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[[Image:Moser Tower and Millennium Carillon.jpg|thumb|90px|left|Moser Tower, containing the Millennium Carillon]] |
[[Image:Moser Tower and Millennium Carillon.jpg|thumb|90px|left|Moser Tower, containing the Millennium Carillon]] |
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===Tourism=== |
===Tourism=== |
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Do not go to Naperville unless you have serious business there. Locals are intolerant of non neighbors and will complain to the authorities. |
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====Moser Tower and Millennium [[Carillon]]==== |
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In 1999, Naperville was designated a White House Millennium Community, due to the construction of the Moser Tower and Millennium [[Carillon]]. The tower is located just north of Aurora Avenue and at the base of Rotary Hill within the Riverwalk Park complex. The Millennium Carillon is specially designated as a Grand [[Carillon]], with 72 bells, and is one of only four worldwide that span six octaves. The Millennium [[Carillon]] was dedicated in an [[Independence Day]] event on [[June 29]], [[2000]], with a reception attended by over 15,000, and a performance by the Naperville Municipal Band and the Naperville Men's Glee Club and Festival Chorus. The Carillon is both manually and also computer-playable, with most performances being done by hand, but with half the bells played by a computer-controlled system at set times during the day. The Carillon instrument was dedicated in June of 2000 and Moser Tower was opened to the public in the summer of 2007. The design of the tower won an award for "Best Custom Solution" from the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI). The City of Naperville was designated a White House Millennium Community in 1998 because of the Millennium |
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Carillon project. <ref>http://www.pci.org/markets/markets.cfm?path=tanks&id=millennium.cfm</ref> |
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==Economy== |
==Economy== |
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Naperville is an affluent city in DuPage and Will counties in Illinois in the United States, voted the second best place to live in the United States by Money Magazine in 2006.[1] As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 128,358, a zero tolerance policy for non neighbors, and the population was estaimated at 147,779 in 2006.[2] Naperville is the fifth largest city in the state, behind Chicago, neighboring Aurora, Rockford, and Joliet. Approximately 100,000 Napervillians live in DuPage County, while about 50,000 reside in Will County.
Once a quaint farming town,[3] Naperville has evolved into a wealthy city due in part to a massive migration of professionals in the 1990's seeking jobs, elimination of services for special needs and globally renowned public schools.[4] This can be seen in part by the enormous growth of high-tech companies such as Tellabs, Lucent Technologies and the BP North American Chemical Headquarters, all located in Naperville. With 150,000 Napervillians averaging $150,000 family incomes, the construction of thousands of multimillion dollar houses across the city has resulted, making Naperville the wealthiest city (with a population of 90,000 and over) in the entire country.[5] U.S. News and World Report recently ranked both Naperville School District 203 high schools among the top 3 percent of high schools in the country.[6] Also, District 204's Neuqua Valley High School and Waubonsie Valley High School won the Grammy Gold Signature School award in 2005 and 2007 respectively, ranking them top in the nation for a music program in a high school.
