naperville vs sycamore (Chicago, Wheaton, DeKalb: best towns, crime, new home)

[momandwifefromcali]

I was just wondering if sycamore is as good and as family friendly as Naperville sounds. We are moving in 2008 to IL, and I was just surfing the net and found that houses in Sycamore are much more inexpensive and much newer than those in Naperville. Also I know that schools in Naperville are pretty good, how about those in sycamore? And the crime?
I can't wait to hear about this!

[Drover]

There are resources out there that give you a lot of data for schools that you can then use to make a judgment based on your own priorities. Two such resources are schoolmatters.com and greatschools.net.

There are obvious major differences between Naperville and Sycamore. For one, Naperville is in the eye of the storm that is Chicagoland. Sycamore is on the very edge of suburbia, or depending on who you ask, isn't even part of suburbia. For another, Naperville has nearly 150,000 reasons versus Sycamore's 15,000 or so. These differences give the two places a very different feel. Sycamore has a lot more of a "small-town" feel whereas in Naperville you're surrounded on all sides by a sea of 9 million people. Naperville does have a very nice downtown area with a surprisingly homey feel for a city of its size. But unless you live near downtown -- and that takes seriously big bucks -- there isn't a lot of "small-town" intimacy in living in Naperville. Crime is practically nonexistent in both.

That said, the days of Sycamore's "small-town" feel are numbered. Suburbia is steadily creeping outward, and IMO it won't be more than 20 years before Sycamore is completely subsumed into the rest of suburbia. Census estimates claim that Sycamore's population grew by 35% just between 2000 and 2006. We're already seeing people who live in Sycamore but commute into suburbia for work.

[Inthesprawlpath]

Originally Posted by momandwifefromcali

I was just wondering if sycamore is as good and as family friendly as Naperville sounds. We are moving in 2008 to IL, and I was just surfing the net and found that houses in Sycamore are much more inexpensive and much newer than those in Naperville. Also I know that schools in Naperville are pretty good, how about those in sycamore? And the crime?
I can't wait to hear about this!

If it were me,I'd pick Sycamore over Naperville.Naperville to me is overbuilt and crowded.Sycamore is growing fast but it's still a nice little town and Rt 23 has all the stores etc you might need but they don't really hurt the downtown.Alot of those smaller towns around Sycamore are growing too.Genoa,I think is doing a nice job with thier downtown.The area is mostly farms dotted with subdivisions.There are not alot of forest preseves in DeKalb county for outdoor recreation.The nearest State Park is shabbona.There is a nice lake there.The people are nice.Cortland is close but it's really just a couple of subdivisions clustered around an old railroad town.There is not much there but it is close to both Sycamore and DeKalb.Sycamore still has a small town feel but it's still growing.New subdivisions on the north and south.

[HOWELL_STREET]

I also agree with the above posts. However, ask yourself if you want the Chicago stampede heading towards you (I.E., A residence in Sycamore, De Kalb or Cortland)? Or do you want the stampede jumping over you as a residence in Naperville? Such a wise choice, now, may effect the price of your home when you want to sell in the future. So that is what will happen in the future if it is not already happening right now.

Also seriously consider your future education - - and it is now becoming necessary to return to graduate school to survive in our business world.

If you choose the tri - cities as mentioned above (Sycamore et al) then you are only under seven miles from both Kishwaukee Community College and Northern Illinois University. If you are an in - district resident (a home in the tri - cities), then you can take general courses at Kishwaukee and then transfer them back to NIU. In that manner, you can save much money.

Carter Glass,
Wheaton, IL &
Cortland, IL

[bls5555]

Don't have to much to add but I grew up in Sycamore and my parents moved in 1994 when I was 14. I went back for the first time earlier this year and didn't even recognize the place (some to do with moving when I was young, but it has grown unbelievably).

[dbgaeclark]

I live in Naperville and I have never even heard of Sycamore. That being said, I can't comment on it. However, I can comment on Naperville....it is wonderful, we love it!!! We are being transferred to NWA, so we have to move and are very sad to be leaving Naperville. It has everything, the schools are wonderful, lots of resources for kids activities etc. You can't go wrong moving here.

[Inthesprawlpath]

It's kind of funny.I used to shoot in the trap league at the Sycamore Gun Club about 20 years ago once a week.I drove from further east,Fox Valley area.I would complain about all the growth and changes happening around me and those guys from Sycamore didn't have a clue what I was talking about.5 or 10 years later they started to moan and complain.Now,we're all just numb.Our quiet old towns are gone.They're all starting to look alike and lose that "everybody knows everybody" quality.It was good while it lasted.

[Steve-o]

Sycamore is growing, but is still light years behind Naperville. If you have kids, definitely go with Naperville, as they have ALOT more to offer there than Sycamore. Naperville's schools are also better. We had our son in a Sycamore school and it sucked so bad that we pulled him out and put him in a private school. The teacher he had was a complete bum and would rather have the kids play all day than try and actually, you know, TEACH them things. Sycamore has a nice, small downtown with a few restaurants (ie Taxico, Stratford Inn, etc) and bars (ie the Uptown). One thing Sycamore does offer is quiet and cheaper housing. Most of the town is old homes that are kinda unappealing. There are some beautiful Victorians and Union-style homes along Rt. 64 west of Sacramento St (all the way to Peace Rd). The area to go in Sycamore is north of Rt. 64 on Rt. 23. There are TONS of new homes going in up there and theyre quite nice and alot cheaper than DuPage/Kane/Cook prices, but the prices are rising steadily. Stay away from DeKalb, it sucks.

Naperville is a great town. If you can handle the traffic and hectic downtown, youll love it. Shopping and dining is as good as anywhere (if not better) and the town always ranks highly in all reports (including several years as CNN/Money magazines 10 best towns in the USA). There is TONS of stuff for kids to do, which Im sure theyll thank you for (if you do indeed have kids). Here are some photos Ive taken of Naperville. Its not much, but will give you some sort of an idea....

[emergencymom69]

I have lived near both and Naperville does have a lot to offer however it will cost double to buy a house there as I looked before we moved to Genoa, which is just NW of Sycamore. My husband and I liked the smaller pace of both Sycamore and Genoa however we choose Genoa because my sister also lived here and my hubby has a slightly easier commute from Genoa. The house we live in cost us around $200k here versus $430k for the same size house in Naperville.

[via chicago]

just move to iowa and get it over with.