Naperville....what am I missing (Chicago, Arlington Heights: sales, crime, house prices)

[mommyfirst3]

Ok, I have checked all over suburbs of IL. From Antioch area, to Barrington area, to Naperville and all in between. Naperville seems to have great schools, the housing prices seems cheaper than the other suburbs that close to Chicago, the crime is good, it appears pretty, there seems to be IT professional and HR/Customer service M-F days jobs for at least $13.00 an hour within 20 minutes drive. (My Associate degree is in HR but was home, almost done with my BA, so will start at customer service until I can break in). Oh, and there is a Metrarail. Although I hear the Metrarail is crowded and hard to get on.

Is there anything that I am missing? It seems like the best choice around, but maybe there is a reason that the houses are not as high as Arlington Heights and Barrington school areas?

Also, does anyone know about how the schools handle bullying, as we have had issues here in CA.

Please, any info on Naperville, good or bad, would be great. We are coming from CA where there are no jobs, the house prices are outrageous, and taxes are bad (Although IL property taxes are much more)

Thanks.

[chet everett]

For folks in the core of Naperville, where you can walk to many things (though do not expect it to be quaint English countryside compact , from another thread...) prices are as bad as for folks in the core of Arlingon Heights. The situation in Barrington is a little different, as most folks that are shopping out that way tend to want the "estate sized" stuff and that drives the prices in the core of in-town Barrington.

Naperville has HUNDRED THOUSNAD++ resident and most of them are in somewhat unremarkable subdivisions, so that makes it hard for prices to climb right now, with pressure from distressed sellers.

Those residents that need to get to Metra make for stiff competition for parking and crowded trains.

Personally, I think that at some price levels it makes sense to think of townsmwith even more highlynrated schools, as much for the smaller number of kids that will be in your child's circle of acquaintances as for the boost in academics, though I know that most high performing schools in the region have efforts to quash bullying.

[almost3am]

Originally Posted by mommyfirst3

Ok, I have checked all over suburbs of IL. From Antioch area, to Barrington area, to Naperville and all in between. Naperville seems to have great schools, the housing prices seems cheaper than the other suburbs that close to Chicago, the crime is good, it appears pretty, there seems to be IT professional and HR/Customer service M-F days jobs for at least $13.00 an hour within 20 minutes drive. (My Associate degree is in HR but was home, almost done with my BA, so will start at customer service until I can break in). Oh, and there is a Metrarail. Although I hear the Metrarail is crowded and hard to get on.

Is there anything that I am missing? It seems like the best choice around, but maybe there is a reason that the houses are not as high as Arlington Heights and Barrington school areas?

Also, does anyone know about how the schools handle bullying, as we have had issues here in CA.

Please, any info on Naperville, good or bad, would be great. We are coming from CA where there are no jobs, the house prices are outrageous, and taxes are bad (Although IL property taxes are much more)

Thanks.

Yeah, as Chet alluded to, make sure you select your location for where you will be spending your time. I, personally, am not a huge fan of commuting by car for any extended distance, so I was fairly annoying to my wife when we selected our home. I work in Chicago, so I needed relatively close access to the train line, but if you don't need the train your options open up. I also wanted easy access to downtown Naperville, so my southern boundary was 75th St.

There are lots of threads here on Naperville, I read through almost all of them when we were selecting which city to live in, it is a great resource, you should check that out if you haven't.

Overall, we really like Naperville and are really happy with our choice. It is very social, family friendly, good schools, with easy access to retail and restaurants.

[TempesT68]

Jobs are pretty rough everywhere and dupage county taxes are high as well, but perhaps less depending where you are in california. Overall naperville is on paper that perfect suburb with something for everyone and i'd say the #1 destination for people moving in from outside of the area. I'm sure you could move there and not have a problem with the city, but like many that move into naperville, you'll move out within a few years once you get more familiar with the area into the city that truly fits best.

[rfr69]

Originally Posted by mommyfirst3

Ok, I have checked all over suburbs of IL. From Antioch area, to Barrington area, to Naperville and all in between. Naperville seems to have great schools, the housing prices seems cheaper than the other suburbs that close to Chicago, the crime is good, it appears pretty, there seems to be IT professional and HR/Customer service M-F days jobs for at least $13.00 an hour within 20 minutes drive. (My Associate degree is in HR but was home, almost done with my BA, so will start at customer service until I can break in). Oh, and there is a Metrarail. Although I hear the Metrarail is crowded and hard to get on.

Is there anything that I am missing? It seems like the best choice around, but maybe there is a reason that the houses are not as high as Arlington Heights and Barrington school areas?

Also, does anyone know about how the schools handle bullying, as we have had issues here in CA.

Please, any info on Naperville, good or bad, would be great. We are coming from CA where there are no jobs, the house prices are outrageous, and taxes are bad (Although IL property taxes are much more)

Thanks.

Not that I have checked home prices in Barrington or Arlinton Heights but i'm surprised to hear you say prices are higher in Arlington Heights, I would think parts of Barrington would be much higher.

Nothing wrong with Naperville. like you said great schools, good parks, fantastic libraries, plenty of shopping, restaurants, downtown Napervillle, riverwalk, dog parks, etc.

As far as bullying I wouldn't think Naperville is worse than any comparable burb. Bullying is gonna happen anywhere its part of growing up. I think Naperville is probably more on top of and more sensitive to this issue than most. I wouldn't say bulllying would be bad but I could see keeping up with the joneses being bad for kids in terms of having to have the new shoes, jacket, clohtes, etc but not really bullying.

[chitown85]

Not sure where the OP is coming from in CA, but from what I have heard, unemployment is similar to IL on a statewide level and LA is similar to Chicago??

[mommyfirst3]

Hi all! Thank you for all of you great input! We currrently live in So CA, but we are in the mountains where there is a huge rough commute, an hour in the summer, much more in the snow each way. So I have been unable to work.

So, even though the property taxes seem to be much more in IL, most everything else is less plus I can work. Gas is cheaper, income taxes are cheaper, sales taxes cheaper, food is cheaper etc.

I think Barrington was expensive as well. I just noticed that Naperville seemed cheaper than Arlington Heights and Barrington. But maybe it differed in different parts of the city.

We would like the option for hubby to do Metrarail, as he will likely need to work closer to Chicago in the IT field.

I am planning on visiting over the weekend, and hopefully I can check out all of the areas I mentioned.

You are so right, bullying happens everywhere. It is just that where we are, the school does nothing. So, I have had to pull out my kids because of that and just the schools in general. So, very important that I find a place with decent schools. Unfortunately, nowadays you pay more for that.

Tempest68: You mentioned a lot of people moving out. I am trying to prevent that as we have already moved more than I wanted. So, it makes it especially difficult to find the right place, knowing that we really want to keep the kids in the same school/area etc for friends.

Anyway, thanks! Will take a look. Anything that you think I should check out, please let me know.

[Steve-o]

You should look into Geneva and St. Chares area... its generally cheaper than Naperville, less crowded, just as safe, and possibly more picturesque. They dont have the hustle and bustle of Naperville, but you can find everything you need in those 2 cities. Good luck with the move!

[mommyfirst3]

PS Meant to mention hubby commutes to LA area. But he can also work from home, so it is me that has the issue with the drive.

[mommyfirst3]

Thanks Steve-O. Looking those 2 up right now. Appreciate it. I love prettier areas, having lived in No CA. So, that would be a good thing. My kids do not want to leave the mountainy areas but those areas are so hard for professional jobs.