Affluent Naperville Subdivisions (Chicago: living, shop, metra)

[Faye1361]

Yes, I am the engineer from LA.
We finally went to Naperville, liked the city, husband got the job offer, saw some houses and now we are trying to make a decision.
The houses I like are the ones we can't afford
Any insight on Ashbury?

[Ping322]

I'm 31 and I grew up in Naperville (Naper Carriage Hill, on the southeast side).

Ashbury is great. Newer homes, pretty and well-manicured. Located within a 5-minute drive to the movies/restaurants/shops at Naperville Crossings. Within a 15-minute drive to downtown Naperville.

It has an excellent neighborhood pool with a large water slide.

15-30 minute drive to the Rt 59 train station, depending on traffic.

Main downside is lack of walkability to get anywhere.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Ping322

I'm 31 and I grew up in Naperville (Naper Carriage Hill, on the southeast side).

Ashbury is great. Newer homes, pretty and well-manicured. Located within a 5-minute drive to the movies/restaurants/shops at Naperville Crossings. Within a 15-minute drive to downtown Naperville.

It has an excellent neighborhood pool with a large water slide.

15-30 minute drive to the Rt 59 train station, depending on traffic.

Main downside is lack of walkability to get anywhere.

The thing that some folks accept / maybe even embrace is that there are always trade-offs. As Ping322 points out there is quite a bit of variability in how long it will take to drive the to Rt 59 Metra station, for folks who need to be at the office at a set time that can be a deal killer.

Similarly, though there is no shortage of stores and such to drive to, the sorts of things that are walkably close are severely limited; for some folks this is not a negative at all because frankly MOST suburbs in most parts of the country are like this. Transferees sometime act like "what kind of crazy person would want to walk to the grocery" because they are so used to loading up the SUV at Sam's Club. OTOH for folks who have lived in a walkable area and they find out that there are spot near the core of Naperville (or other towns alog the various desirable Metra lines...) where you can live without a car they jump for joy...

My experience, when I was more actively selling real estate to folks involved in relocations, was that only a tiny number of transferees wanted to pay the premium for homes near the core of Naperville but many more transferees were very happy with the range of offerings in subdivisions further out. Even among transferees who were told by co-workers that smaller more uniformly costly suburbs were preferred they often ended up finding the trade-offs of Naperville's further flunk areas quite acceptable. The thing too was that I could often ascertain what potential trade-offs clients would accept and how best to present the alternatives. The sequence would often start by showing a visiting couple some lovely but quite expensive homes in Hinsdale. The small lots and things like some older homes having a detached garage might prompt the client to ask "what about Glen Ellyn or LaGrange" where the initial cost might be a less. After finding that the objection was less about just the cost we might end up looking at different developments in Wheaton, St. Charles, or Lisle. Those towns are not as large nor as widely known as Naperville and folks concerned that their transfer might only be a layout on their corporate journey often gravitated toward the "brand name" aspect of Naperville...

[doodlemagic]

Your budget is pretty typical for most newer homes in Naperville. It seems a lot of people have a preference for District 203 as opposed to 204 however to me personally pretty much all Naperville schools are great and while 203 seems to be many peoples preference 204 is not only has fantastic schools but because Neuqua for example is newer they have better sports facilities, a very nice pool if your kid is into swimming, more computers, better fitness centers etc so all have pros and cons.

Most people seem to prefer not to be in South Naperville if for no other reason than it can take 40 minutes to get to I88 during bad weather and even just getting across town can take a while. Sounds like you want to be by Rt 59 train station, honestly no part of Naperville is really "close" White Eagle is "affluent" home prices have come down there meaning 500K or there abouts can probably get you in that neighborhood and that's probably as close to 59 train station as your going to get and still be in a newer area of Naperville. There is an area over by 248th and Hafenrichter where they have a shuttle bus and a parking lot so you can park there and take the train over. Otherwise I know waiting list at Naperville last I checked was about 7 years and I've heard 59 is starting to get bad as well.

A strong community feel is going to be really hit or miss even basd on which part of a neighborhood. Some neighborhoods have a summer block party, people know each other etc while other neighborhoods people just come home pull into their driveway and dont go back out til the next morning and you may not know your neighbors.

[Kmanshouse]

The #1 area I thought of for what you want is Oakhurst or Oakhurst North. These are in Aurora, BARELY over the border, and exactly paint the picture you are describing. Very convenient to Rt 59, varying homes, some definitely in your price range and others lower. Has a huge Facebook page. Neighborhood is like a town, in fact, they almost annexed into their own municipality years ago.

Some people stupidly thumb their noses at the Aurora address, but this is a very fine spot, where if you stayed in the upper echelon spots of the neighborhood, would be exactly what you want. There are something like 5,000 people in this neighborhood, I've been in many of the homes. Some enclaves within OH/OHN are upscale and would likely pull similar people to your target audience.. Other areas are just average or fine, but nothing "bad".

To get that with a Naperville address, you are further from the train, paying more, or in an otherwise less convenient spot.

[doodlemagic]

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

The #1 area I thought of for what you want is Oakhurst or Oakhurst North. These are in Aurora, BARELY over the border, and exactly paint the picture you are describing. Very convenient to Rt 59, varying homes, some definitely in your price range and others lower. Has a huge Facebook page. Neighborhood is like a town, in fact, they almost annexed into their own municipality years ago.

Some people stupidly thumb their noses at the Aurora address, but this is a very fine spot, where if you stayed in the upper echelon spots of the neighborhood, would be exactly what you want. There are something like 5,000 people in this neighborhood, I've been in many of the homes. Some enclaves within OH/OHN are upscale and would likely pull similar people to your target audience.. Other areas are just average or fine, but nothing "bad".

To get that with a Naperville address, you are further from the train, paying more, or in an otherwise less convenient spot.

So true, there was that big fight where the White Eagle people were throwing a hissy fit because god forbid they have an Aurora address. Oakhurst and also I think Stonebridge is the AUrora golf course neighborhood, hope I got the name right are great areas. I think an Aurora address is something silly to be concerned about, some people may prefer their kids go to Neuqua as opposed to Waubonsie and/or Metea but again those are good schools as well. That would also be closer to the train

[Chicagoisthebest]

Naperville is trashy I would never live there and I have been there

[MSchemist80]

What's with the Naperville bashing lately? I'm no fan of this area but Naperville is a pretty good upper/middle class town. 1/2 my coworkers live there and if it wasn't 20 miles from work I might have considered it. I bike through the town frequently.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

What's with the Naperville bashing lately? I'm no fan of this area but Naperville is a pretty good upper/middle class town. 1/2 my coworkers live there and if it wasn't 20 miles from work I might have considered it. I bike through the town frequently.

It appears to all be coming from one person who posts against Naperville in a lot of threads.

The id is Chicagoisthebest

[Master Jay]

I noticed that too.

Anyone out there with the name:

napervilleisthebest

???