Naperville North vs. Naperville Central (Chicago, Downers Grove: real estate, school district, per square foot)

[westburbsil]

Okay need some help from others on here. I know about Naperville what the average person does. Great downtown, great schools, very big, etc, etc. etc. I have a friend who is moving their and will be working in Downers Grove.

What if any is the difference in real estate value, schools, between North and Central school district and location. They are not looking at Metea or Nequa Valley.

In a nutshell, the two hang ups for they have kids who are are almost teens, is one school better than the other and is real estate better(i.e. more likely to go up in value) south of 75th street or north. Thanks!

[chet everett]

The long term history of achievement has favored Naperville North, some time ago, when there were more technology related jobs closer to the north side of town the gap between North and Central was more pronounced but as the kind of families in either attendance area has converged so to has the range of performance narrowed.

That said I would caution that the trend for housing prices is influenced by "taste" type things like the fact that there has been much more interest / activity in the core / historic district area... The "attendance area map" is NOT a "straight line" -- portions of the area north of 75th / south of Hobson are designated for Central while the portion of town west of Julian / south of Chicago Ave are part of Central -- http://goo.gl/zybBX Complicating matters there are occiasional "re-alingments" though those generally are planned out for several years and tend to effect borders between elementary school attendance areas, most of which are pretty benign...

[maybetoday]

In a nutshell, the two hang ups for they have kids who are are almost teens, is one school better than the other and is real estate better(i.e. more likely to go up in value) south of 75th street or north. Thanks!

I attended NCHS about 15 years ago and back then North was known more for academics and Central was more known for athletics. I think they are more or less equal now in most regards. Property values are almost always higher closer to downtown areas but many people are valuing ease of access to interstates in that area (I-88, I-355, etc) and some of the more centrally located ones take a while to get to highways.

[TempesT68]

The further north you go, the stronger the property values go. Both central and north are outstandingly schools. North gets a little more recognition, but it's like comparing a Mercedes to a BMW.

[divakat]

North of 75th has stronger property values than south of 75th. You will pay more per square foot. Dist. 203 (north and central) is thought of as a better school dist as a whole.

[caverunner17]

As a NCHS grad, I don't think you can really go wrong with either. NCHS has a newly renovated school (which is extremely nice) .

[Ccpfinn]

Seriously no difference based on the school itself. We live 0.5 miles from downtown in East Highlands and will go to Central but the kids across the street will go to North. The boundaries are very confusing. Biggest difference is the closer to downtown you are the more expensive the housing and the smaller the lot.

[Kmanshouse]

Originally Posted by divakat

North of 75th has stronger property values than south of 75th. You will pay more per square foot. Dist. 203 (north and central) is thought of as a better school dist as a whole.

The question was picking North vs Central - both in D203.

Having lived in Naperville for 17 years, I've always viewed Central slightly more favorably, but I think that's just due to the fact it's right downtown. And living near downtown is a great perk. Academically, the difference is neglible.