Naperville... is it nice? (Aurora, Berwyn: neighborhoods, subdivision, living)

[jenrik2714]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Ill agree with the Rt. 59 thing, thats about it. Seriously, does your world revolve around Taco Bell? If so, may I suggest you move to California. The bowling alley is NOT bad at all (Brunswick), Ive bowled there several times and never had a problem. The only thing that sucks about that place is the lil gangsta wannabes from Aurora who fill the arcade every weekend. "High priced slums"? There are no slums in Naperville. There are some older complexes here and there (ie McDowell Place), but those are NOT slums. You want slums? Go to Joliet, east Aurora, east Elgin. And yes, Speedway is nice for one reason and one reason only: they have 110 octane racing fuel there.

Why do you assume the lil gangsta wannabes are from Aurora?
I thought it would be Naperville would have to wannabes while Aurora have the true gangstas

[Dariusz]

Steve-O is absolutely right about the gangstas coming from Aurora. But I will have to disagree on the quality of the bowling alley. The lanes are dirty. I called the employee that oils the lanes and questioned him on a few things and he said that they also only oil the lanes once a day. I have to travel 7 miles to Fox Bowl in Wheaton to bowl on descent lanes or to Lisle Lanes in Lisle, but the benefit of going to Lisle is they have a excellent Taco Bell right off of Ogden Ave, probably the best in the NW Suburbs.

Also Warrenville is far too small to forget that West Chicago is directly north of it on 59 in which it gets far too dark for my taste.

Ogden Taco Bell is by far the best in the area, the new day manager is from the exceptional Taco Bell that is on North Ave in Glendale Heights. Their food is fresh and it is prepared by the highest quality of Mexicans. Lisle Taco Bell has the highest quality food, best Mexicans, and the fastest service.

The Naperville Taco Bell off of New York has the lowest quality meat I have come across in the suburbs and their crunchy taco's shells taste like they sat out for a few days. The workers there are also fairly slow, yesterday I could have went to the Lisle Taco Bell and been back home at the same time with better quality Taco Bell, due to the long wait at Naperville Taco Bell.

Taco Bell quality by location:
Lisle (Ogden ave) > Warrenville (mill st) > Naperville (New York ave)
Glen Ellyn (Roosevelt rd) > Wheaton (Butterfield rd)
Villa Park (Roosevelt rd) > Villa Park (St. Charles rd)
Glendale Heights (North ave) > Carol Stream (Gary ave)

The Taco Bell on 75th st in Woodridge is all by itself so you will have to deal with it if you are in that area.

[kleer]

Here's my take on the Lisle Taco Bell:

The food is great, no arguments there. However, the prices are a bit high there. The #3 meal (3 crunchy tacos and a large drink) is something like $4.35 which is about $0.37 above average. This could arguably break your rankings, Dariusz, but the quality of the food is worth the extra money in my opinion. Another problem I have with the Lisle Border is the size. It's a pretty small establishment with no drive-thru. However I think the absence of a drive-thru is a part of the reason the quality of the food is excellent and the service is speedy. Also, there seems to be more parking spots in the lot than there are chairs in the restaurant. But overall this is definitely the best Taco Bell I've frequented in the Chicago Suburbs.

Rankings adjusted for perfect a score:

Lisle, Ogden Ave ---------------------- 5.000
Glen Ellyn, Roosevelt Rd --------------- 4.952
Glendale Heights, North Ave ----------- 4.819
Villa Park, Roosevelt Rd --------------- 4.651
Wheaton, Butterfield Rd --------------- 3.556
Warrenville, Mill St -------------------- 3.401
Carol Stream, Gary Ave --------------- 3.398
Villa Park, St. Charles Rd -------------- 3.071
Naperville, New York Ave ------------ 1.165
Aurora, Farnsworth Ave --------------- 0.000*

*indicates the Taco Bell is in the ghetto and was too dangerous to rate

[Steve-o]

LOL

How did this go from Naperville questions to Taco Bell ratings?

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by jenrik2714

Why do you assume the lil gangsta wannabes are from Aurora?
I thought it would be Naperville would have to wannabes while Aurora have the true gangstas

Awesome post!

