5 Interesting Facts About Naperville, Illinois

I live in Aurora, Illinois. When I say this to people, the top three questions I get are:

- are you close to the casino?

- are you close to the outlet mall?,

- and my personal favorite, are you on the Naperville side?

What the heck is "the Naperville side?" This is a polite way for people to ask if I live close to the Naperville border (which implies upscale burbs and fancy school systems) or close to the downtown area (which people often mistakenly associate with gangs and general un-safety).

What is so great about Naperville anyways? Aurora has a ton of great stuff to offer to both visitors and residents. But to be fair, I offer you these five facts about Naperville that make this burb one of the most attractive Chicago-land areas around.

In 2006, Naperville ranked as the second of one hundred best places to live according to the Money magazine. Interesting factoids on this ranking can be found here. So I guess this gives Naperville bragging rights.

Naperville is a home to the September 11 memorial inspired by the city's own Dan Shanower, a naval commander who died at the tragic Pentagon attack. Naperville was one of the first cities in the country to create a memorial in the honor of those lost on September 11, 2001. The memorial is located by the river walk in downtown Naperville.

The city is a home to a little event called Ribfest. And by little, I mean HUGE. This festival is one of the largest entertainment venues, featuring close to 20 different "ribbers" and performances by numerous popular bands. It's held every year during the fourth of July weekend. Check it out. Good food. Great fun. I promise.

The Naperville Public Library is ranked as the best public library in the United States. The library received this honor for eight years in a row, from 1999 to 2006. Way to go, readers and librarians of Naperville!

To boost on the library rank, Naperville is well known for its school districts. This city is a home to eight different colleges and universities. Eight! This includes a campus of DePaul University, my personal favorite (as a graduate, I'm biased towards that one), Northern Illinois University, and DeVry University.

Have I convinced you yet that Naperville means business? Even someone like myself who isn't a huge fan of the burbs (planning to move as soon as the real estate market sucks less) has to admit that Naperville is an appealing place to settle down and have some good family fun.

Sources:

Wikipedia, http://www.wikipedia.org/

City of Naperville, http://www.naperville.il.us

Naperville Public Library, http://www.naperville-lib.org/