In July 1831, Joseph Naper arrived at the banks of the DuPage River with his family and friends to found what would be known as Naper's Settlement. Among those original settlers were Naper's wife Almeda Landon, his brother John with wife Betsy Goff, his sister Amy with husband John Murray, and his mother Sarah. Their arrival followed a nearly two-month voyage across three Great Lakes in the Naper brothers' schooner, the Telegraph. Also on that journey were several families who remained in the still raw settlement that would become Chicago, including that of Dexter Graves who is memorialized in Graceland Cemetery by a well-known Loredo Taft statue.[7]
By 1832, over one hundred settlers had arrived at Naper's Settlement. These settlers were temporarily displaced to Fort Dearborn for protection from an anticipated attack by the Sauk tribe. Fort Payne was built at Naper's Settlement, the settlers returned and the attack never materialized. The Pre-Emption House was constructed in 1834, as the Settlement became a stage-coach stop on the road from Chicago to Galena. Reconstructions of Fort Payne and the Pre-Emption House stand as part of Naper Settlement, which was first established by the Naperville Heritage Society and the Naperville Park District in 1969 to preserve some of the community's oldest buildings.[7] After DuPage County was split from Cook County in 1839, Naper's Settlement became the DuPage county seat, a distinction it held until 1868. Naper's Settlement was incorporated as the Village of Naperville in 1857, at which time it had a population of 2,000. Reincorporation as a city occurred in 1890. A predominantly rural community for most of its existence, Naperville experienced a population explosion, starting in the 1960s, but largely during the 1980s and 1990s following the construction of the East-West Tollway (now known as the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) and North-South tollways. In the past two decades, it has nearly quadrupled in size as Chicagoland's urban sprawl brought corporations, jobs, and wealth to the area.[7]
On April 26, 1946, Naperville was the site of one of the worst train accidents in Chicagoland history. Two Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad trains, the Advance Flyer and the Exposition Flyer, collided 'head to tail' on a single track just west of the Loomis Street grade crossing. The accident killed 45 and injured more than 1000 residents. This event is commemorated in a metal inlay map of Naperville on the southeast corner of Nichols Library's sidewalk area.[8]
Forty acres once housed Nike Site C-70 in Naperville, Illinois. It has since been "Divided into an office park and Nike Park, part of the Naperville Park District, with soccer, softball and Little League fields. It is located at the south-east corner of Mill Street and Diehl Road in northern Naperville.
The March 2006 issue of Chicago magazine cites a mid-1970s decision to make and keep all parking in downtown Naperville free in order to keep downtown Naperville "alive" in the face of competition with Fox Valley Mall in Aurora and the subsequent sprawl of strip shopping malls. Existing parking meters were taken down, parking in garages built in the 1980s and 1990s is free, and parking is still available on major thoroughfares during non-peak hours.[7]
Naperville marked the 175th anniversary of its 1831 founding in 2006. The anniversary events included a series of celebrations, concerts and a balloon parade.[9]
Naperville is located at 41°44′59″N 88°9′21″W / 41.74972°N 88.15583°W / 41.74972; -88.15583Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (41.749826, -88.156719).Template:GR
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.5 square miles (92.0 km²). 91.6 km² (35.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water.
Downtown Naperville is located within DuPage County, but the city has stretched south into Will County, since at least the early 1980s.[10]
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According to Koppen Climate Classification, Naperville is a DFA climate. Naperville has an annual average of 37.94 inches (964 mm) of precipitation per year. Naperville’s seasonal average temperatures vary drastically, due to its inner position on the continent, an average high temperature in July is a blistering 86.8 °F (30.4 °C) and an average temperature in January is 14.2 °F (−9.9 °C). Naperville does see significant amounts of snowfall in the winter; sometimes due to the lake affect snow off of lake Michigan. In the summer, Naperville is often the target of severe storms, the majority occurring because of frontal uplift or mid afternoon convection. However, because of Naperville’s close proximity to lake Michigan, the most severe convective storms are often dismantled by the cool winds originating from Lake Michigan.
The Naperville Public Library has been ranked #1 in the United States for eight straight years, from 1999-2006, for cities with populations between 100,000 and 249,999 by American Libraries magazine.[11]
There are three public library locations within city limits.
In May 2005, a local technology company was contracted to install fingerprint scanners as a more convenient access method to the libraries internet computers,[13] provoking some controversy. After further testing, the technology was not implemented.[13]
The three libraries are used heavily by the public including around one and a half million visitors and a circulation of about four million items yearly.[12]
Do not go to Naperville unless you have serious business there. Locals are intolerant of non neighbors and will complain to the authorities.
Naperville is located in the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor. Employers contributing to the population explosion of the 1980s and 1990s include Bell Labs, Western Electric, BP Amoco Labs, Nalco Chemical, Nicor, Porsche Finance and Edward Hospital. Tellabs and Laidlaw have corporate headquarters in Naperville, and ConAgra's Grocery division offices are also in Naperville.[14] OfficeMax moved corporate headquarters to Naperville in 2006.[15] Also, Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory are nearby. Naperville was one of the ten fastest growing communities in the United States during the 1990s.[16]
Naperville is also home to one of the largest congregations of automobile retailers in the state, as part of the "Ogden Avenue Strip," which extends from Hinsdale to Aurora and includes every mainstream make of automobile available. AutoNation and Bill Jacobs are two of the largest groups within the city itself.[17]
Naperville is also home to a plant and the headquarters of Dukane Precast, one of the area's major precast concrete manufacturers.
