The Best Place to Live in Midwestern USA: Naperville, Illinois (Original Pics - Updated on 10/21/2009)

A TOP COMMUNITY IN THE ENTIRE USA TO LIVE IN

Naperville, Illinois is a large city with some-150,000 residents and growing rapidly. It is located 28 miles straight west of Chicago. It has many outstanding features including excellent schools and libraries, many businesses of national and local stature, as well as an excellent transportation system, shopping, parks and the Riverwalk Park including the Riverwalk (a 4-mile scenic walkway along the Du Page River) and the Moser Tower and Millennium Carillon which attracts visitors from the surrounding areas and beyond.

The historic section of Naperville is on the eastern end of the city where North Central College, a four-year United Methodist liberal arts educational facility, has been in operation since Naperville was a farming community in 1870. The nearby downtown area is a mix of the historic past and bustling present with some of the historic buildings still standing and in use alongside new structures. The downtown area has small-town shops still in business from its days-gone-by along with chain bookstores and restaurants that keep up with the times. The city stretches far to the west to embrace Westfield Mall (formerly named Fox Valley Mall) at Illinois Route 59 and to the south where many strip malls line both sides of the highway down to the city’s southern city limits. Southwest of the historic and downtown areas are multitudes of new home developments attributing to the burst in population in the western suburb of Chicago since the 1990s. In addition to Route 59, historic Route 34 which is also known as Ogden Avenue runs through the north side of Naperville just south of the Reagan Expressway Tollway 88. Route 34 was the initial business district before Route 59 and the city built up through the years.

Naperville has grown to become the fifth largest city in Illinois, following Chicago, Aurora (immediately to the west), Rockford, and (nearby south) Joliet. Approximately two-thirds of Naperville is in Du Page County and the south third is in Will County. 80% of its residents are white and the medium household income is over $100,000. In addition, Naperville has exceptionally low crime statistics for a city of such magnitude.

Several well-respected magazines have listed Naperville as the first, second, or third best place to live, raise a family, and be employed in the United States - and it is the only 'best location' listed from the Midwest.