Are Aurora and North Aurora 2 different towns? (Naperville, Joliet: real estate, houses)

[Cinema]

I checked the greatschools site and see that there is an East Unified district and a West Unified district. However, there are 3 schools that fall in both the dist 129 (west) and North Aurora lists. So I'm wondering if "north Aurora" is just a section of the town, as opposed to it's own police force, etc.

Also, I've noticed several posts mention the nice area is the east side of Aurora, however it seems the higher scoring schools are in the west school district. So I'm somewhat confused on which area is actually better.

As for schools, I like Freeman and Schneider because of the nice racial mix and scores (and that the 4th graders at Freeman attend their classes at Aurora University). But the whole north/east/west think confuses me. Any input is appreciated, especially from those who actually live in the area.

And yes, I know there's crime, but crime is everywhere!!! And no we can't afford to go to Naperville nor would I want to (no offense), I need to be where me and mine will feel comfortable.

[Steve-o]

Im almost 100% that North Aurora is its own city, not just a locale.

As for east Aurora, its pretty much a rundown slum. Faaaaar east sides near Naperville are decent, but near east side is not safe and is completely rundown. Crime is rampant in Aurora, mainly on the east, south, and near west sides. Far west Aurora is nice and is where most of the new, new, new homes are springing up (near Orchard Rd). I dont recommend Aurora, lets put it that way. Others will rise up and defend Aurora, but youd need to see it yourself, its not a great place to live unless you get a new place away from the center of the city.

[Cinema]

Thanks for the input and clarification. So would North Aurora be a pretty safe place to relocate? Or do the problems from Aurora "spill over" into that area?

[Steve-o]

Id love to help, but in all honesty I avoid that area at all costs, it doesnt appeal to me whatsoever. North Aurora Im sure has problems, but theyre probably pale in comparison to Aurora's. The ONLY times I go there are to car shows that they hold at the A&W during the summer. I "float" around there (pardon the pun) for a few hours then I head directly north on Rt. 31 and back into the towns I like (St. Charles, Geneva, etc). I just dont feel comfortable in Aurora, I spent alot of time there as a youngster (my cousin lived right along Lake Street) and they had several break-ins and even a stolen car (my uncles' primo-condition 55 Chevy drag car)!!! All night long we were serenaded by sirens and blazing stereos from passing cars. Aurora also held the "murder capital" of Illinois back in the mid 90's if I remember correctly. East aurora is notorious for its gangs/guns/drugs/etc. West Aurora schools seem to fare a little better, but dont quote me on that. Downtown Aurora has the casino (there are better ones than Hollywood Casino!) and some restaurants, but overall is a bit rundown. There are some great Mexican restaurants there that I would recommend if you like authentic, but other than that, Aurora is not very desirable. Dont get me wrong, there are some extremely nice areas (White Eagle comes to mind), but theyre few and far between. Id recommend Plainfield ALOT more than Aurora. Where are you coming from and how far are you willing to travel to work?

[DonkeyTeeth]

North Aurora proper is a separate town from Aurora. It's geographically separated from Aurora by I88, and is much, much smaller. Although there is a tiny older downtown that hugs the riverfront, most of North Aurora is dominated by the new development along and west of Randall and Orchard Roads. I have friends that bought a new house in a subdivision off of Orchard. They're nice new houses and the elementary schools are filled with a diverse bunch of kids from the new homes. It looks like the area feeds into West Aurora High, but I don't know much about that.

My biggest knock on North Aurora from what I saw wasn't anything to do with safety. It feels very much like suburban frontier right now - cornfields are coming up and being replaced by rows of new homes. Retail development is starting to fill in other areas. It could all end up being a nice suburban area once everything is built out and the trees get a chance to grow, but it still feels like a big work in progress right now. Take a drive over and check it out - it might be for you if you don't mind putting down roots in an area starting to develop.

[Cinema]

Okay, I couldn't remember if the murder capital designation was Aurora or Joliet.

I'm in Richton Park (south suburb). I work from home but my husband works downtown. He takes the Metra (University Park line), so it's about an hours ride. It was a fantastic area when we moved here 13 years ago with no kids, but not so much anymore. We have soon-to-be 2nd graders and the school in our subdivision was only for the kids in our subdivision. Years later and about 3-4 new subdivisions have made the school full of not-so-polite kids and uninvolved parents who are coming from different areas. Referrendums have been defeated so we're in a financial crisis, activites and programs (including the gifted program) have been cut, teachers were let go, the 4 schools in our district have to share the same librarian, nurse and music teacher, so music is offered for just one quarter at each school. And we lost our amazing principal to the new middle school.

