Oswego?

[Union Proud]

I lived in oswego for five years and it great.Schools are excellent.The schools need to go to more conventional math.Seems these schools getting away from basic math.Crime rate is good no problems.Oswego starting to get more popular with all the new stores and restaurant's coming in.There are alot of things to do at the community center.Beautiful golf course in oswego.After school sport programs was i think $5 a week for my daughter.Two or three days a week.Oswego home prices is alot better.I think naperville is over rated for property value.Plainfield is also nice just as good as both naper/oswego.We do have one metra station in oswego, park n ride.I think our tax rate is lock for the next 8 years considering all this new business coming in.If you have a car drive to the naperville night life,just under 15 miles.Now they are building communities with club houses in oswego.Naperville have alot of nice restaurants to eat at.

[momandwifefromcali]

Thank you all for being so nice, there is no doubt that both, Naperville and Oswego seem to be great places for a family. We noticed though that school scores in Oswego are much lower than the ones in Naperville.
There is a lot of pressure on us, since this is a huge step for our family and we are trying to do what's best...
Again... thank you all for being so helpful

[Union Proud]

Originally Posted by momandwifefromcali

Thank you all for being so nice, there is no doubt that both, Naperville and Oswego seem to be great places for a family. We noticed though that school scores in Oswego are much lower than the ones in Naperville.
There is a lot of pressure on us, since this is a huge step for our family and we are trying to do what's best...
Again... thank you all for being so helpful

How about living in plainfield which have naperville schools in the district.You can have the bigger home,lower taxes and still have naperville schools.

[Jim J]

Oswego is a great community with a up and coming school district. Naperville is much more established with an already excelled school district and excellent downtown area. Real estate taxes average 2% -2.2% for Naperville depending on which county you live in, Will County is at the upper end. Note Oswego taxes are higher as a percentage of house value, now approaching 3% of house value. This will not change for the short term because of all the new schools / infrastructure presently needed in Oswego

[coming2az]

To some, Oswego is a step down from Naperville, but this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Oswego school Dist 308 is adequate. While it is not ranked at the top like Naperville's 203 and 204, it is providing above avg education, to mainstream students. But if you have a speial ed student, you might need to do a little research. Dist 308's sp. ed. is just ok.

People in general is more friendily here in Oswego/ Montgomery. Maybe it is because we still feel we are in a small town and want to retain that country charm.

Traffic has gotten busy along the main route RT.34/ Ogden Ave through Oswego. But it is nothing compared to RT 59 to the west of Naperville, where most of the shopping is.
We have many major big box and stand-alone retailers here. 2 Walmarts, Target, Meijer, Loews, Homedepot, TJ Maxx, Donminick's, Jewel, Michael's craft, Bed/bath and Beyond, Old Navy, Justice for Girls, Best Buy, Kohl's, JC Penny, and some others I could not remember. Like RT59 of Naperville/Aurora, stores are concentrated along Oswego's RT 34 corridor. But unlike RT59, it is not as busy. Because all of Fox Valley residents would go to RT59 for shopping when Oswego/RT34 gets mainly local shoppers.

The make-up of residents in Oswego/ Montgomery is perhaps 50/50 of white-collar to blue-collar, while in Naperville you have more white-collar folks. So even though my neighborhood isn't wealthy, we get to be in a more diverse environment.

Crime is not a huge problem. I would say Oswego and Naperville are pretty much the same. If you happen to live in a very close knit neighborhood like mine, you could rely on your neighbors for many things. I was just out of town for a week and my neighbors from either side watched my house and one fed my cat at home. I watched my neighbors place next door for 2 months when they were gone and mowed their yard. So if you look you can get yourself not only a house but a great neighborhood.

Oswego has a well established Oswegoland Park Dist-- not part of Fox Valley Park Dist.-- with many programs targeted mainly at elementry school kids or younger. It has a nice library and whatever it does not have, it could obtain through inter-library loan or it would purchase per your request.

My husband worked in Chicago for 5 yrs and took Metra from Aurora station. It took him 3 yrs to get a long-term parking sticker in the station lot. Before that he bought a city issued debit card to get daily sticker. Parking is not as hard in Aurora station, compare to Naperville's RT59 station. Parking at Naperville's downtown station is impossible. If you do not have a parking permit already, you should not even think about it.

Driving from Boulderhill (south edge of Montgomery) to Aurora train station is roghly 6 miles going 30-45MPH. Not too bad.

So in my opinion, I would only move to Naperville if I have a highly competivive student who wants to maximize his/her academic career. Of course, it is potentially a pressure cooker too. Or go to Oswego/Montgomery where it is less so.

Another thing I have not seen any one mentioned is Naperville is in College of Dupage district. C.O.D. is one of the top community colleges in the nation. Oswego/ Montgomery is in Waubonsee Community College boundary. WCC is not as famous as C.O.D. and probably ranked not as high.

[sgresident]

I still think that when someone is considering a move to a totally new area, you should come out and drive around...alot. See what it is like during the morning rush/afternoon rush. Is there a good bus stop for the kids to get to for school. find out how good the local streets are plowed during the winter. Where can you go to the doctor? School districts are important, but the difference between oswego and naperville for school isn't that great. the difference between the aurora school districts east and west are like night and day. I really think the reality factor of how long the rush hour drive and local congestion for traffic are really important. leads to that quality of life mentioned in an above post. also, check and see about the city services/park district opportunities. We are in the kaneland school district. It is not the best, not the worst. If you are an involved parent, all things work out well. just because the district scores may not be perfect on isat's doesn't mean your child won't perform. My older son graduated at the top of his class, had very high test scores always. one year had perfect isat math, and is at a top-ranked university. And as i said, kaneland as a district is not at the top.

[kittycat9]

I think your school experience may depend on the neighborhood you decide to live in. Some of the newer neighborhoods, like ours, have new schools (we have an early learning ctr, elementary & jr high within in the neighborhood). Many of the parents and residents around us are from the Naperville or City area. Most of them were looking for less crowding in their schools, and quieter neighborhoods.

A PP mentioned Churchill - where we too live, and it's like an extended family here. Several people have extended family or friends in one of the 6 sections of homes within our the neighborhood. Recently, our friends decided to build here as well. They have children in Jr. High & High School - and will be transferring from Naperville, due to overcrowding, issues with being on competitive sports teams, etc. Out here, the kids have a chance to participate in anything they want - over there, only the best get it all. It's a simple issue of too many kids, not enough opportunities.

A PP also mentioned the Special Needs kids - my son is one of them, and he's in the EC program (pre-K). It's a fantastic program so far. Our neighbor's son is in the Kindy all-day prep program, and she too seems pleased. They've done wonders with our child - so I have no complaints.

Park district is phenomenal. Everything from math, science, computer and sports EC activities. Including all the dance/gymnastics programs.

One major plus about Oswego is that they planned for the growth. Unlike our friends living in plainfield that complain constantly about school issues - we actually have schools under construction in neighborhoods that are just now selling new homes. I think we're opening a several more elementary schools and a couple jr. highs this coming school year. Some of them might be on partial staff - but again, they're planning for the growth - preparing for our kids.

The best part... We may be a new community, but it's a very close - neighborly place to live. Everyone knows us (within our couple block radius), and we look out for each other. THat's not what it was like when we lived in Naperville, Aurora or Wheaton.