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There is a lot of discussion on this forum about Naperville -- and while it certainly sounds like there is a lot that's attractive to people -- particularly families with kids -- I'm trying to understand the reality about some of the so-called downsides of Naperville
I moved here in January, 1988 and have been here ever since. I like Naperville more than the other suburbs around here. But it ultimately boils down to personal preference and taste. I haven't read all the posts in this thread, but here's my take on your questions.
Understand that when I moved here, all the stuff south of 75th street wasn't there. The town has hemorrhaged to the south, all the way to Plainfield because there wasn't anywhere else to grow. It's gone from about 50,000 when I moved here to 140,000 or so -- and next door Aurora has also grown. So it's a lot bigger area than it used to be
Traffic: I don't understand the comments on traffic. Certain streets are busy at rush hour (Washington, Ogden, 75th) but the only street I avoid is Route 59 near the mall during holiday shopping season. There are plenty of side streets once you get a feel for the traffic, so I don't consider it a problem.
Lack of parking for the train: That's certainly true downtown -- but Route 59 has plenty of parking as long as you get there no later than 7:30am. You can get a permit, but last I heard there was still a long wait for a permit. I live maybe 10 minutes from the Route 59 station, so I have an easy commute. Those who live south of downtown will want to consider the downtown station, those who live over by Route 53 (near Seven Bridges) will want to consider commuting from the Lisle station. If you're commuting downtown, that should factor into where you decide to live.
Subdivision-corporate feel of town: Not sure what that means. Most of the newer subdivisions (1980s onward) are south of 75th, and the older subdivisions (like Saybrook north of downtown, or some of the older subdivisions like Green Trails and the areas around Hobson) don't have that feel. I've lived for years in the Brookdale area, and to me that area doesn't have a cookie cutter feel to it. I don't know what "corporate feel" means.
For kids, Naperville had great school districts when I had a stepdaughter back in the late 80s; I hear they're still good, but I haven't been involved in the parenting thing for many years. There's a children's museum near downtown and Naper Village, and lots of things to do as a family indoors and outdoors. Teens are a different matter -- there wasn't a lot for them to do when I first moved here, and as far as I can tell there still isn't.
There are plenty of non-chain restaurants if you look for them - or small local chains. I like Jalapeño Grille on Route 59 for Mexican food, and there's a Peruvian sandwich shop at Fairway Drive and North Aurora, SanGuche, which is excellent. There are some other areas outside of downtown that have upscale restaurants.
Regarding weekends -- I used to go downtown to eat or have coffee on weekends, today I tend to avoid it because it tends to be crowded. Naperville's gotten too big for my taste -- I preferred it when it was 50,000 people. You have large events like Last Fling and the Ribfest when tens of thousands of people descend on Naperville, and I avoid those. But Naperville has done a great job of adding parking garages as it's grown, and unlike some suburbs, parking is free.
Naperville became popular with the yuppie crowd back in the late 80s as a great place to raise a family. People with a lot of money have flocked there, and the feeling of the town has changed; the City Meat Market was a butcher shop that had been downtown since the 1890s, it had to move to a strip mall because rent was getting so high downtown; ditto with the Tastee Bakery, and fairly recently a laundry that had been downtown for decades closed up shop. My fear is that many of the other restaurants and shops that has always given the downtown its flavor will need to close. Now it's becoming all Sephora, Eddie Bauer, Apple, and other upscale stores.
Ironically, the yuppies moved to Naperville because of the wholesome small town atmosphere, and in the process they changed the spirit of the town. It's now a place where the wealthy can pretend they're living in a homey small town even though they're not. Jefferson Street is the main drag coming in from the west to downtown; it used to have a lot of older homes, including many that were not what you'd call upscale. A lot of them have been torn down and McMansions erected in their place -- they're styled to look like they fit into the neighborhood, but again, it's surface over substance. It's lost its soul along the way -- and that process was already happening when I first moved here.
So -- whether Naperville is right for you and your family depends on your situation and your expectations. I've been happy here all these years and I've been blessed to live in some great towns over the years on the East Coast and the Midwest; if I stay here I can't really think of anywhere else I'd rather live in the suburbs, in spite of the negatives. Hope that's helpful.
I moved here in January, 1988 and have been here ever since. I like Naperville more than the other suburbs around here. But it ultimately boils down to personal preference and taste. I haven't read all the posts in this thread, but here's my take on your questions.
Understand that when I moved here, all the stuff south of 75th street wasn't there. The town has hemorrhaged to the south, all the way to Plainfield because there wasn't anywhere else to grow. It's gone from about 50,000 when I moved here to 140,000 or so -- and next door Aurora has also grown. So it's a lot bigger area than it used to be
Traffic: I don't understand the comments on traffic. Certain streets are busy at rush hour (Washington, Ogden, 75th) but the only street I avoid is Route 59 near the mall during holiday shopping season. There are plenty of side streets once you get a feel for the traffic, so I don't consider it a problem.
Lack of parking for the train: That's certainly true downtown -- but Route 59 has plenty of parking as long as you get there no later than 7:30am. You can get a permit, but last I heard there was still a long wait for a permit. I live maybe 10 minutes from the Route 59 station, so I have an easy commute. Those who live south of downtown will want to consider the downtown station, those who live over by Route 53 (near Seven Bridges) will want to consider commuting from the Lisle station. If you're commuting downtown, that should factor into where you decide to live.