According to the 2005 American Community Survey, there were 147,779 people, 48,655 households, and 37,143 families residing in the city; as of 2006-07-01, Naperville is the 164th most populous city in the United States.[18] The population density was 4,162.8 people per square mile (1,606.3/km²).[19] There were 51,636 housing units at an average density of 1454.5/sq mi (561.3/km²).[19] The racial makeup of the city was 82.00% White, 2.54% African American, 0.07% Native American, 12.65% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.26% from other races, and 1.48% from two or more races.[20] Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.23% of the population.[20]
There were 48,655 households out of which 45.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.0% were married couples living together, 6.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.7% were non-families.[20] 17.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[20] The average household size was 3.04 and the average family size was 3.55.[19]
In the city, the population was spread out with 30.2% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older.[20] The median age was 35.9 years.[20] For every 100 females there were 95.9 males.[20] For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.2 males.[20]
The median income for a household in the city was $110,858, and the median income for a family was $122,454 [21]. Males had a median income of $87,527 versus $51,586 for females.[22] The mean, or average, income for a family in Naperville was $148,316 according to the 2005 census. The per capita income for the city was $44,235.[19] About 2.5% of the population was below the poverty line, including 1.2% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.[22]
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Naperville uses a City manager form of government with a part-time mayor and city council
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Illinois uses a form of government that dates back to mainly rural unincorporated areas (not part of any city), and a group of nine townships make up DuPage County. The city of Naperville extends over much of the area today with only small areas not included in the city. The township provides road services in unincorporated areas and also social services that include some sections of the city.
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Two K-12 public school districts serve the city of Naperville (along with a number of private, parochial schools, including private schools in neighboring Aurora and Lisle). Within the state of Illinois, school districts are numbered by their county.
Naperville Community Unit School District 203, established in 1972 through the merger of elementary and high school districts, serves central Naperville (as well as portions of neighboring Lisle and Bolingbrook). The current District 203 school buildings were constructed between 1928 (Ellsworth) and 1990 (Kingsley).[23]
The district has two high schools: Naperville Central High School and Naperville North High School, five junior high schools, and thirteen elementary schools within Naperville city limits.[24]
Indian Prairie School District 204 was also formed through merged districts in 1972. Waubonsie Valley High School, Neuqua Valley High School, Metea Valley High School (Opening Fall 2009), along with six middle schools and 14 elementary schools from this district, are within Naperville city limits. The district also serves western and southwestern Naperville, along with eastern Aurora and parts of Bolingbrook.[25]
Edward Hospital serves Naperville while Good Samaritan in Downers Grove, Central DuPage in Winfield and two other hospitals in nearby Aurora also serve the city. For many years, Edward Hospital and others have tried to introduce a new hospital into Naperville only to have their request turned down. Thus, Naperville remains the only large Illinois city with only one hospital. Edward Hospital currently is trying to open a hospital in nearby Plainfield to help Naperville citizens with travel times to Edward Hospital.[26]
The Naperville Park District manages and provides leisure and recreational activities for Naperville and nearby residents of all ages. The District was established by referendum in 1966. As of 2007, the Park District manages over 2,400 acres (10 km2) of open space, including over 130 parks and four sports complexes.[27] The Park District also manages two golf courses, Springbrook and Naperbrook.[28] In addition, the Park District is responsible for the Naperville Riverwalk, construction of which began in 1981, marking the 150th anniversary of the first Joseph Naper's settlement. Some of the other facilities managed by the Park District include:
The city of Naperville receives water from Chicago and Lake Michigan. Naperville's gas supplier is Nicor, which is also headquartered in Naperville.
