Hi all, Sorry for the OT thread. I wanted to check and see what, if anything, you might be able to tell me about North Central College. I'm in the final stages of my PhD work, and North Central recently posted a tenure track job listing in my field (Renaissance and Medieval literature). I saw that it was in Naperville, and literally the only thing I know about Naperville is that the Fire played there for a bit. I've lived my entire life in the NY/PA/MD corridor (never even been to Chicago). I'm trying to get a sense about the job fit--ie: whether the area is a good fit for me, what the school is like, what the English classes/department is like, etc. The kind of info that doesn't really come through on a website. Any information would be extremely useful and very much appreciated. Apologies if this was posted in the wrong place. Best, Scott
It's a very nice area and while Naperville has a rep as the prototype of sprawling middle/upper middle class burb- the school is in the old part of town . It's accessible to the areas bar/restaurant scene and to the commuter train into Chicago. Naperville is a relatively expensive suburb and as I said it is for the most stereotypical Suburban.
I have lived in Naperville for the last 13 years. You can DM me any specific questions. The town is bigger than you thin about 145k people now. It runs middle class to very rich. North Central is in the heart of downtown and in the Historical District. Downtown is fantastic. Bars restaurants and a good nightlife. There is always something going on. Metra , the local commuter train, had a stop right downtown and you are about 40 mins to the Loop if you catch an express train. Housing depends on what you want and how far away you can be. There are a lot of apartments within 10 mile of campus.
The field is barely 70 yards wide and it is fake turf made for American football. I would get your Ph.D. somewhere else.
There is very little wrong with Naperville. Here are the few downsides as I see them: 1) Very White-bred (82% White, 12% Asian, 4% Latino, 2% African American) 2) General perception of yuppiness/uppitiness (Real words?) 3) Personal opinion warning* - I feel like Naperville has a lot of the negatives of being in the city (congestion/noise/etc.) without the charm of a slightly smaller suburb like Geneva, Wheaton or even Barrington. It, like other suburbs, of course lacks all the culture, infrastructure, and other benefits of a global city like Chicago. But, in any of those places you are only a short Metra ride from the loop.
Agree on 1); no opinion on 2). On 3), I look at this as a positive. There is a more urban feel to downtown Naperville than you get in most suburbs. Having said that, Evanston and Hyde Park have this urban feel even moreso than Naperville and do not have the issue with 1) above. So, the obvious answer is to just get your Ph.D. at University of Chicago or Northwestern.
Demographics (as of the 2010 Census): White - 76.5% Asian - 14.9% Hispanic or Latino - 5.3% Black -4.7% And
As a virtually lifelong west suburbanite (albeit not Naperville), you could do a helluva lot worse than North Central. Obviously, a lot of factors here, which none of us are privy to, but you should apply. If there's reciprocal interest, you can do your due diligence when you visit.
Is that they call it out there? I worked in Naperville from 2004-2006 (I was hired just two weeks after the Fire relocated back to Chicago). It is a fine place, but I definitely felt out of place, since was not "from" Naperville.
1) there is no one from Naperville. 13 years here and I have met 2 people that were my age who grew up there. Naperville is the place to go when you don't have the money to send your kids to private school from K through HS in the city
Yeah, it could just be an unrecognized inferiority complex, but I get the feeling that most people who introduce the fact that they're from Naperville expect some kind of recognition: "Naperville, wow! You and the other 144,999 people that live there are truly wealthy and wise!" If it was Kenilworth, I'd get it, but Naperville is just pretty good. Napervillians think it's the city on the hill. I know my wife takes great pleasure in telling people from Naperville that she's from Barrington/Wilmette and watching them squirm. It's the false sense of superiority that gets me. A true sense of superiority doesn't bother me as much. Maybe I hate people from Naperville? Learned something about myself today. Strangely enough, there's a similar dynamic for people who live on the west side of the Fox river in Batavia versus the east side. When we still lived on the east side, my wife was once backhandedly mocked at a party on the west side. "You live on the east side? Shouldn't you be getting home, it's kind of dark?" and "So you live in the minority neighborhood?" She replied with some comment about there still being electricity on the East side and that yes, she did live by all 8 black people in Batavia.