Subdivision-corporate feel of town: Not sure what that means. Most of the newer subdivisions (1980s onward) are south of 75th, and the older subdivisions (like Saybrook north of downtown, or some of the older subdivisions like Green Trails and the areas around Hobson) don't have that feel. I've lived for years in the Brookdale area, and to me that area doesn't have a cookie cutter feel to it. I don't know what "corporate feel" means.
For kids, Naperville had great school districts when I had a stepdaughter back in the late 80s; I hear they're still good, but I haven't been involved in the parenting thing for many years. There's a children's museum near downtown and Naper Village, and lots of things to do as a family indoors and outdoors. Teens are a different matter -- there wasn't a lot for them to do when I first moved here, and as far as I can tell there still isn't.
There are plenty of non-chain restaurants if you look for them - or small local chains. I like Jalapeño Grille on Route 59 for Mexican food, and there's a Peruvian sandwich shop at Fairway Drive and North Aurora, SanGuche, which is excellent. There are some other areas outside of downtown that have upscale restaurants.
Regarding weekends -- I used to go downtown to eat or have coffee on weekends, today I tend to avoid it because it tends to be crowded. Naperville's gotten too big for my taste -- I preferred it when it was 50,000 people. You have large events like Last Fling and the Ribfest when tens of thousands of people descend on Naperville, and I avoid those. But Naperville has done a great job of adding parking garages as it's grown, and unlike some suburbs, parking is free.
Naperville became popular with the yuppie crowd back in the late 80s as a great place to raise a family. People with a lot of money have flocked there, and the feeling of the town has changed; the City Meat Market was a butcher shop that had been downtown since the 1890s, it had to move to a strip mall because rent was getting so high downtown; ditto with the Tastee Bakery, and fairly recently a laundry that had been downtown for decades closed up shop. My fear is that many of the other restaurants and shops that has always given the downtown its flavor will need to close. Now it's becoming all Sephora, Eddie Bauer, Apple, and other upscale stores.
Ironically, the yuppies moved to Naperville because of the wholesome small town atmosphere, and in the process they changed the spirit of the town. It's now a place where the wealthy can pretend they're living in a homey small town even though they're not. Jefferson Street is the main drag coming in from the west to downtown; it used to have a lot of older homes, including many that were not what you'd call upscale. A lot of them have been torn down and McMansions erected in their place -- they're styled to look like they fit into the neighborhood, but again, it's surface over substance. It's lost its soul along the way -- and that process was already happening when I first moved here.
So -- whether Naperville is right for you and your family depends on your situation and your expectations. I've been happy here all these years and I've been blessed to live in some great towns over the years on the East Coast and the Midwest; if I stay here I can't really think of anywhere else I'd rather live in the suburbs, in spite of the negatives. Hope that's helpful.
Is there some sort of website search where I can plug in features that will throw up other US destinations that will replicate these sorts of features Naperville offers?
Interesting question, and one I'd like to know the answer to as well. Having spent some time living in Naperville, but wanting to leave the state of IL, I find myself often searching for cities around the country that may share some of the qualities that I like in Naperville. Namely, the walkable downtown as you mentioned, the relatively good variety and quality of restaurants, excellent schools and diverse population.
Not surprisingly, most of what I've found are located near major or at least very large cities like those around Seattle and DC on the VA side. Also not surprisingly, all come with some of the accompanying negatives, like poor house-per-dollar value. Anyhow, the actual feel of the city may be very different despite the similarities on paper.
As others have mentioned, the city of Naperville has a lot going for it and I personally like it a lot, and enjoy visiting my parents (who still live there) on the weekends. Whenever these threads come up and the "keeping up with the Joneses" stuff starts flowing though, I cringe a little. It's a mentality, and more importantly, its YOUR mentality. If you care about what other people think about you based how much your car payment is or your home's square footage, I don't see how that becomes an entire city's problem or anyone else's but your own. Please don't let other people impress upon you something so subjective.
Interesting question, and one I'd like to know the answer to as well. Having spent some time living in Naperville, but wanting to leave the state of IL, I find myself often searching for cities around the country that may share some of the qualities that I like in Naperville. Namely, the walkable downtown as you mentioned, the relatively good variety and quality of restaurants, excellent schools and diverse population.
City-Data has an advanced search page that might be helpful:
Also, if you search on Bing or Google for: "search for area to live based on criteria" they return hits that contain information on searching for areas by various criteria.
So in terms of train parking: if living in south Naperville, are there any options if I come let's say around 8:00 by car to the downtown station? Are there paid parking lots at least nearby?
So in terms of train parking: if living in south Naperville, are there any options if I come let's say around 8:00 by car to the downtown station? Are there paid parking lots at least nearby?
I'd guess not. I haven't tried to chance it for the 7:06 train yet and when I've driven to the 6:45 train it's a pretty full daily parking. If you get there after 9 you can park in someone's permit spot assuming you pay at the pay box.
So in terms of train parking: if living in south Naperville, are there any options if I come let's say around 8:00 by car to the downtown station? Are there paid parking lots at least nearby?
Not for the 5th Ave station. If you come at 9:00 or after there are some spaces reserved for this in the kroehler lot. Depending on where in South Naperville you are, the Belmont station in Downers Grove is a good option. I am not sure that I've ever seen it 100% full.
This is a very interesting thread. I have the same question, mainly asking families with kids.
My family and I are currently in Pasadena, CA and there is an opportunity for my husband to move to another office of his company in Naperville. The craziness of housing prices here is driving us out of CA. We have 2 kids, 10 years old and 1 year old. The pay is the same as here, so I was wondering if financially it makes sense to move to Naperville. My husband and I are both engineers, Structural and Electrical. Any comment on expenses of life and change in quality of life is appreciated.
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