My hometown: Naperville, Illinois: one heck of a nice place to live! (w/o)
Written: Oct 29 '03 (Updated Oct 29 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great place in the Midwest to live and raise a family
Cons: Weather can get a bit harsh at times.
The Bottom Line: Good all-American town, near the great city of Chicago.
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| gaelkm's Full Review: Naperville, Illinois |
(To: Proxam, for hosting this write-off and to Di (SurgRN911) for adding the category! Thanks to you both!Please visit the other interesting reviews by writers participating in this write-off.))
I want to clarify that Naperville, Illinois was my hometown for only four years of my life, my impressionable high school years, when I was ages 14 through 18. (I was born and lived in the Cleveland, Ohio area, but my Dad's job transferred us when I reached high school age.) I didn't think I wanted to leave Cleveland, but moving to and living in Naperville, Illinois was wonderful!
When we moved there, the population was 26,000 people. When we left, four years later, it had grown to 40,000 and today there are 135,000, the fourth largest city in Illinois. It has really boomed! Naperville is located approximately 25 miles southwest of Chicago. The nearest (larger) cities to it are Aurora and Joliet.
Maybe part of loving life in Naperville was my age, not quite sure, but it made a lasting impression on me as a beautiful city and a true American town. Naperville remains a great place to raise a family. They still have a very low crime rate. When we were there last summer, we took walks along the lush greenery in the evening which were very pleasant and quiet. We felt very safe.
The Chicago area, being known as the "Windy City" is no stranger to extreme weather conditions. We experienced a variety of wildly interesting weather when we lived there. It rained so much one time that my Dad, on his way home from work, had to stop about a half mile from home and abandon his car, because it was up to the headlights in water! Our street was flooded (and so was the basement, I might add!). We also had our share of tornado warnings/watches, which meant time spent down in the basement. Another time, instead of having an Easter egg hunt in the backyard, we opted to have it indoors, because it was snowing in April!
The mosquitoes love Naperville too. As kids, we played outside a lot, as kids will do. We got eaten up by those mosquitoes, but learned fairly quickly that if you wait them out, and come outside later in the evening, after about 8-9 pm, the mosquitoes have moved on.
We lived in a nice ranch-style home on a large oblong-shaped cul-de-sac. I was happy because there were lots of other kids there and they were a wide range of ages. We'd organize baseball, Frisbee and touch football games, depending on what season it was and played many of the games in the grassy area in the center of the cul-de-sac. I also babysat for some of the neighbors who had younger children. I made and still have kept some dear friends from my years in Naperville, now three decades after leaving!
Last year, my family and I took a trip back to the Midwest, including the Chicago area. I wanted to show my sons where I had lived when I was their age. The city still looked great, and although it had grown, but still retained that cozy hometown feeling. The older section of downtown Naperville (including, but not limited to Van Buren Street, Wright Street and Loomis Street) has lots of large trees lining the streets with neat older homes that are well-taken care of. The downtown has numerous cute shops. Some of the older stores that I had remembered are still there while others are now gone.
There was a favorite area of ours to go to in the summer. It was called Centennial Beach. A gang of us used to go swimming there with many other residents of the city on the hottest summer days. Centennial Beach is an old quarry, so it was very deep. The water was really cold and refreshing on those long hot days.
Naperville was also the place where I first tried out the abilities of my green thumb. We had a large backyard and my parents allowed me to dig up one corner to try my hand at growing vegetables. We still laugh about my feeble efforts to this day. (Well, the garden was only 10x10, so it was really small.)
I also learned to drive in Naperville, where I received my first driver's license. The streets were never the same after I got my license! My sister and I attended Catholic high school in the small town of Lisle (pronounced "Lyle") next to Naperville. For some reason I remembered it as being "quite far from Naperville", but realized when I went back to visit that the high school is all of two miles from Naperville.
The Naperville Sun is the local newspaper. The Sun enjoys good circulation and we subscribed to it when we lived there. Our family had a membership of the local Naperville YMCA, and I took Karate lessons there. As kids, we loved going to the Naperville Public Library to check out books. The Naperville Public Library system has grown and now operates several branches in different sections of the city.
"The Riverwalk" was built in old downtown Naperville in 1981, which is after we left. But last year we walked through this park and found it to be a lovely addition to the downtown area of Naperville. It was built to mark the 150th birthday of the City of Naperville. There are brick pathways that border each side of the DuPage River for strolling. Fountains and bridges are also found here and we even indulged ourselves by taking a paddleboat ride. Many of the sitting areas are shaded and there are lots of mature trees throughout the park.
Naperville has a good public school system also. Naperville High School, at one point in the 1970s became too large, and so, the new, much needed Naperville North High School came to be. North Central College is a small liberal arts college, and is located in downtown Naperville. Benedictine University is a larger private University located a couple of miles away in the community of Lisle (near the place of my high school).
The Martin Mitchell Mansion was a place we always liked to go to because it was like walking into another era. It is a beautiful red brick Victorian home that was open to the public, but is currently undergoing restoration. The City of Naperville received the Martin Mitchell Mansion in 1936 along with 100 surrounding acres of land, much of which is a beautifully manicured lawn. The last descendant of the Mitchell family, Caroline Martin Mitchell, bequeathed the home to the city of Naperville. The Mitchells were one of Naperville's founding families.
Conclusion
Although I haven't lived in Naperville for many years, I still think of it as my hometown and have fond memories of this friendly city.
©gkm
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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