2012: Oak Park Scores Again (Naperville, Evanston: real estate, low crime, credit)

[linicx]

2012 CNN Money Matters Best Places to Live places the Village of Oak Park in the top 10 of its 25 slots for affluent towns where the Rich and Single live. It edged out the affluent North Shore Suburb of Evanston on job growth of 2.91% (Evanston lost -2.27%), higher income, the lower cost of the median family home. So, according to CNN, it is possible to buy a home in Oak Park, that also has a walkable downtown, for less than $300,000.

CNN says its citizens call it "The People's Republic of Evanston" and mentions " . . . stroll around downtown's little shops." To its credit Evanston does score higher in reading and math, but it also scores higher in personal crime incidents (per 1,000). Evanston is larger than Oak Park by approximately 20,000 and it does have two universities whereas Oak Park does not. .

Best Places to Live 2012 – Top 25 for rich and single – from MONEY Magazine

2010 Oak Park U.S. Census
Oak Park (village) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

2010 Evanston U.S. Census
Evanston (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

[chet everett]

...like income. Naperville is far and away a place with higher household incomes:Top-earning towns - Naperville, IL (14) - Money Magazine

... Naperville offers the perfect opportunity to unwind in style. ...only a 35-minute express train ride from the Windy City, it feels farther, with its downtown Riverwalk along the DuPage River, Centennial Beach ... and stately homes in attractive neighborhoods.

..the city hosts plenty of large employers, including Edward Hospital, Nicor, and Alcatel-Lucent. But everyone enjoys the low crime rate, great schools and relatively low property taxes, which take some of the bite out of high real estate prices.

[oakparkdude]

@Chet,

Looks like Naperville has higher median income but (presumably) lower percentage of singles compared to Oak Park. I would also presume that the median household income of singles in Oak Park (and everywhere) is significantly lower than the median income of married/partnered households.

Overall, its nice to get good publicity, but I wouldn't put too much faith in these kinds of lists. But at least its not a Forbes list.

[chet everett]

Combine the higher household income with higher gross number of singles and it is no surprise that so many nightspots / entertainment venues / atheltic opportunities are going after this desirable demographic.

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

@Chet,

Looks like Naperville has higher median income but (presumably) lower percentage of singles compared to Oak Park.

[linicx]

Chet, please do not try to change the topic. You just started a thread featuring Naperville. Oak Park IS one of the TOP 10 affluent towns in America.

[linicx]

Agreed. It's not on Forbes.

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

@Chet,

Overall, its nice to get good publicity, but I wouldn't put too much faith in these kinds of lists. But at least its not a Forbes list.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by linicx

Chet, please do not try to change the topic. You just started a thread featuring Naperville. Oak Park IS one of the top TOP 10 affluent towns in America.

The criteria used for the ranking you selected is some weird mash-up of average household age and income.

Oak Park does not even come close to being in the Top 100 Placces by Income when looking at per-capita data. This is probably becuase of the relatively large number of households with only a single adult.

If one looks to the data of 100 highest-income places and looks only at towns with populations of over 50,000 Naperville ranks 12th nationally with per capita income of $141,644. Oak Park is on that list, in 31st placce with a much more modest income of $36,340.
List of highest-income places in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I certainly have no quibble with honest information presented fairly. I'll happliy congratulate the many childless people in Oak Park on their success.


(the thread touting Naperville and other towns that made the Top 100 of CNN/Money Best Places to Live 2012 was prompted by a news story, aparently that is the cover story of their Septeber issue which is now on news stands. I'm not sure why someone would confuse the two topics)

[linicx]

You are still trying to derail the thread by dragging in an unrelated stuff.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by linicx

You are still trying to derail the thread by dragging in an unrelated stuff.

I merely corrrected your misstatement. As I clearly linked to, Oak Park has a relatively modest per capita income. It is far from one of the most affluent towns in the region, let alone the nation.

The criteria for that particular CNN/Money ranking focuses on how many non-married / childless people are living in an area as a percentage of total population and than mashes that up against the income profile of that subgroup. Interesting to be sure but generally not a standard demographic metric.

There are a larger number of singles in other parts of the region and the data on income shows that those households in areas as diverse as Lincoln Park or Naperville are more attractive to businesses that target such high income households.

[sfcambridge]

Haven't you guys put Chet on ignore yet? It works so well.