At some point the thought just shows up: maybe it is time to leave the city. You are tired of the noise, the cramped apartment, the parking situation. A friend bought a house in Naperville and keeps posting photos of a backyard. The commute on I-88 looks doable. But is suburban life really as good as the photos suggest? People who have actually made the move — from Chicago proper to communities like Naperville, Aurora, and Bolingbrook — tend to answer that question with a long, complicated list.
Why People Leave the City for the Suburbs
The reasons are roughly the same for everyone. First, space. A two-bedroom apartment in the city costs about as much as a monthly mortgage payment on a three-bedroom house in the suburbs. For the same money you get a garage, a yard, and a spare room that does not double as a home office and a pantry.
Second, ecology. Naperville regularly lands on "best places to live" lists, and part of the reason is air quality. Fewer trucks, fewer exhaust fumes, more trees. If you have children, the difference is not abstract — it is the difference between a playground next to a busy intersection and a park where they can actually run.
Third, schools. Naperville School District 203 and Indian Prairie District 204 are consistently ranked among the strongest in Illinois. For families with school-age kids, that alone can tip the decision.
What You Actually Gain
A House You Can Change
In a rented apartment, you cannot knock out a wall or build a deck. In your own house, you decide what to fix, when to fix it, and how far to go. People who have lived in suburbs for years say this sense of control is one of the things they value most. You are not filing maintenance requests — you are choosing your own paint color.
Quiet and Privacy
No neighbors drilling into shared walls at eight in the morning. No footsteps above your head at midnight. A fence between you and the next house. People who have spent decades in suburban homes say they stopped noticing the quiet — until they visit the city and suddenly remember how loud it was.
Room for Hobbies
A garage for woodworking, a patch of soil for tomatoes, a driveway long enough to teach a teenager to park. These are small things, but they add up to a life that feels less compressed. In the suburbs of the Chicago metro area — Naperville, Bolingbrook, Aurora — lot sizes are generous enough to make this realistic even on a moderate budget.
- Parking is free. No meters, no garage fees, no circling the block for twenty minutes. You pull into your own driveway.
- Grocery runs are faster. Big-box stores in Aurora and Naperville have actual parking lots, so a weekly stock-up trip takes half the time it did in the city.
- Utility costs can drop. Property taxes in DuPage and Will counties are not low, but water and electricity rates outside Chicago proper are often more predictable and slightly cheaper per unit.
The Other Side: Problems Nobody Warns You About
The Commute Eats Your Day
This is probably the most serious problem that catches people off guard after the move. The Metra BNSF line from Naperville to Union Station takes about 45 minutes — on a good day. Add the drive to the station, parking, walking to the office, and you are looking at well over an hour each way. In heavy traffic on I-88 or I-355, the drive alone can stretch past ninety minutes. People who tried commuting daily from the suburbs for years say they eventually had to negotiate remote work or change jobs entirely.
A car is not a luxury in suburban Chicago — it is a basic utility. One car per driving adult is the norm. If your household has two commuters, you need two cars, plus insurance, maintenance, gas, and parking at the train station if you take Metra.
Home Maintenance Never Stops
In a city apartment, the landlord or the building management handles the burst pipe, the broken furnace, the flooded basement. In your own house, all of that is your responsibility. The furnace breaks in January — you call the technician and pay the bill. The roof leaks in April — you get estimates from three contractors and lose a Saturday. People who have owned suburban homes for decades say there is always something: gutters, sump pumps, water heaters, driveways cracking in the freeze-thaw cycle. You need either handy skills or a budget for repairs.
Suburban Isolation Is Real
This one surprises even introverts. In a city, social life happens incidentally — you run into people at the coffee shop, the lobby, the L platform. In the suburbs, everyone is behind a fence, in a car, in a garage. One person who moved to a new subdivision described it this way: tall fences on every side, not a soul on the street, no one to talk to. You have to make deliberate effort to build a social circle — neighborhood events, school functions, local clubs. It does not happen by itself.
| Factor | City (Chicago) | Suburb (Naperville Area) |
|---|---|---|
| Typical commute to Loop | 20–40 min (L train) | 50–90 min (Metra / car) |
| Housing space | 700–1,000 sq ft apt | 1,800–2,800 sq ft house |
| School rankings | Varies widely by neighborhood | Consistently top-rated districts |
| Car dependency | Optional (CTA coverage) | Essential (1–2 cars per household) |
| Noise level | High (traffic, nightlife) | Low (residential streets) |
| Home maintenance | Landlord / HOA handles | Owner handles everything |
Schools and Children: The Deciding Factor for Many Families
For a lot of families, the move comes down to one thing: where will the kids go to school? Chicago has excellent magnet and selective-enrollment schools, but getting into them is competitive and stressful. In Naperville and neighboring communities, the baseline quality of public schools is high enough that parents do not have to play that lottery.
That said, suburban schools are not perfect. Bus routes can be long. Extracurriculars may require driving across town. And if a child has specialized needs — a particular language program, a performing arts focus — the options may be narrower than in a large city. Parents who have made the move recommend researching specific schools, not just district averages, before signing a lease or a mortgage.
