Naperville #3 best city in America/Money magazine (Chicago, Aurora: home, buying)

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Naperville77

First of all, saying downtown Wheaton is as vitalized as downtown Naperville is ludicrous

I would agree with you there, downtown Wheaton is nice, but nothing like Naperville's. With that being said, downtown Wheaton is also re-inventing itself, and is quite fun. I go down there every Friday night for the car shows on Front Street (highly recommended) and its nice. The fountain, the park, the popcorn shops (anchored and vendor alike), wine-tasting rooms, outdoor restaurants with live jazz music, new restaurants (including Genos East and The Bank), etc, is quite nice. Its like a quieter Naperville, but geared more towards the sport coat crowd than the breast implant crowd that Naperville attracts. lol Oh, and the architecture in downtown Wheaton is far more fascinating, Ill give it that much.

[Lookout Kid]

Naperville77s post is just as long and irritating. Can we just move past these Naperville/Wheaton comparisons? I've never thought these towns were that similar in the first place.

[Naperville77]

Hey I just had to say my peace...considering I've lived in Naperville longer than most of the posters have probably been alive.

We could always wonder why when Chicago restaurants look to come to the western suburbs...why don't they go to Wheaton...but they FLOCK to Naperville in droves? I've always wondered that.

[Naperville77]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

I would agree with you there, downtown Wheaton is nice, but nothing like Naperville's. With that being said, downtown Wheaton is also re-inventing itself, and is quite fun. I go down there every Friday night for the car shows on Front Street (highly recommended) and its nice. The fountain, the park, the popcorn shops (anchored and vendor alike), wine-tasting rooms, outdoor restaurants with live jazz music, new restaurants (including Genos East and The Bank), etc, is quite nice. Its like a quieter Naperville, but geared more towards the sport coat crowd than the breast implant crowd that Naperville attracts. lol Oh, and the architecture in downtown Wheaton is far more fascinating, Ill give it that much.

Wheaton isn't a bad town. Never thought ill of Wheaton...but Wheaton is what it is. Obviously since I've lived my entire life in Naperville and have had to deal with these wackos like FMV who really don't know Naperville but choose to attack it at every turn I get a little defensive.

...and I'm sure you know Steve-O Naperville has other residents besides the North Central crowd (and the IBC kids too...even though they're in Lisle...it's not like they're all lining up outside the Book Nook in downtown Lisle.)

[Humboldt1]

With all these Naperville posts, I can't imagine why people in Naperville often get the reputation for being aggressive and rude

I still prefer Naperville to Wheaton but could do without the attitude. I worked in Naperville for a bank several years ago and have seen the "my sh*t don't stink" attitude far too many times with wealthy residents. I also dated a school teacher at Naperville North who was literally afraid of parent teacher conferences because of all the pressure that parents put on teachers to give their children good marks, so they could get into good colleges, whether they were warranted or not.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Naperville77

...and I'm sure you know Steve-O Naperville has other residents besides the North Central crowd

I know. However, Naperville's downtown is getting a bit insane lately, quite ridiculous. Ive seen groups of guys running around in nothing but Speedo's, people swinging from trees in gorilla suits, older women flashing younger guys, girls with see-through clothing, fist fights, sport bikes treating Jefferson Ave like it was the Isle of Mann, etc. Its getting a little out of hand lately.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Naperville77

Hey I just had to say my peace...considering I've lived in Naperville longer than most of the posters have probably been alive.

Let me guess... You've lived there since 1977? I don't think most of the posters are THAT young.

[fairmarketvalue]

Originally Posted by Naperville77

There is so much misinformation in FMV's posts that I'm only going to make this short and sweet.

First of all, saying downtown Wheaton is as vitalized as downtown Naperville is ludicrous. When was the last time you were in downtown Naperville. 1987? We've grown a little bit since then. As you said already Wheaton couldn't grow as much as Naperville. It's nothing to be ashamed of when Naperville just is in a better location to grow and therefore took advantage of the room WE had. More than half of what you mention up there in your novel isn't even in downtown Wheaton. So if you're comparing the downtown areas you shouldn't be misleading people.

Second of all, I never lived in South Naperville. In fact I lived in North Naperville when Naperville was only downtown and north...before there was any kind of construction anywhere south of 75th St and I'm still here today...and I've seen first hand how Naperville has grown and sped past all of the other western suburbs in terms of development and building to support the population boom. So don't sit here and talk about Naperville like you really know anything about it.

