So what's the story with Winfield? (Virginia, Raleigh: for sale, purchasing, school)

[ToriaT]

Naperville and Winfield and definitely not the same. Naperville is a huge town, very sprawling and spread out. It is very nice.

Winfield still feels like a small town in Illinois not much in it, but its convenient to everything really.

[NoVA2016]

Thanks for that input. It honestly sounds a lot like were we are now in Ashburn, VA. People keep moving west from DC and this area has exploded. It is VERY planned, which sounds like Naperville. Yes, you have some snobbish people too, unfortunately. My kids go to school with children who are second generation from India, Japan, Turkey and Palestine, for example. They've learned so much about different religions and cultures. Very common to see men in turbans and women in their beautiful saris. I do like that aspect.

[4122]

Winfield and Warrenville are basically the same in my opinion. There are parts of Naperville that feel like a small town, especially in 204. Naperville is so big that not every part is snobby. 204 is generally less snobby than 203, but south Naperville in 204 is snobby (in Neuqua Valley HS district). 204 is known as the best in the Chicago area fir special education services, but 200 is also known for being excellent in that department. 204 is so big, that it's known better, so that doesn't mean it's any better than 200. As I said, both are excellent for special education.

[ToriaT]

Well they are really not the same. Every place is a place. Winfield is not all in the Wheaton school district while I believe Warrenville is.

[NoVA2016]

Yes, as I understand it, I have to be very careful in Winfield to ensure we are in 200 district and parts of it feeds into West Chicago school district, whatever that is.

[frostopsy]

Winfield is nice. If you are coming from ashburn, Naperville would be on par with ashburn. Winfield would be more like Herndon or Chantilly. Minus the random CIA buildings.

[NoVA2016]

Ah - you are familiar with our area. This helps me to visualize. Thank you! I do love Ashburn, just have to wade through the snobby people and we found some great, down to earth folks here who will be lifelong friends. Herndon and Chantilly aren't my favorite areas, to be completely honest. I find Chantilly to be a crowded mess. lol about the random CIA buildings. Thanks Frostopsy

[Kmanshouse]

Hey there - we have friends in Winfield, they like it. VERY different IMHO from Naperville. It is more rural feeling and there are fewer people. Neighbors will be more sparse. Central DuPage Hospital dominates. The "downtown" is like 5 little stores, there is very little there at all.

Naperville is huge. Some consider subdivisions their little towns, complete with pool, clubhouse, culture, etc. When a fellow Napervillian realizes you live in town, they'll ask what part. Most answer with a subdivision name. There is more of an identity to living in Naperville. The downtown is spectacular.

So it depends on how low key you want to be. If you are looking for quiet, pleasant and unassuming, maybe Winfield is better. If you want to be a part of a big, organized community with 140,000 residents, Naperville is better.

If you are commuting to Chicago, Naperville's train schedule is more favorable. Winfield's station does not have a lot of trains - you'd go to Wheaton, which is also a nice town.

[ToriaT]

Winfield is close to everything. You can get to Wheaton in five minutes and Naperville is basically a ten minute drive.

[NoVA2016]

This is all great info and insight. I have been told by those who used to live in the Chicago area that where we are living now is VERY similar to Naperville. We also identify by the subdivision because the area just sprung up out of the country over the last 15 years as people expanded more westward. i have been very happy here, but we have been blessed with wonderful neighbors. My husband grew up in the country in a small town outside St Louis. I can tell you right now, that aspect of Winfield would appeal to him. He will have a work car and has to drive, train isn't an option. He is already commuting into DC, so this is something he has gotten used to. However people drive horribly here. Not aggressive like Chicago. Like airheads who have never been behind the wheel before. They stop on the highway with a small drop of rain. If it's snow, forget it, they close down. It's unbelievable. They seem to not understand this new fangled thing called precipitation. You can only imagine the chaos that happened with the blizzard this year. We were snowed in for 5 days. We live in a gated community with an HOA paying a contractor and we were still stuck for 5 days. It was insanity. Anyway a little off topic but I can say he will be happy to be around the "aggressive" ones again. Lol.