Job Opportunity in Naperville...Where should an affluent Black family live? (Chicago: home, neighborhood)

[JacksonPanther]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I believe there are threasds that compared Hnsdale Central to OPRF and we were fortunate to have some parent weigh in. As I recall the minority parent that lived in Hinsdale made the argument that there kids experience was excellent at HC despite having very small number of minorities. The teachers made no assumptions or excuses that their performance was somehow expected to be subpar, the kids got good grades and went on to selective colleges. That is what it is all about.

I cannot speak for the OP's desire or concerns about where they might want to live... But I will say that in general no one wants to live somewhere they don't feel welcome. When you're coming from somewhere else to an unfamiliar state, it's difficult to know if a town is all-White because of historical demographics but is a welcoming place, or it's all-White because they want it that way and God help any minority that is ignorant enough to move in there.

I can assume the OP was asking those questions to get a feel for which kind of town Naperville is...

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

I cannot speak for the OP's desire or concerns about where they might want to live... But I will say that in general no one wants to live somewhere they don't feel welcome. When you're coming from somewhere else to an unfamiliar state, it's difficult to know if a town is all-White because of historical demographics but is a welcoming place, or it's all-White because they want it that way and God help any minority that is ignorant enough to move in there.

I can assume the OP was asking those questions to get a feel for which kind of town Naperville is...

Somehow I doubt that anyone would think Naperville, a town profiled many times in national magazines and on more "best places to live" lists than anywhere else Illinois is some kind of secrete cyrpto- racist enclave, but neither do I think that "race just doesn't matter" in basically anyplace on earth. Of course it matters, the same way accents and dress are quick way to "judge" or make a determination if folks are "like me or not like me"...

I remember one time I, an out of shape old white guy, was on a business trip to New Orleans. I was getting out of my rental car and a older sedan with four bigger young rural white guys pulled and I was a little put off by them --thinking that maybe the nightspot/authentic kinda place that i asked the hotel desk guy about was a lot rougher than I was expecting. Those guys looked rough but just were out for a cheap seafood dinner like me. I think may have been pals with guys in the band or something. Nothing happened.


Other than the historic underrepesentation of minorities in affluent areas, which is only perpuated by guiding folks to segregated areas, there is no reason for anyone of any color not to want to live in Naperville if they are seeking a place where families can expect their kids to do well...

[allen2323]

Ideally, I believe the majority of affluent african americans want to live in an affluent community that also has a healthy presence of other affluent african americans to socialize with.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Other than the historic underrepesentation of minorities in affluent areas, which is only perpuated by guiding folks to segregated areas, there is no reason for anyone of any color not to want to live in Naperville if they are seeking a place where families can expect their kids to do well...

Segregated areas like... Naperville?

[chet everett]

..just as Oak Park's Housing Authority directs whites toward the traditionally African American areas and African American's towards the areas were they are under represnented I help balance things out

Don't you know I a softy at heart ...

[rfr69]

Originally Posted by ILBound

Sorry for the typo! The title should read: JOB Opportunity... :-)

I'm an African-American businessman with an excellent job opportunity in Naperville. My family and I are looking for a beautiful, safe and diverse community with excellent schools. Every website, blog and discussion forum I've read has described Naperville as "the perfect place to live." Is this true for ALL RACES or just whites? Are there any black people in Naperville? Do the top public schools have ANY black teachers? Are there black stay-at-home mothers in the area? Are there diverse stay-at-home mothers groups for my wife to join? Are the city youth activities (soccer, baseball, scouts, etc) diverse? Are any black people on the city council, planning boards, school boards, etc?

We found two churches that we're interested in joining: one is in Lisle and the other is in Naperville. Living near our church family is extremely important also!

Our budget is no more than $500,000. We want a 4+ bedroom, 3+ bathroom home with at least 3,000 sq ft.

Please feel free to suggest other areas outside of Naperville that fit my criteria ! I look forward to reading your OPEN and HONEST thoughts!

I wouldn't exactly call Naperville diverse but contrary to popular belief there are black people in Naperville...lol.

Naperville in my experience is very welcomming of pretty much everyone. I would say in high school classes not in terms of a whole class like the class of 2010 but in terms of 5th period science class there will be 2 or 3 black kids a couple asians and a couple indians, the rest white

Naperville often gets knocked as being not at all diverse but little village 99.9% hispanic never gets this nor do the south suburbs that are 95% black.

Naperville has a pretty big asian population especially over by Naper and Ogden. Naperville also has a pretty big Indian, Pakistani, etc population.

