Wheaton, Glen Ellyn or Naperville. Which is easier for newcomers? (Chicago: fit in, transplants)

[peace1988]

We are moving from Texas. Anyone have opinions about which one of these villages are easier for newcomers to connect? We have a high school child and a middle school.

[cubssoxfan]

Please move this to Chicago Suburbs-Thanks.

[chitownperson]

Define "easier"?

[chet everett]

Having worked with relo clients I think the factors that make for a good move have less to do with the "town" and more to do with the expectations and preparations.

If you are inadequately informed of the inevitable differences in schools, the various kinds of trade-offs that come when choosing an older more established area over or newer area (or vice verse), realities of commuting and a myriad of other other seemingly minor details that end up having a MAJOR impact on satisfaction.

Depending on budget I suspect you will get more house in Wheaton than in Naperville or Glen Ellyn, but that is not universally true due to the relative size of the inventory available in all three towns. In fact, depending on budget and commute, I would cast a pretty wide net and include other towns along the UP-W line or BNSF that have similar qualities.

When it comes to the specifics of which town(s) are a little easier to get integrated into I think personal factors are going to have a big impact. Everything from what kind of work you (and your spouse) and engaged in to the kinds of hobbies / sports your kids may enjoy to the importance of community activities / religous participation / yard care are all pieces of a BIG puzzle. Most big relo firms have some tips to follow.

Personally I tend to prefer smaller towns with a greater degree of uniformity both from a real estate perspective AND becuase I have found it is EASIER to get involved in the various offering of such a town HOWEVER I also know that there are many people that prefer the larger towns with a wider range of styles / people. Naperville would easily win out as biggest, in your list Glen Ellyn is smallest, and Wheaton is conveniently in-between...

btw I am sure thatt there will be those that have opinions about the various differences between these towns, and there are some factors that may be worth thinking about HOWEVER I believe that the differences INSIDE the various different subdivisions / residential areas and the school attendance boundaries that go along with them are fairly signficant. In fact I much prefer towns that are overall more internally uniform for housing prices / school performance...

[ToriaT]

My perception is there are a lot more transplants in Naperville than in Wheaton or Glen ellyn. But I do not think you can go wrong in any of them. If you are church going, Wheaton has a large number of churches and if you join one, they will make you feel welcome. I do not think you will find better places in the mid to farther western burbs. The only other place to look is downers grove which is also nice. I would not give you 2 cents for any of the rest of them...not that they are bad but just not my cup of tea. (except for Hinsdale but that is quite pricey)

[jaymaster]

Naperville is having boundary changes right now for their local high schools, so it woulld be really easy for your high schooler to fit it. Yet keep in mind naperville is a city, and thus very crowded. I would say wheaton is a city too, but it is less congested. You can feel that both wheaton and glen ellyn divides their towns in half y Roosevelt road. Wheaton North serves north wheaton, WWS serves below rosevelt. In glen Ellyn. North of Roosevelt is Glenbard West and south is the much smaller Glenbard South. If your highschooler does football or any other sports i would pick Glenbard West or Wheaton Warrenville south. All 4 schools listed above are very good schools often challenging their sudents to take Ap courses and they are always the top schools in the state. Hope that helps!

[carnelian]

One cannot say which is easier to fit in. That depends on you. These 3 cities are very different from each other. Glen Ellyn is a small suburb with an old small downtown area basically with 2-3 streets and the main strip is a four lane street with restaurants and franchises, etc. Home to the large community College of DuPage. Naperville is much bigger and depends which neighborhood you are in.It is more like a city and the home prices are probably higher. Wheaton is more conservative and very Christian with a nice downtown area, college, etc.