How to Prepare for the Move
Start a Month Early
People who have moved multiple times say the same thing: start earlier than you think. A month before the move, go through every closet and every drawer. Sort everything into three piles — keep, donate, throw away. The less you haul, the cheaper and faster the move.
Budget Beyond the Moving Truck
The truck is just the beginning. Factor in utility deposits, address changes, new curtains that fit different windows, a lawnmower you did not need in the city, possibly storm windows. People routinely underestimate first-year costs by a wide margin.
Check Infrastructure Before You Buy
Drive the commute at rush hour — not on a Sunday afternoon. Check cell coverage in the house, not just in the driveway. Ask neighbors about internet providers and actual speeds. Find out where the nearest urgent care is and how long an ambulance takes. These details matter more than granite countertops.
- Documents and chargers first. Pack a bag with IDs, insurance papers, phone chargers, laptop, medication, and a change of clothes. This bag stays with you, not on the truck.
- Label everything by room. Mark each box with the room it belongs to and a one-line description. Movers can place boxes where they belong instead of piling everything in the garage.
- Keep essentials accessible. Toilet paper, paper towels, a basic toolkit, trash bags, snacks, and water. You will need these before you unpack a single box.
Cost of Living: City vs. Suburb
Housing in Naperville is not cheap — median home values run well above the national average. But compared to buying a condo in Lincoln Park or Lakeview, the per-square-foot cost is significantly lower. You get more house for the money, and in most cases a yard on top of it.
Where suburbs sometimes surprise people is in the hidden ongoing costs. Property taxes in DuPage County are among the highest in the state. Lawn care, snow removal, and home repairs add up. And the second car payment that city dwellers did not need is a real monthly expense. People who have tracked their spending carefully after moving say the total monthly outlay is often similar — it just gets distributed differently. Less rent, more gas. No doorman tip, but a plumber bill.
Groceries and dining out tend to cost about the same. The Naperville restaurant scene has grown significantly, so you are not giving up good food — though you may be driving to it instead of walking.
The First Year: What to Expect
The first winter is a test. If you have never shoveled a driveway or dealt with a frozen pipe, suburban homeownership in the Chicago area will teach you fast. Snow removal is your job unless you hire someone, and the freeze-thaw cycle is hard on foundations, driveways, and pipes.
Spring brings yard work — a pleasure for some, a chore for others. Summer means maintaining the air conditioning, dealing with insects, and discovering which neighbors have loud parties. Fall is beautiful — the trees along the Naperville Riverwalk turn gold and red — but it is also when furnace inspections and gutter cleanings happen.
People who stuck it out past the first year generally say they are glad they moved. The adjustment period is real, but so are the rewards: a quieter life, better schools, more space, and a pace that leaves room for things the city never had time for.
- Try a test drive. Rent in the area for three to six months before buying. You will learn more about the neighborhood in one winter than from any open house.
- Talk to actual residents. Not the real estate agent — the person who has been mowing that lawn for five years. Ask what they wish they had known.
- Keep your expectations honest. Suburban life solves some city problems and creates different ones. The people who adjust best are the ones who expected both.
Getting Around: Beyond the Car
Naperville and Aurora do have Pace bus routes, but coverage is limited compared to the CTA. Biking infrastructure has improved — the Illinois Prairie Path and various local trails connect parts of the western suburbs — but daily bike commuting is practical only for a few months of the year and only if your workplace is close.
For a move within the Chicago metro area, many families stage the transition: one partner starts commuting from the suburb while the other wraps up a city lease. This overlap period costs more in the short term but reduces the shock of a cold-turkey switch. Some families keep part of their belongings in short-term storage during that overlap.
If your job requires frequent trips downtown, the Metra line is your lifeline. A monthly pass on the BNSF line is a fixed cost worth factoring into your budget early. Some employers in the suburbs — especially in the I-88 corridor near Aurora and Lisle — offer commuter benefits or flexible schedules that make the geography easier.
Naperville, Aurora, and Bolingbrook: How They Compare
All three sit in the same broad corridor west of Chicago, but they feel different. Naperville has the strongest downtown, the highest home values, and the best-known schools. Aurora is larger, more diverse, and more affordable — a good entry point for families who want suburban space without Naperville prices. Bolingbrook offers newer construction, proximity to I-55 for south-side commuters, and a solid park district.
People who have relocated from farther away — downstate Illinois, Indiana, even other states — often start in Aurora or Bolingbrook and move to Naperville later once they know the area. There is no wrong first choice among the three, but visiting each at different times of day and year helps.
A well-planned move takes the stress out of a big life change.
Get a Free Moving QuoteIs It Worth It?
There is no universal answer. People who moved from Chicago to a home in the western suburbs and stuck with it for years tend to say the same thing: they do not regret it, but they wish someone had been more honest about the adjustment. The quiet is real. The space is real. The good schools are real. But so are the long commutes, the maintenance bills, and the effort it takes to build a social life from scratch.
The families who do best are the ones who plan carefully, budget realistically, and give themselves time to settle. Suburban life is not a vacation — it is a different set of tradeoffs. For many people, especially those raising children in the Chicago metro area, those tradeoffs end up being worth it.