African Americans in Naperville (Chicago, Aurora: rentals, credit, homes)

[jashiru]

I'm moving from a PA suburb of Philadelphia to Chicago. My home budget is $500K. I have 2 school age boys. One going to high school in 2 yrs. They are very active in sports and do well in school. I think Naperville might be a good area due to schools, homes and activities but a little worried about diversity. Can anyone suggest neighborhoods in Naperville where more African American live or other towns that might be better options for my family. We don't have any friends or family in this area so really looking for a welcoming area with lots to do. Thanks

[chet everett]

The overall diversity of Naperville is rather different than that of the school aged population. I would recommend focusing on the official data from the Illinois interactive report cards if you wish to find the school(s) with the great numbers / percentages of students of your race -- there are many schools in D203 & D204 where your kids would not be unusual -- https://iirc.niu.edu/classic/SearchResult.aspx?SearchText=$naper$&type=CITY

Naperville North has almost 6% AA students -- https://iirc.niu.edu/Classic/School.aspx?source=About_Students&source2=Race_Eth nicity&schoolID=190222030260013&level=S the demographic profile of the portions of Naperville that feed into North are mostly very attractive and there are many homes in / above your budget.
Overall D204 has about 9% AA students -- https://iirc.niu.edu/Classic/Distric...204026&level=D I might caution that there are some pockets of more affordable rentals and such that are far below your budget and it probably makes sense to focus more on the areas that are closer to your target price both to lock-in the value of your home and avoid the sorts of problems that go along with families trying to escape violence prone areas of Chicago.

[doodlemagic]

I don't think your going to find a particular neighborhood with African Americans. While Naperville is majority white it seems to be very open and welcomming, not racist, people imho tend to lean liberal and are totally cool with all races.

Part of Bolingbrook near Naper Plainfield Road and Kings road just off of say Boughton tends to be a little bit more diverse but still goes to Naperville Schools, particularly Neuqua Valley. There is more of an asian, black, hispanic population over there.

[jashiru]

Thank you very good resources and feedback

[Kmanshouse]

Fair amount of AAs at Metea Valley, it seems. Don't have the data though. Also not sure why that is.

While there aren't a lot of black families around Naperville, there are tons of Indian families and a fair amount of Asians. That's where most of the diversity comes from. And really, most get along just fine.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

Fair amount of AAs at Metea Valley, it seems. Don't have the data though. Also not sure why that is.

While there aren't a lot of black families around Naperville, there are tons of Indian families and a fair amount of Asians. That's where most of the diversity comes from. And really, most get along just fine.

I have had a few friends that have taught in D203 or D204 over the years. The overall "integration" at most of the schools, especially when it comes to sports and most classes, is exemplary. That said there have been some situations that get folks worked up -- one such incident was in the news about a year and half ago: Two Naperville Central students disciplined after fight over racial text.

The other thing that is sometimes a concern is there tends be some imbalance in the classes serving students who are either unprepared for high school or needing special education services, that mostly occurs when student move into town from areas without as good a system for helping students succeed. Similarly the sorts of classes that tend to be most challenging, like AP, tend to have a mix of kids skewed toward families with the 'achievement profile' -- over representation of kids of first generation immigrants, under representation of kids whose parents are not as affluent, of course that is not at all unique to Naperville!

[Kmanshouse]

We are in D204. We've found the district is excellent for the lowest end and the highest end students. For the middle 75%, it's pretty much like any suburban district in terms of services/teaching.

The special services are absolutely outstanding. As are the music programs.

My kids never had race issues come up much at all, at least in HS (they are half white, half Asian). And they never reported they even saw any problems. Certain cultures tend to stick together a lot, which is natural, but everyone generally accepts all races in this area at those ages. More race tolerance than opposing political views tolerance, which seems to be a bigger issue these days.

[prairiestate]

This was 15 to 20 years ago, and to his credit, the current police chief of Naperville met with this man to talk about his experiences and apologize. It's always amusing, though, when white people say, "Of course there's no racism. If you're a good person, we get along with everyone!" The reality is, even if you think you are getting along, you might not be. Like the teacher who thought she was being helpful by telling him he could do his school report in rap. Because, you know, all black people listen to rap music and have an instinctive ability to rap. Or not. Which left him anxious and embarrassed.

What it's like to be black in Naperville, America - Naperville Sun

With that said, while the African American population is quite small, there's significant diversity these days. The white, non-Hispanic population is down to 68% from 83% in 2000 and you will see black people whenever you're out in Naperville.

https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/...w.xhtml?src=CF

[knitgirl]

Thanks for posting that.

[majka]

good neighbors are always welcome, I am not located in Naperville but in Aurora in SD 204. which I like it, and the school my kids attend is very supportive. I just don't understand that racism kind of thing, sometimes people really overuse this word, everytime, I am on playground waiting for my kids out from school I can hear some black kids trying to provoke some kind of racial talk, I am fortunate, I guess, to hear that stupid kids talk, so at least I can get the point of their logic ,once even my kids were involved into that stupid conversation. I was not raced in the USA but got and still have opportunity to met many nice black people, especially my son's math teacher, she is just awesome. If you remember that tourist appeared once on Oscar ceremony, once their interviewed him and he said an old probably sentence that locked in my head- "*******s come in all colors" So, who cares, If I could afford to live in nice, quiet and safe neighborhood (which I do actually), I would just do it, common people get over it with that color things, it's 21 century! Quality of people is more important. ok, just wanted to say it, lol