City of Lights -- Aurora; and nearby Naperville
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8/26/2007
I live on the eastern side of Aurora, I've lived here for 7 years. The city has its mix of low income, middle income and upper income people. The city is about 45 minutes west of Chicago when there are no traffic delays. The Fox Valley Park District has some very nice programs. The Aurora Library has 3 branches and a very good selection. Lots of shopping nearby, a major mall on the far east side and an upscale outlet shopping mall on the north side. Also alot of strip malls and big box stores on the eastern border of Aurora, western border of Naperville. If you live in the Naperville school district part of Aurora, on the east side, the schools are fantastic. The Aurora district schools are not as highly rated. Crime is higher in the downtown section of Aurora than in the far east or far western sides of Aurora. Aurora is next to Naperville, named one of the best places to live by Money Magazine. Naperville and Aurora have a great selection of restaurants and Naperville also has a vibrant and safe, walkable downtown, but is experiencing parking problems. The area is getting very crowded however, lots of traffic and gridlock around rush hour. Excellent train service from the area to downtown Chicago with many express trains. Major airport, O'hare is about 40-45 minutes away. Decent hospitals is the surrounding area. Culture programs abound, there is the Paramount Arts Center and a casino in downtown Aurora, a new arts center being built by North Central College in downtown Naperville and a great community college 20 minutes away. Cost of housing on the far east side, single family ranges from about $350-$1mm or more. Property taxes in the area average about 2-2.5% of your home's value -- quite high. Very suburban, with a touch of urban, is how I would describe this area.
Pat | Aurora, IL