I think you'll like Naperville alot. If diversity is important maybe consider Bolingbrook b/c its mroe diverse but the area I imagine you'd choose to live would attend Naperville schools and be pretty not diverse anyway so may as well live in Napervill and take advantage of the great schools, libraries, parks, kids museum, sports, etc. If you want diversity you can go to the city which isnt far.

[rfr69]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

Are there any black people in Naperville? Yes, but not a lot. Wikipedia says 2.5%. You can go to downtown Naperville and not see any Black people. But the White people there won't stare at you in shock...
Do the top public schools have ANY black teachers? I would assume no.
Are there black stay-at-home mothers in the area? There appear to be Mocha Moms chapters in the area - Fox Valley and Will County - go to their website for more info.
Are there diverse stay-at-home mothers groups for my wife to join? No idea.
Are the city youth activities (soccer, baseball, scouts, etc) diverse? I'm sure that the blacks that do live in Naperville participate in these activities. You will not feel excluded, you will not feel pressure to not participate. Remember, women's basketball great Candace Parker is from Naperville!
Are any black people on the city council, planning boards, school boards, etc? Seems unlikely.

We found two churches that we're interested in joining: one is in Lisle and the other is in Naperville. Living near our church family is extremely important also! I think I know the Lisle church you're referring to. You'll be happy there - I have heard nothing but good things about it.

Our budget is no more than $500,000. We want a 4+ bedroom, 3+ bathroom home with at least 3,000 sq ft. With this price range, you should be fine in Naperville. But don't expect to have much money left over.


I am Black, never lived in Naperville, worked in Lisle/Bolingbrook/Naperville/Wheaton areas for 12 years. Always lived in Chicago/Oak Park.
You will be isolated in Naperville. You will rarely see other black people during your daily travels around town. There will likely not be any other black kids on your street for your kids to play with. If your kids are older, there will be few other black kid for them to socialize with, or date. If these things matter to you, then Naperville is not your best choice.
But Naperville is not the type of town that will make you feel unwelcome. Given all the publicity about Naperville being such a great town, I would guess that most residents are not from Naperville, so everyone has in common the fact that they are transplants.

It's interesting how you act like its a huge problem there wont be other black kids on the block for the psters kids to play with. What's wrong with them playing with white kids?

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by rfr69

It's interesting how you act like its a huge problem there wont be other black kids on the block for the psters kids to play with. What's wrong with them playing with white kids?

For a middle class or affluent area to have REAL sustainable longterm black/white diversity in the chicagoland area it takes a real commitment of tolerance from the entire community including whites and blacks. Which entails the culture of how those of all races in the area conduct themselves in public. Police, school officials, neighbors, teachers, retailers, etc. It also takes financial equality among the blacks and whites choosing to live within the community. I could not honestly tell you why naperville does not attract more middle class or affluent blacks. It could be how middle class and affluent blacks perceive the public social attitude in the area or it could just be that they have what they feel are better options to choose from. The median household income of blacks living in naperville is only $55,375, about half that of white households in naperville ($101,120), and asian households in naperville ($106,365) . $55,375 is still lower middle class, but that kind of income disparity I am sure must affect how the majority of black families socially integrate with the rest of the naperville community.

In my opinion there is only one REAL sustainable longterm affluent black/white integrated suburban area in the entire chicagoland area. This area entails Homewood/Flossmoor, and Olympia Fields. Chicagoland is an extremely segregated area with many racial patterns that will be slow to die.

[Humboldt1]

Allen,

I agree with you. There is simply not enough income among a subset of our population to populate large areas such as Naperville and the affluent western burbs in addition to areas like Homewood/Flossmor, which are a fraction of the size of Naperville.

Income parity seems to offset many of the differences among races (though there is still an educational disparity even with affluence).

Above a certain income and education level many of the differences among the races are far less.

Kinda like in Oak Park where the black family with 200k household income has similar opportunities for their kids as the white family with the same income level (assuming same intergenerational wealth).

You have the same thing in areas like Naperville, but there is a limited population pool to draw from though I would argue that the average black family making 200k per year has ample opportunities in areas like Naperville.

Yes Naperville has a reputation of pulling black people over but it my experience it is the guy with loud music and a busted out tail light in 85 cadillac that is getting pulled over, not the black professional in a nicer car (though this is perceived to happen at a higher rate from some of the black people I know who have been pulled over in Naperville).

[urza216]

Please. I know little about the Naperville Police but I don't buy it. If they're pulling over blacks in P.O.S cars, they're pulling over blacks (especially young male blacks) in nice cars too. Why? Because the cops suspect this guy made the money to buy the car through illegal means like selling drugs.