I'd have no problem staying if we were still kidless, but the district is the priority, and I want them to be in an ethnically-mixed school/neighborhood that will reflect the world they'll be working in. Right now the plan is to move to Oak Park. We initially wanted to move over to Homewood but they don't offer foreign language until 7th grade and given our global world that's waiting too late to me. Oak Park schools start it in kindy as part of their daily curriculum.

Anyway, as you can see I like Oak Park. But I wanted to see if I could find that same type of district/community in an area that offered more land for your money. The one thing I'll miss about our current home is our nice-sized house (bought for under $150,000) and the huge backyard. OP houses (the ones we can afford) are on top of each other! In a perfect world I want a top scoring district, a racially-mixed STABLE neighborhood (i.e., no potential "white flight"), houses with room to breath and a district that begins teaching Spanish and Mandarin in elementary. See, I'm not so hard to please ;-)

Thanks for the additional input, I really appreciate it.

[Cinema]

Originally Posted by DonkeyTeeth

North Aurora proper is a separate town from Aurora. It's geographically separated from Aurora by I88, and is much, much smaller. Although there is a tiny older downtown that hugs the riverfront, most of North Aurora is dominated by the new development along and west of Randall and Orchard Roads. I have friends that bought a new house in a subdivision off of Orchard. They're nice new houses and the elementary schools are filled with a diverse bunch of kids from the new homes. It looks like the area feeds into West Aurora High, but I don't know much about that.

My biggest knock on North Aurora from what I saw wasn't anything to do with safety. It feels very much like suburban frontier right now - cornfields are coming up and being replaced by rows of new homes. Retail development is starting to fill in other areas. It could all end up being a nice suburban area once everything is built out and the trees get a chance to grow, but it still feels like a big work in progress right now. Take a drive over and check it out - it might be for you if you don't mind putting down roots in an area starting to develop.

Thanks for the info. It sounds like the area I'm in right now, at least the way it was. It was a small community surrounded by lots of farmland, we even had a drive-in. Over the years the open land became cookie-cutter subdivisions, low-income townhomes were built on the other side of our area and it seems like the cops are there on a regular basis. The new homes in Matteson and Olympia Fields are nice, but it looks like a tornado came and wiped out all the trees and I hate that look, it doesn't "feel" like a neighborhood to me, no shade!! Homewood and Flossmoor tend to build around the trees, cutting down just what they need to accomodate the homes. But like I said in my earlier post, the school district doesn't offer what I'm looking for. It would be perfect if the schools started foreign language in elementary. Plus in the end, I believe Oak Park/River Forest high school is better than Homewood-Flossmor high school, and the school is starting to have some racial tension issues.

[rrah]

North Aurora is definitely a different town. Some of the children attend school in the West Aurora district and some in the Batavia district. (I've lived in both Aurora and Batavia--North Aurora is between these 2 cities) The city of Aurora is served by 3 school districts--The far eastside (Closest to Naperville) serves students from parts of Naperville and Aurora. The near eastside--east of the Fox River--is typically thought of as the least safe, most run down part of the city. This East District is the one most people try to avoid. The West District serves the area west of the river. If I recall correctly the grade schools you mentioned are well thought of in Aurora. There are some pockets on the westside with some problems. Generally the older section near the schools you mentioned is fine in terms of safety.

I don't know if any of the Aurora schools teach languages in elem school, but do know there are many bilingual students in the schools. You might also look into the section of North Aurora that attends Batavia schools. We left the area 5 years ago for a large number of reasons, but at that time all children were being taught Spanish in elem school.

Like many suburbs though, the real estate taxes are outrageous and keep going up.

[Cinema]

Thanks rrah for the information. It helped a lot. Seems like if you want excellent schools you can't escape high taxes.

[berryweiss]

North Aurora and Aurora are two completely different towns. I grew up in North Aurora and moved back there after I was done serving in the Air force. The only problem with North Aurora is that it is part of the West Aurora school district. People hear "Aurora" in the village's name think its Aurora. It would be different if it was called South Batavia. The taxes are some of the lowest in the area. It is # 87 on the fastest growing towns in the United States. It has a small town feel to it. I think it's a great place to live. Check out the village's website. Village of North Aurora