Naperville gangtas!
"Yo yo yo...your mamma got her degree at a state college!"
"Ooooooh, he's dissing your mamma....say something back!"
"Um, your mom's got such a high body mass index that she has to be taken to Jazzercize in the back of the SUV!"

[mdz]

This thread has been totally hijacked, and my role as moderator is to remove the above few posts.

But they're way too funny.

Now, back on topic ladies and gents.

[deegers]

Originally Posted by mdz

This thread has been totally hijacked, and my role as moderator is to remove the above few posts.

But they're way too funny.

Now, back on topic ladies and gents.

Many thanks to you Moderator. I agree this thread was hijacked, but it definitely made my day. Steve-o and Mathguy, where would Chicago threads if they didn't have you. Love the comments!

Naperville still rocks, but I love Geneva!

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by Dariusz

Also Warrenville is far too small to forget that West Chicago is directly north of it on 59 in which it gets far too dark for my taste.

That statement would be one problem with Napervillians. If it's not lillywhite suburbia, roll up the windows and lock the doors!

[Steve71]

So I've lived in Naperville for a little over 8 years now. We are on the west side which is where some of the above complaining comes from.

There are some great subdivisions over here but Naperville gets nicer ther further East you go and in some respects the further south.

Traffic is getitng bad - no doubt. What is not helping is lawmakers allowing so many townhomes which kill the density. The same 20 acres of townhomes generates about 5x as many cars as 20 acres of single family homes. There are HUGE townhome communities going up everywhere on the west side of Naperville.

Downtown Naperville is beautiful in the summer. The riverwalk and shops and restaraunts are excellent. The shopping keeps you from needing to go to a mall (Ann Taylor, Talbots, EB, Rest Hardware, B&N, Pottery Barn etc). All of these are right in the downtown.

The schools are big - no doubt. 4 High schools in Dist 203 and 204 each one with 3000+ kids and a 5th one is on the books (Mehta Valley) to be built.

However, in the elementary schools - they are often right in the subdivisions. So your kids don't have to venture into traffic on a bus to get to school.

The downtown housing is older houses that are getting snapped up to build large 4k -5k sq ft houses on 1/5 acre lots. The theory is 'what do you need a yard for if the naperville downtown riverwalk/parks are two streets over'. I love the look of the houses (brick/stone) and brand new - but I like having a yard.

Just outside Naperville downtown you have the 1970's/1980's style houses. Some raised ranches and cookie cutter colonials. They are too nice to tear down but don't compare to other subdivisions.

When you start spreading out you get to the newer subdivisions. Almost all of the stuff south of 75th is very new. There are also several country club/golf course communities. I love White Eagle and we have looked at houses there. For $650k you can get a 3k sq ft house on the golf course and its a beautiful golf course. 27 holes and very very well maintained.

There is also Stonebridge CC to the far west and Springbrook and others.

I do agree that much of naperville though has the 'turned a farm into housing' feel with little trees around and house after house on 1/4 acre lots.

One really nice area of houses close to downtown is Hobson Woods if you can afford it ($1m+).

We are looking to move for a couple of reasons namely proximity to other relatives and because traffic is getting worse with the townhomes and the high schools are huge.

For smaller children there are a TON of activities. Our community center has dance class for our oldest. Not just one dance class - like 25 different ballet classes alone. Do you want Weds? Fri? Sat 8? Sat 8:30? Sat 10:00? etc. The community center catalog for kids activities is the same size as the Community college catalogs. Its crazy. It is a kid factory out here and yes - 3 is the new 2. Everyone seems to have 2 and 3 kids in tow. The parking lots look like mini-van road rallys. Bring your Honda Odyssey (we have one) or go home.

It is a great place to raise a family, safe, plenty of shopping and parks and the schools are generally in excellent condition. Just remember it is basically a small city having over 150k residents. Right next door Aurora has 160k. There are ALOT of people here.

Good luck in your move. You will find Naperville to be very nice and I'm sure your kids will have a blast here. Depending on the subdivision - you are likely to have kids in nearly every house. Go look at the area just south of 95th to the east of Book Road. Its like 8 zillion single family homes on sidewalk clad streets and full of kids on a lazy summer day.

[nanannie]

Great post Steve71, should be requiered reading for all curious about moving to N'ville,,good summation.