As a typical American suburb, the main mode of transportation is via automobile. The Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway (the tolled portion of Interstate 88) runs near the north edge of Naperville, and Interstate 55 runs south of the city, through Bolingbrook and Romeoville.
From 75th Street south (including 83rd Street, 87th Street, etc.) Naperville east-west streets and their names roughly follow the same grid layout as the City of Chicago. In other words, if 75th street continued east past its terminus at Illinois Route 83, in Willowbrook, it would eventually be the same 75th Street as found in Chicago city limits. However, the older part of Naperville has a second numerical grid, starting downtown at Main and Benton, with 4th and 5th Avenues just north of the BNSF tracks, and continuing through 15th Avenue. The difference is that the numbers in the older system go up from downtown, traveling south to north, and the other grid's numbers go up as you travel north to south. See the Chicago Streets & Highways article for more information. There is also a geographical based naming system, with West Street and North Street defining the older boundaries of the city. Along with these are streets named after the city they lead to, i.e, Naper/Plainfield Road heads towards Plainfield, while Aurora Avenue leads to Aurora and Chicago Avenue to Chicago (it becomes Maple Ave. in neighboring Lisle before becoming 55th Street). Oswego Road, while having once led to Oswego via U.S. Route 34, no longer connects to that highway, and thus no longer leads directly to Oswego, Illinois. Diehl Road, in a fashion typical for roads in parts of the Midwest, is named after an early farm family whose farm is now the site of Commonwealth Edison complex near the road's west end.
and Route 59 (Metra)
The first rail link to Chicago dates to 1864. Naperville currently has three tracks belonging to the BNSF Railway that run through the north end of town, with passenger rail service provided by Metra and Amtrak. Amtrak's three routes through Naperville are the Illinois Zephyr, the California Zephyr and the Southwest Chief.
Pace provides feeder bus service to the Metra stations and local midday service, both operated under contract. It also operates bus routes from Naperville to Aurora (which serves Aurora's Westfield Fox Valley Mall) and Wheaton (which serves the College of DuPage).
There is also one private airport, the Naper Aero Club field, designation LL-10, on the western edge of town. The field is notable for being the home of the Lima Lima Flight Team.
Nitra, Slovakia has been Naperville's official sister city since the Naperville City Council approved the partnership on November 17, 1993. Nitra was chosen, in part, due to a desire to create a special bond with a city in one of the newly-formed democracies brought about by the fall of the Iron Curtain.[29] Nitra was also chosen due to several similarities between the two cities, such as:
Since the inception of this partnership, the Naperville Sister Cities Commission has worked to strengthen the bond between Naperville and Nitra through its support of various events and delegations. The primary goal of such sister city programs is to increase awareness of other cultures and promote international friendship, and the Naperville-Nitra partnership has so far been a successful one.[29]
In 2002, the Sister Cities Commission supported a youth baseball exchange, sending the Naperville Patriots baseball team, composed of 15 high school age ballplayers and representing each of the four high schools Naperville Central, Naperville North, Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley in the Naperville area, to Nitra. The team travelled throughout Slovakia, and played with and held clinics for the newly-formed Nitra "Little Giants" baseball team. Head coach Dave Perillo and captains Jason Fitterer and Rob Losik were responsible for organizing the clinic for the Nitra players, which proved to be a success. The Naperville Patriots also enjoyed the distinction of being the first baseball team from the United States ever to travel to the nation of Slovakia.[30]
In addition to this exchange, the City of Naperville has supported several other events to strengthen the bond with Nitra, including:
The community at large has enthusiastically supported the Naperville-Nitra partnership, as well. In 1999, Naperville's Our Savior's Lutheran Church raised $275,000 to rebuild a church in Nitra, which was then dedicated the following year. NALCO and school districts 203 and 204 have also shipped 6,000 pounds of books to Nitra since 1993.[29]
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Municipalities and communities of DuPage County, Illinois, United States | ||
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Municipalities and communities of Will County, Illinois, United States | ||
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| Ghost town | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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| Cities (over 30,000 in 2020) | ||
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