.5 32.1
robbery197.6 557.6 17.8
assault 385.7 626.6 207.0
burglary 2540.9 2908.0 1504.6
auto theft 389.1 785.8 52.8

There are bad neighborhoods (East of the river mostly and that is the area that gets a bad wrap). My car was broken into (along with a neighbor's car and potted plants) two months after I bought it by a 7 & 8 y/o boy and girl respectively who just wanted to break things. Nothing was stolen from anyone, both kids were under 11 y/o and blamed it on the other one, so no parents paid for the damage and they could not be sent to juvi.

Because of it's bad reputation to the East of the river the people on the far East side claim they live, eat, shop, work, etc. in Naperville, so others won't ask questions or they are seriously confused on where the city limits are located.

We can all agree to disagree based on where we've been or where we may live!

[sgresident]

I would suggest to anyone looking to relocate to the greater aurora area, that they do their homework. there are plenty of facts available regarding crime, schools, taxes, amentities. Cost of a house is not the right way to make a choice. I live in Sugar Grove, shares the far western border with Aurora. we have all the convenience of shopping and restaurants on orchard etc. but don't have the headaches of the big city! We have a lot of nice homes in our area, prices are a little more, but as i said, i wouldn't just buy the cheapest house. The schools in aurora could be a big issue. the east aurora school district has some financial concerns and low scores. a lot of people send their kids to catholic schools.

[Boo2lowkey]

Aurora westside isn't a bad place to live, coming from a person who lived in the Englewood area of Chicago for 10 years and frequently goes to visit old friends still to this day and also working in the city of Aurora at Allied Waste. The City itself is big and spreaded out. There's parts of Aurora that have pricier homes and better communities than surrounding cities like Naperville, Batavia, Geneva and Oswego. I purchase my house in the Arrowood Subdivision across from Golden Oaks Subdivision which is located on the westside of Aurora. Buying here you'll get more house for your $$. Especially now that the market has slump badly. Prices is back to when I purchase 4 years ago. Cook County taxes and homes are getting way to high that's why I got out. My brother had a 3 br home approx 1400 sqft. in Oaklawn that he sold for 240k to buy a 4 br 2400 sqft in Oswego for 240k 4 years ago just for comparison. I option to buy in Aurora for property tax reason and quick access to I-88. If your looking for an affordable nice neighborhood I will recommend Kensington Lakes, Arrowood, Golden Oaks and property west of Randall RD/ Indian Trail. Homes prices range from 200k to 300k. Approx. a few mile west of my home along IndianTrail you'll cross Orchard RD. Orchard Rd host a few suvdivision along it strecth of road. Along Orchard the homes are a bit more pricerer and nicer. Ranges 250k to 400k for existing homes. New construction homes west of Orchard Rd along Dearpath Rd are way to expensive. Before the home crisis hit they were ranging their homes around 500k to 700k in the Verona Ridge and other subdivsion. Today they are pricing their homes around 470k for an 3900 sqft. home. If you have the $$ I will recommend it if your wanting to live on the outskirts of Westside Aurora. On the far southside of Aurora around Eola/ RT 34, RT 34/ RT 59 ,Montgomery and Oswego have nice areas also but to congested with traffic to I-88. Homes ranging from 250k to 1 M+. Aurora and North Aurora new construction homes are spiking 100k - 200k pass Oswego and Montgomery homes. For example early of 2007 I was looking to build a 3900sqft home loaded with option with Oleans homebuilder for 450k in the Southbury subdivision in Owego because I couldn't afford to build with the same builder in Aurora in the Verona Ridge subdivsion for 650k for similar house. As far as the Eastside of Aurora goes its no where close to the projects I know people on the Eastside and also pickup there. Its a Older community with older homes and lower income residents. Its not as clean and well kept as the other parts of Aurora. With any major city where the income level is low you will have problems and poor living condition. The Eastside of Aurora is consider little Mexico to some.

[MikeM1]

Contrary to popular belief, most of the inner east side of Aurora isn't that bad at all, as a matter of fact, I've lived on the east side for 16 years and know from experience that it's overall pretty safe. Sure, you'll want to avoid streets such as Kane St., Dearborn Ave., (Dearborn has had many auto thefts lately but no real violence), Claim St., and Grove St., but most neighborhoods are safe, don't be fooled by our poverty....just because we're poor doesn't mean we're all criminals ....and besides, I've been paying careful attention to the 'Aurora Beacon News''s police blotter in the past year and have talked with students from West Aurora High and have noticed that surprisingly to most, the west side is now at least 10 times as bad as the east side. Repeated crimes on the west side happen often in neighborhoods such as Jericho Circle, which is considered by Aurorans in every part of town as one of the worst neighborhoods in the county, Best Pl. (An Ironic name), View St., River St., W. Illinois Ave., Iowa Ave., W. New York St., the apartments on the corner of Garfield Ave. and Elmwood Dr., where a friend of mine biking past overheard someone threaten someone else by saying he'd shoot him in the leg AGAIN if he took s**t again, and various incidents in the past year including a blown up mailbox have occured on the 1900 block of Garfield Ave., and last month two seperate shootings happened on the west side, one on Blackhawk St., and one on the 300 block of Oak St., and these are just the streets. At West Aurora High, there was the infamous 2007 food fight that resulted in the injury of at least one cop and made national news, with headlines even in Israel!! And in spring 2008, a student attempted to set the school on fire, and And according to West High students I know, at least 1 or 2 fights happen every DAY while at East we have fights maybe 2 or 3 a month so as you can see, the west side may be richer, but you'd be much safer on the east side. Just because most of the white people are on the west side and most of the Mexicans are on the east side doesn't mean it's a bad area. Most people on the east side are actually quite friendly. It's safe enough for me to go knocking on complete strangers's doors and asking to mow their lawns, and a friend of mine from West was quite surprised to see people coming out of east after school saying "what's up?" to him instead of the common west high quote "MAAAANNN, what the f**k you lookin at?!?" Oh and the far east side is not only safe but somewhat rich too

Originally Posted by dee_taylor_85

My husband and I are thinking about relocating to the Chicago area. It looks like Aurora is one of cheaper suburbs to live in. Is this because its a bad place to live? What can you guys tell me about this city, ie, schools, neighborhoods, crime, houses. Also if you could recomend some other affordable places that are still close to Chicago. Thank you for the help.

[fairmarketvalue]

Nobody has asked, so I will. What is your price range in your house hunting search? That plays a BIG part. If you let us know this, we can help a lot more.