Naperville vs Aurora (Chicago, Elgin, Arlington Heights: house, school district, subdivisions)

[theterribleone]

Which suburb is better overall? Things like quality of life, schools, community, ect.

[aga412]

Naperville

[theterribleone]

Anyone else?

[damba]

Originally Posted by theterribleone

Anyone else?

Hands down, it's arguably an entirely different demographic.

[Kmanshouse]

Aurora is almost like two (or even three) cities. The core of Aurora is very old and has some very depressed and poor areas. The population of that part of town is mostly Latino - half of the stores and restaurants have signs in Spanish. Some of it is quite dangerous. East Aurora High School (which is actually right in the core) is one of the most underprivileged high schools in the Chicagoland area, including Chicago. The eastern edges that border Naperville contain subdivisions with huge homes and they attend IPSD 204 schools (very nice). The very west side of Aurora is better than the core, not as good as the eastern edges. That part of town is served by West Aurora High School which is light years better than East Aurora, but noticeably inferior to IPSD 204.

Naperville has no such depressed core. Its downtown is considered a tourist destination with a riverwalk, covered bridge, high end restaurants and shopping. While there are a couple of tiny dotted areas of substandard living, it's almost universally prosperous. One of the wealthiest towns in the midwest.

[aga412]

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

Aurora is almost like two (or even three) cities. The core of Aurora is very old and has some very depressed and poor areas. The population of that part of town is mostly Latino - half of the stores and restaurants have signs in Spanish. Some of it is quite dangerous. East Aurora High School (which is actually right in the core) is one of the most underprivileged high schools in the Chicagoland area, including Chicago. The eastern edges that border Naperville contain subdivisions with huge homes and they attend IPSD 204 schools (very nice). The very west side of Aurora is better than the core, not as good as the eastern edges. That part of town is served by West Aurora High School which is light years better than East Aurora, but noticeably inferior to IPSD 204.

Naperville has no such depressed core. Its downtown is considered a tourist destination with a riverwalk, covered bridge, high end restaurants and shopping. While there are a couple of tiny dotted areas of substandard living, it's almost universally prosperous. One of the wealthiest towns in the midwest.

Aurora's identity I would argue, like they said above, on what school district it falls into. The Batavia part resembles Batavia, the Kaneland part the surrounding Kaneland towns, the 204 part like Naperville, etc.

[flamadiddle]

lol, Naperville.

[theterribleone]

Originally Posted by damba

Hands down, it's arguably an entirely different demographic.

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

lol, Naperville.

That was swift. Maybe I should have compared it to Wheaton, Arlington Heights or Schaumburg

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

Aurora is almost like two (or even three) cities. The core of Aurora is very old and has some very depressed and poor areas. The population of that part of town is mostly Latino - half of the stores and restaurants have signs in Spanish. Some of it is quite dangerous. East Aurora High School (which is actually right in the core) is one of the most underprivileged high schools in the Chicagoland area, including Chicago. The eastern edges that border Naperville contain subdivisions with huge homes and they attend IPSD 204 schools (very nice). The very west side of Aurora is better than the core, not as good as the eastern edges. That part of town is served by West Aurora High School which is light years better than East Aurora, but noticeably inferior to IPSD 204.

Naperville has no such depressed core. Its downtown is considered a tourist destination with a riverwalk, covered bridge, high end restaurants and shopping. While there are a couple of tiny dotted areas of substandard living, it's almost universally prosperous. One of the wealthiest towns in the midwest.

Wow. So why did Aurora suffer and Naperville, Glen Ellyn, etc didn't?

[aga412]

Originally Posted by theterribleone

That was swift. Maybe I should have compared it to Wheaton, Arlington Heights or Schaumburg


Wow. So why did Aurora suffer and Naperville, Glen Ellyn, etc didn't?

I think because Aurora was so centered on manufacturing and because of that had a lot of affordable housing. When the manufacturing left, places like Aurora and Elgin went on the decline, whereas Naperville, a quaint farming community, developed into affluent suburbia without the baggage of industry leaving town and cheap-ish homes. DuPage County tends to have its act together far more than Kane County does too.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by aga412

Aurora's identity I would argue, like they said above, on what school district it falls into. The Batavia part resembles Batavia, the Kaneland part the surrounding Kaneland towns, the 204 part like Naperville, etc.

I might even go so far as to say that folks wily enough to shop for a home literally across the street in Aurora but served by the same schools as portions of Naperville or Batavia end up with more house for the money...