rwylie77

I was hoping people could help in anyway they can! We're looking at moving to Chicago later this year (IR1 in my passport).

We have two young children, and everybody has advised me that Naperville is an excellent place to live, especially with a young family - great schools etc.

I will be working from home a lot, or flying out of the airports. Also heading south to St Louis to visit my wife's family.

Any thoughts and experiences people have of Naperville would be great, or suggestions for alternatives. Also what is Aurora like?

Johnny Blood

Chicago is a great place!

Naperville and Aurora are not in Chicago. They are cities outside Chicago. They are in "Chicagoland", though.

I live in Chicago but can't help you much with the suburbs. In addition to here, you can try this forum:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/chicago/
http://www.city-data.com/forum/chicago-suburbs/

Circus-of-Power

Naperville is very nice ...its also very expensive ....on the upside the immigration office is in Naperville so you could walk there
Oak Park, Evanston and Orland Park all rate highly amongst those who live in Chicagoland... Bolingbrook is next to Naperville and alot cheaper ..

The nice thing about Naperville is that if you hit route 59 south to Shorewood and then west on route 52 ...you'll get to see the real Illinois...Chicago is Chicago and very nice too but it has nothing in common with the rest of the Illinois ...

Hiro11

It seems like everyone coming to Chicago hears from someone that Naperville is the place to live. Literally every new arrival I've met has said that they first looked in Naperville because they heard about it from friends/read a magazine article/heard it was voted "the best place to live in the US". It's a cliche.

The short answer is Naperville can be great, but so are lots of other towns. I prefer many of these other towns. Naperville is a slightly remote town in the far western suburbs about forty miles outside of the city. It's a giant town both geographically and population wise (the population is currently over 250K). Naperville has great schools, a nice downtown, great parks and public facilities and good shopping. It isn't particularly cheap (average house price was about $450K last year, no idea what it is now, average family income is probably about $100K). Nothing good in Chicago is cheap (of course). Naperville is filled with giant new developments of huge houses which can make it feel a little soulless in parts, but if you can afford it and you're looking for recent construction you'll find something you like. Naperville is too huge to generalize about the people that live there, but it has a little bit of a Stepford/keep-up-with-the-Joneses vibe to me.

Tell me more about your budget and needs and I'll tell you what towns I think are nice.

Jerseygirl

We looked at Naperville 15 years ago...I hated it. Like you said giant new developments as far as the eye can see...they all seemed to be centred around the local club and church...very Stepfordish.

Hiro11

It's definitely a major transition for me to drive about 35 miles west of my house (in Wheaton). Living in the Chicago burbs, you can easily forget you're in the Midwest (at least from the landscape). Drive out to, say, Waterman IL and it's clear that I live in the flatlands. Treeless cornfields to the horizon in all directions with only grain silos to break it up. Some people find it mind-numbing, but I think the plains are beautiful.

rwylie77

Thanks for your help, this is really useful. We're looking to spend about $500k on a 4 bed house, 2,500-3,000 sq feet...

The biggest priority is schools, and being in a good, safe envirnment to raise our young children. I'll be travelling a lot, so proximity to the airport and roads more important than downtown Chicago...we currently live in Reading, Berkshire and like being close to London (30 minutes by train) but away from the city...

Finally we'll be heading south to St Louis at least one weekend per month, so getting south on I-55 quickly on a Friday evening will be important. Thanks again for your help!

Poppy girl

I agree Jersey my ex sister inlaw lives there and its toy town she has a million dollar house that is on a street where all the house's look pretty much the same and the neighbors can see in your windows and back yard

"Voted best place to live in the US" thats a first on me, who voted on this the folk living in the swamp!
Its the best part outside of Chicago but still bloody awful unless you wanna be a clone!

Jerseygirl

Every realtor we saw tried their hardest to persuade us to go to church. It was Easter weekend...but that was the final straw for me.

Circus-of-Power

They are ...in winter they are dark and bleak ...but from May to September they are just wonderful...I love the solitude ...the wide open country lanes ...Mom and Pop roadside eateries ...its so far away from Wigan its mindblowing.....then I think of Peters Chinese Chip Shop on Poolstock Lane and I want to go back .....

rwylie77

OK, so I get the picture on Naperville...but where are the good suburbs with the good schools?

MrEmjoy

I live just inside the city limits in the north west of Chicago in between the I-90 and I-94 split. A mile north and I'm out of the city and the Petrol is cheaper, it feels not too close and not too far away from the city. If I were to recommended anywhere on the map it would be in the Northwest Suburbs or North Suburbs

Hiro11

Anywhere in the suburbs is safe. In Chicago, most suburban school districts are very good, you're splitting hairs with most towns in the same price range. In the western suburbs, I'd say check out Western Springs, Elmhurst, Wheaton and Glen Ellyn. Up North, Libertyville and Mundeleine. If you want a little more urban, give Oak Park, Evanston and Skokie a look.

Hiro11

I (sort of) agree with you, but this happens all the time, here's an example:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...PL1751622.html

I have no idea how these rankings are compiled...

Naperville isn't that bad. If you live right downtown in one of the older districts, it's very, very nice. Of course it costs $1MM...

Poppy girl

Well if it makes you feel any better, Modesto where I am was rated one of the worst places to live 2 years ago, no idea how they got that idea either OK it has its bad side like any town, but its a nice little city very nice compared to most I have been to in the US, of course its not a ritzy place like the bay area but still not that bad at all.