Talk:Naperville, Illinois/Archive 1

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Archive 1
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Contents

"Naper-thrill"

I took this line out of its place at the very end of the very first paragraph of this article: "It is ironically referred to as "Naper-thrill" due to it being considered the ultimate suburbia, which some find undesirable."

1) This seems to be just another a cute nickname people commonly make up for their respective Chicago suburb (eg "Action Heights" for Arlington Heights or "Rose-hell" for Roselle.) 2) Is there a verifiable, published source that would support the contention that Naperville is popularly "considered the ultimate suburbia"? Honestly, Naperville is just like any other suburb; this seems like puffery disguised as some kind of odd Chicagoland brand of modesty.

Neighborhoods

This article talks about people of Naperville having a strong tie to thier neighborhood. Can anyone describe some of these neighborhoods?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by GinaLe (talk • contribs) 21:15, 10 December 2006.

The article did have such a thing yes. Some neighborhoods have stronger homeowner's associations than others, and there is a formal alliance of homeowner's associations. However, apart from those facts, "strong ties" have never really been documented as such, and so I removed the section as a violation of WP:OR and being unverifable. --JohnDBuell 15:03, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

Picture

Could someone with photo editing software make the new pic smaller? It's crowding out the text from the page. Thesquire 06:36, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

Actually, could someone with a camera go TAKE a photo that they wouldn't mind uploading under GFDL or releasing to Public Domain? Thanks. --JohnDBuell 19:01, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
A photo of what exactly? I can get a few shots if needed... --SaGR 00:21, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
Started this myself, images are going up on commons, for reuse here or other projects. --JohnDBuell 22:30, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Games

Is it worth mentioning that there have been at least three "opoly" style games about Naperville, published by various companies? The "Heritage of Naperville" game was published by Milco of Oshkosh, WI, in 1982, and featured a number of businesses local to or headquartered in Naperville. There was a second such board in the 1990s, but alas, I don't have a copy. Most recently, the Edward Hospital Foundation, along with the company Help On Board, published "Naperville On Board" (which can be seen at napervilleonboard.org), and again features sponsored spaces by area businesses. In this latter case, proceeds from sales of the game go to the Edward Hospital Foundation. --JohnDBuell 03:20, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Famous residents?

Are there any worth mentioning?

Plenty. Just look at the list. Just because they don't have their own file yet on Wikipedia doesn't mean they don't belong. Those working for TV or radio stations are easy to verify.

Bob Odenkirk

He was already included in the main article when I restructured this section "Famous residents?" -- Wiki_surfer_BCR at the German wikipedia. --131.225.243.122

Robert B. Zoellick

Robert Bruce Zoellick, Deputy Secretary of State, confirmed by the Senate on February 16, 2005, sworn in on February 22, 2005, was raised in Naperville, Illinois. E.g. see his biography at the U.S. Department of State of State site. Was here born at Naperville, as is stated in the English Wikipedia? -- Wiki_surfer_BCR at the German wikipedia. 68.77.16.23 08:21, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Keine Ahnung. Wir Illinois-bewohner hören öfters nicht von den "Under Secretaries" oder "Deputy Secretaries." Patrick Quinn, "Lieutenant Governor" ist eine Ausnahme. (Translating: I don't know. We Illinois residents don't hear much from "Under Secretaries" or "Deputy Secretaries." Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn is an exception). - In other words, I don't know how "famous" or "notable" he is - Blagojevich, Quinn, Madigan (Lisa AND her dad Michael), Jesse White, etc. get a lot more press coverage within the state - this makes me reluctant to include him. --JohnDBuell 13:10, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Robert B. Zoellick apperantly finds some interest in the German wikipedia, see de:Robert Zoellick, an article that is linked in about 15 other articles. This interest may be in part also due to his German ancestry. @JohnDBull would you like to take a look at the article de:Robert Zoellick? To me it looked a bit patchy and outdated. I've already put some links to biographic data onto the talk page. -- Wiki_surfer_BCR --131.225.243.122 22:02, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Heh. I entirely misread Deputy Secretary of State as being the Illinois Deputy Secretary of State, instead of the federal level. Judging by age and year he graduated college, he should be in a Naperville Central High School yearbook of about 1970/1971. This could be verified by a trip to the Nichols Library in downtown Naperville. It still would not prove place of birth though, someone would have to request birth certificates for that. --JohnDBuell 22:12, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
Confirmed. NCHS Class of 1971, just after Naperville North was built and the Naperville Community High School was reorganized as Naperville Central. Former student council president, cross country runner.... --JohnDBuell 17:37, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Peter Stenger

in the German wikipedia:
de:Peter Stenger (* 3. Januar 1792 in de:Geiselbach, de:Landkreis Aschaffenburg (de:Unterfranken), † 14. Juni 1874 in de:Naperville), war ein Bierbrauer und Unternehmer (engl. brewer and buisnessman) . --Wiki surfer bcr 21:07, 7. Dez. 2006 (CET)
Apparently he was the founder of Stenger Brewery mentioned at Illinois_beer_and_breweries#Closed_breweries Stenger Brewery, also known as J and N Stenger Brewery, Naperville, founded in 1848, closed in 1893, but the initials don't match, maybe his sons? It would be great if we could learn more about Peter Stenger and the (J and N) Stenger Brewery in Naperville. --Wiki surfer bcr --131.225.243.122 22:02, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Your guesses are correct. John and Nicholas (J and N Stenger) continued the brewery, and John ran it alone after Nicholas's death. The brewery's biggest claim to fame appears to be having given one Adolph Coors (a now-Colorado family VERY well known in the US) early work experience as the brewery's foreman. See http://www.breweriana.com/history/historyilstenger.html --JohnDBuell 22:16, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Would seem this should be included, most listings are more recent and living people on the current list. The Brewery was a major business at the time.Kidsheaven 22:01, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

