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Old 10-09-2015, 01:34 PM
 
97 posts, read 143,251 times
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Not sure exactly where you are coming from but my sister, BIL, and family live in Arlington VA and Naperville is probably less pretentious unless you are going to be living in a very expensive part of town (which from your posts makes me think that won't be the case).
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Old 10-09-2015, 05:21 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
302 posts, read 450,686 times
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I lived in Naperville for a year. I heard the same things OP did, but honestly, everyone I came across in Naperville was really nice. Regardless if you're trying to keep up with the Jones' or not, they really don't care. I'm a minority, but never did I feel out of place nor not wanted. We moved because our jobs took us elsewhere, but I loveddddd living there.
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Old 10-09-2015, 06:55 PM
 
1,517 posts, read 2,324,601 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lookout Kid View Post
Naperville is normal. Painfully normal, perhaps, but still very normal. I think people are calling it "snobby" because it always shows up in "Best Places to Live" rankings and it a bit more expensive than, say, Lisle or Aurora. It probably leans upper middle class, and to many this makes it "snobby yuppieville".
I agree with this. There are several exceedingly wealthy neighborhoods in Naperville, mostly surrounding the downtown district, but outside of those Naperville is very much a friendly, upper-middle-class town.

When my wife and I were home shopping back in 2013, we disliked Naperville's size and sprawl, and the overabundance of subdivisions and strip malls. The core around the downtown is the obvious exception, and has plenty of historic appeal and walkability. We eventually decided on Wheaton, which we felt was a more well-rounded option, with more of that friendly, Rockwell-esque charm.
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Old 10-10-2015, 07:04 AM
 
21 posts, read 34,162 times
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Thanks everyone! A follow-up questions: we are moving away from DC because of the crazy expensive living, not just housing but everything - pre-schools, county programs, dining, etc. Does Naperville still allow you to have midwest affordability or does it's status as "best of..." make it more expensive?
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Old 10-10-2015, 01:40 PM
 
Location: Punta Gorda, FL
773 posts, read 779,823 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MovingUs View Post
Thanks everyone! A follow-up questions: we are moving away from DC because of the crazy expensive living, not just housing but everything - pre-schools, county programs, dining, etc. Does Naperville still allow you to have midwest affordability or does it's status as "best of..." make it more expensive?
I am a retired electrician and I've worked on houses all through DuPage County and covered the 6 county Chicagoland for commercial builds. There are just too many other great places to settle down in to limit your search to just Naperville. IMHO.

Take a look at this list, it may surprise you. I can vouch for many on the list because I know them well, including Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale, Elmhurst, LaGrange, Burr Ridge, Willowbrook, Glen Ellyn, Downers Grove and Oak Brook. They all offer what you've mentioned and they all have some, if not a lot of, "bragging rights", if that's important to you.

Whatever you do, you owe it to yourself to come in and spend a week, or more, to see for yourself.
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Old 10-10-2015, 03:11 PM
 
Location: Greenville, SC
6,219 posts, read 5,899,014 times
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I moved to Naperville in January, 1988. Back then, locals complained that the "yuppies" were moving in and changing the character of the town. Since then, it's grown from about 50,000 people to about 145,000. I don't go downtown much any more because it's frankly too crowded and the yuppie chain stores have driven out a number of the old businesses there. What symbolizes the "new Naperville" to me is Jefferson just west of downtown, a tree-lined beautiful street, where a lot of wealthy people have bought up the older homes and torn them down to build pretentious McMansions that kind of fit into the flavor of the neighborhood but obviously scream, "you can't afford to live here". People with money want to live in small town America, move there, and immediately start changing it (not trying to start a controversy, this is just my opinion).

There are a lot of different kinds of people here, and I've never felt the kind of snobbery you're talking about. But then, I'm not in that nouveau riche demographic. The kind of neighborhoods where I'd experience that are frankly out of my price range. The kind of neighborhoods I've lived in are nothing like that. There is an anti-Naperville attitude out here in the western suburbs, and that's what you're probably picking up, but in my opinion as a long-time resident of Naperville it's a bunch of bull.

The City-Data pages say the 1983 median house value in Naperville was $372,000, and the median house value in Arlington VA was $598,000. Make of that what you will; it's all relative. For comparison, the 2013 median house value in Rockford IL was $95,000 -- but I for one wouldn't want to live there. t know people who've moved here from small cities in Illinois and were amazed at the relatively high price of homes here in Naperville.
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Old 10-10-2015, 03:58 PM
 
4,152 posts, read 7,874,680 times
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Naperville is no more expensive than the other upper middle class areas that are talked about on this thread.
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Old 10-10-2015, 08:55 PM
 
62 posts, read 90,715 times
Reputation: 120
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vasily View Post
I moved to Naperville in January, 1988. Back then, locals complained that the "yuppies" were moving in and changing the character of the town. Since then, it's grown from about 50,000 people to about 145,000. I don't go downtown much any more because it's frankly too crowded and the yuppie chain stores have driven out a number of the old businesses there. What symbolizes the "new Naperville" to me is Jefferson just west of downtown, a tree-lined beautiful street, where a lot of wealthy people have bought up the older homes and torn them down to build pretentious McMansions that kind of fit into the flavor of the neighborhood but obviously scream, "you can't afford to live here". People with money want to live in small town America, move there, and immediately start changing it (not trying to start a controversy, this is just my opinion).

There are a lot of different kinds of people here, and I've never felt the kind of snobbery you're talking about. But then, I'm not in that nouveau riche demographic. The kind of neighborhoods where I'd experience that are frankly out of my price range. The kind of neighborhoods I've lived in are nothing like that. There is an anti-Naperville attitude out here in the western suburbs, and that's what you're probably picking up, but in my opinion as a long-time resident of Naperville it's a bunch of bull.

The City-Data pages say the 1983 median house value in Naperville was $372,000, and the median house value in Arlington VA was $598,000. Make of that what you will; it's all relative. For comparison, the 2013 median house value in Rockford IL was $95,000 -- but I for one wouldn't want to live there. t know people who've moved here from small cities in Illinois and were amazed at the relatively high price of homes here in Naperville.
This is a good summary of Naperville and most of the 'desirable' suburbs that get talked about on this forum. I was there when it was building up and its reputation as a haven for yuppies and their spoiled children is well earned.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a white working-class neighborhood anymore - not unless you go rural, at least. When it comes to metros like Chicagoland, you either live with insufferable white and asian yuppies in an overpriced upscale suburb like Naperville or you live in some decaying suburban pseudo-ghetto with hordes of brown people who don't share your cultural values.
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Old 10-11-2015, 03:35 PM
 
4,152 posts, read 7,874,680 times
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That's a grim view of the suburbs.
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Old 10-12-2015, 11:31 AM
 
107 posts, read 245,469 times
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I lived in Naperville and was walking distance to the downtown. The only reason I moved was to get closer to family in the North Suburbs. Naperville has great schools, great downtown with alot to do and alot of festivals etc. The anti Naperville, sentiment is mostly jealousy. There is an element of snobbery/keep up with jonses in any nice town depending on who you associate with.
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