Naperville vs Plainfield (Romeoville, Lakewood, Rome: for sale, townhomes, neighborhoods)

[lizlaw875]

We are moving to the area from Texas and trying to stay somewhat close to Romeoville for work. I have researched the schools and everything says that Naperville is far superior to everything in the area - but man oh man the prices!! We are looking in the $400,000 to $450,000 range. Anyone have any suggestions, comments, recommendations? The Plainfield prices are very enticing, but worried about the schools. Thanks!

[bulldawg1594]

the longwood neighborhood in naperville is definetly affordable.

[Steve-o]

450K in Naperville will get you into a nice neighborhood and into the good-rated Naperville schools. Plainfield is less expensive, but just doesnt compare to Naperville. If you want to have all teh action around you, Naperville is what youre looking for.

[almost3am]

Yeah, $400k to $450 should get you a pretty nice house in Naperville, not new, but nice...although probably not comparable to TX, as that place seems to have cheap housing.

[JustJulia]

I would look on the south side of Naperville in zip 60565. It can take a while to get across Naperville, so if you live on the north side of town, your work commute will be that much longer. 60565 is school district 203. 204 is as highly rated, but it's a newer area, and some of the property taxes are much higher. (They're high everywhere, hence the good schools, but 204 is particularly so.) Redfin shows 44 homes for sale in 60565 under $425K. Many of them are townhomes, especially around 87th, but there are still plenty of homes to consider. There are quite a few under $400K that look nice in the pictures.

Redfin

One thing you should know about that area is that the river (you can see both branches of the DuPage River in the Redfin map) sometimes floods where it crosses Weber. We've lived here since last August, and Weber has been closed due to flooding two or three times. That whole green space, the "nature preserve," is a low-lying flood plain. I don't think any houses have been flooded, but when Weber is closed, it will be difficult for you to get home from Romeoville. It's one of the only roads going north into Naperville, as you can see from the map. I hope someday they'll build an elevated road, but until then, it's an occasional inconvenience.

[JustJulia]

Here's a school boundary map for District 203, if you want to see which neighborhoods go with which schools.

http://www.naperville203.org/assets/...rictByJrHi.pdf

[Coddie]

If you are going to work in Romeoville, it might be better to stay in the South side of Naperville. You can get a beautiful home in that price range! Search zip code 60564. Yes, property taxes are high. Be prepared to pay close to $10,000/yr.

[MannheimMadman]

I can vouch for 60564. I'm a Neuqua Valley graduate. We lived in Lakewood across from Neuqua.