More on why Naperville is a success and other towns are not

While I admit to painting with a broad brush, it should be obvious that the masses of people that continue see the expansions of Naperville and DuPage Co in general stand in stark contrast to the shrinking base of people willing to put up with the nonsense of Chicago and the old suburbs of Cook Co,

It should be self evident that a whole lot of people, some of them minorities themselves, steadfastly stand with me in saying just how nice Naperville is and how rare it is for people to find anything other than pleasant welcoming neighbors in most desirable towns. In stark contrast some posters seem to have a whole cadre of aggrieved friends that allegedly have been ostracized in these very same lovely towns and such posters seem intent on chasing down those who see the glass more than half full. The assaults amount to the small old litany of the tropes about what supposedly conservative people cling to...

What evidence is there that Ernie's old neighbors fled anywhere? Seems more likely the insularity that bred narrow sighted souls still cluster together in their little bubble that is neither inside Chicago nor part of the vast landscape that has blossomed beyond the ossified confines that ring it. Perhaps the publicly expressed views that are espoused superficially adhere to a more enlighten set of values but like other limousine liberals the bottom-line from these hypocrites is paternalistic and ultimately demeaning. This generation of intelligentsia do little to cloak their distaste for mainstream Americans. They wrinkle their noses at the thought of watching "reality TV" or "driving an SUV" and coo over the delights of NYTimes and "public transit". Big families are shunned / pitied while spoiled only children are allowed to run amok without boundaries.

I have no problem poking a little fun at those that would put ketchup on a hot dog nor do I much care if the give and take on the boards gets a little personal, but I would question what motivates some to track down every positive utterance about suburbia and attempt to debunk it or counter every cautionary note about more urban places with an onslaught usually only seen from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate...

I suppose the 150,000 people that call Naperville home and the numerous magazines from Money to US News to Fortune and other others that all rate Naperville as among the top towns in the nation are all under some mass hypnosis caused by who knows what? Accept facts -- while its glorious association with Frank Lloyd Wright honestly does leaves Oak Park with a truly enviable collection of architectural heritage the failures of its political leaders to effectively modernize the town are well known and result in a harsh collision of the serene and obscene in strip mall shopping just a stone's throw from core of the magnet for global pilgrims to Wright's home & studio. In the face of growing pressures from the strained State budget Oak Park is likely to be unable to squeeze enough revenue out of its residents to ever offer the kinds of amenities that towns keen on preserving their core charm need in an era of chaotic state budgets. Decades ago Naperville stuck with its "small town" appeal instead relying on hare brained "mall consultants" to kill its central business district. While using modern planning tools to enhance revenue have been part of the Naperville success story, the careful partnering they've managed with both local merchants and firms that build spaces for national retailers like Apple is truly hard to pull off. That the town's leaders have been able to balance not just a retail business base that generates sales tax revenue and broadly diversified commercial real estate thoughtfully laid out in appropriate proximaty to residential developments puts Naperville into the top tier of towns that should be applauded for rationale land use without resorting to overly intrusive social engineering of who should live where...