You talk about 200 being better than 204 and in 203's class. It's not even remotely close in terms of schools when you put 200 up against 203. I'm not even going to begin to argue how much better 203 is than 200 but people can see the numbers for themselves just by clicking on the Daily Herald link above. You get a better education and your kids score higher (MUCH higher) on the ACT's and SAT's in 203 and you PAY LESS PER STUDENT for the education. That in a nutshell trumps anything you've said about 200. In fact you need to get your facts straight. 204 and 200 are almost equal in terms of score and it is about $7000 less per student for the education in 204 (204 used to be a premier district...I know because I received my education in 204 years and years ago.)

I'm not bashing you or anyone else that likes Wheaton. As I've mentioned enough times my mother's law practice has been in Wheaton for years right by the prairie path and we've never talked ill of the people we know from Wheaton. However, when someone decides to post flat out lies about Naperville I as a longtime resident will take exception...as any upstanding longtime Naperville resident would and should.

Wheaton is nice but Wheaton will never be the class of suburb (i.e. in the same caliber) as Naperville. Money Magazine isn't the only magazine that thinks so. We were earning accolades as far back as the late 1980's. So as much as you've been burned by Naperville home sales it does not give you the right to slam our town.

Just wanted to set the record straight for anyone looking for more FACTUAL information about Naperville from someone who actually LIVES in Naperville. Not some jaded unincorporated Wheaton resident. BTW, I'm sure the Mayor of Wheaton enjoys the fact that you don't want to pay taxes to support the town of Wheaton. You defend it on one hand and then turn around and brag about being in an unincorporated area. If that isn't hypocritical nothing is.

I'll go quick-

I said "as vitalized" ON A SMALLER SCALE! Major retailers don't come to towns like Wheaton or any others that size because as mentioned, we don't have the demographics to support it. We have Starbucks, blockbuster, Caribou, Gino's east, Egg Harbour, Alphagraphics, as well as many family owned businesses and resturants. These are all downtown. The rest of the bigger retailers/resturants (gap, talbots, victorias secret, home goods), etc, etc, etc....are 5 min. down the road at Danada and Town Square. Traffic and parking are never a problem in either place. Sometimes it can take you 10 minutes to get around one block of Downtown Naperville.

EVERYTHING I MENTIONED BUT the 2 golf courses are in DOWNTOWN WHEATON, from my previous list/post. And even if not downtown, because of the small square milage Wheaton and its "unincorporated parts" covers, a tighter fit, anywhere you go! Naperville has nearly 3x the population as Wheaton so you're right, neither one of us has a right to compare them as if they are compairable. I was "defending" your post, the way you did mine.

I was in downtown Naperville last week. Still love it and great shopping/food. Have said this in most EVERY POST I have written. Although parking is getting worse every time we go. And the sidewalks are filled with people as if your on MI ave. in downtown Chicago. But still love to go there too.

Schools- those are #s nearly 2 years old. 204 shares with Aurora, N. Plainfield and has gone further down. 200 shares with Winfield and Warrenville and improves each year, Naperville 203 is just Naperville.

- US News and World report rated top HS's in DuPage- Wheaton North Naperville N, Naperville Central, and Hinsdale central were all given the "silver" award. Neither Nequa, wabaun, nor Wheaton South were on the lists. I find it interesting to know if you think Naperville 203 is also better than all those north shore schools just because they scored higher "#'s" on the ACT. Spending- who cares. 70% of our tax bill goes to the schools. Wheaton is missing about $1,000 a year in city taxes from us. I'm sure the mayor isn't losing any sleep over it. We also don't pay library taxes. We use it, just can't check out books. I would argue we offer enough spending in sales tax to make up for it.

Lastly, my sincere apologies for the S. Naperville connection. I got you mixed up with another poster named SouthNapervilleDad. It was he I was waiting for a response from and again, I'm sorry.

[fairmarketvalue]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Naperville77s post is just as long and irritating. Can we just move past these Naperville/Wheaton comparisons? I've never thought these towns were that similar in the first place.

Sorry, Lookout Kid. Just had to set the record straight one more time. Sorry you have to endure this pettiness. I can see why it's irritating. have a good evening.

[nanannie]

When my kids were little and argued, someone always had to be the 'winner' and have the last word. It went on and on till mom stepped in. KNOCK IT OFF KIDS.