Evan F. Lysacek

Evan Frank Lysacek (born June 4, 1985) is an American figure skater. Lysacek was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Naperville, Illinois. His mother, Tanya, is a substitute teacher in Naperville and his father, Don, is a building contractor.
His fourth place at the XX. Olympic Winter Games 2006 and his third places at the Worldchampionships 2005 and 2006, also earned him an article in the German wikipedia de:Evan_Lysacek. --Wiki surfer bcr --131.225.243.122 22:02, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Again, he should be in high school yearbooks of about 2002-2003, which could be confirmed at the library. --JohnDBuell 22:18, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
Confirmed. NVHS class of 2003. --JohnDBuell 17:37, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Naperville Riverwalk

It would be great if someone could spend some time to create a wiki page on the Naperville Riverwalk. It has become a Naperville and Chicagoland landmark. The wiki link is in place, but there is no page.--H.al-shawaf 04:06, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Congressional District?

What congressional district is Naperville in? --pie4all88 10:31, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

At least part of the city is in District 13 (currently held by Judy Biggert). But I don't know how MUCH of the city is in which district, and if the city is, in fact, divided between districts. --JohnDBuell 01:23, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
Ah, ok--thanks, John. --pie4all88 20:33, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Too Positive

This is an almost boosterish article. It fails to mention, for example, that "Naperville" is almost a byword for suburban hell here in Chicago. It sums up everything that city people and north shore types detest about the burbs. In that regards, it is the paradigmatic suburb of Chicago, for both bad and good.


Tell me more about the above. Is this town progressive or conservative? Restrictive or relaxed? What are the surburban hell aspects? This town is listed as one of the 'best walking cities' but one of the aspects of suburban hell (as I see it) is a place where you drive everywhere - a place unfriendly to walkers. I love Chicago (although I do not live there) so I am curious to learn more about Naperville from a non-booster view.

  • The Riverwalk downtown is very popular. Complaints are some of the following:

1. Too much trafic
2. Housing costs are high
3. Parking hard to find downtown
4. If a indoor Park District facility (Health Club or something like) should be built or not, and should voters have a say or not.
5. School locations
6. taxes
7. NIMBY type complaints
8. Small town has become too large

  • It is a very Republican city - local officials are not in parties a city level, but no Democrats win any elections against a Republican.
  • Most areas have sidewalks, and the town has the two most used Metra Stations (commuter train system), outside of the Chicago Loop.

Note this is all POV, and not from a third party source direct, though most of this is from reading local newspapers or direct comments (original research) and thus not allowable for the main page. Naperville is not Utopia... Kidsheaven 21:50, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

You forgot "parking on Washington Street" - which is the main north-south thoroughfare through the downtown area. Parking is still permitted on Washington during weekends and from (I think) 9-4 weekdays. All parking is free, regardless of where you park. The downtown area has exploded in popularity in the last decade. One comment that makes the Naperville Sun from time to time is that there are "too many restaurants" in the downtown area (and something like 4-5 Starbucks if you include the one IN the Barnes & Noble).
Things that CAN be verified: Conflict between the Park District and residents for an indoor recreational facility has been covered in the Sun. Tearing down of older homes and replacing them with newer and much more expensive structures has been covered in the Sun. The Arlington Heights-based Daily Herald might also have some of this information. School locations and boundaries are mostly a "western Naperville" issue, as District 204 continues to grow. District 203, serving the center part of Naperville, has maxed out in space and enrollment (these too have been covered by the papers).
Political parties only play a role in county offices and higher (County Board members serving districts, Sheriff, etc.) City officials, Park District Board members, and School Board members are non-partisan elections. And all of DuPage County is very Republican still, not just Naperville.
There's also some usually snobbishness, usually from Lake County residents (old money) against DuPage County residents (largely new money). But that's more difficult to verify/quantify. HTH anyone trying to do additional research - do note that some of the complaints about School District 204 are covered in that article already. --JohnDBuell 22:24, 28 April 2007 (UTC)


Naperville (Illinois) in the German Wikipedia

I recently created the article de:Naperville_(Illinois) in the German Wikipedia. I would like to invite people to have a look at the article and the talk page (german: Diskussion) for fact checking and suggestions. @JohnDBuell, I've seen that you already made a small correction, thanks. More is well come.

Any information about early Naperville citizens (farmers, shopkeepers, bakers, butchers, black smiths, ...) who immigrated from Germany (see above, Peter Stenger) or famous present-day residents with German Ancestry (see above, Robert Zoellick) would be of special interest.

By the way, the last name of the Naperville Mayor, Pradel, sounds Austrian or South German to me. Is there indeed such an ancestral connection?

--Wiki surfer bcr --131.225.243.122 22:26, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

I have no idea. He's best known for being "Officer Friendly" on the Naperville Police Force until his retirement (and when he ran for mayor, many joked that he'd be "Mayor Friendly") - the role is that of a police officer sent to schools and public events to distribute and speak about issues such as public safety. In the early 1980s I recall him visiting Elmwood Elementary School speaking about Bicycle safety. His staff could be reached through the office of the mayor. --JohnDBuell 17:35, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
I am starting to build up a category of photographs on Wikimedia Commons, with reusable photos from the city. See [1] --JohnDBuell 22:28, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
The public libraries' online reference service also provided altitude above sea level, which I noticed was missing in the de: article. I'll add it momentarily. The city is 693 feet/211 meters above sea level. --JohnDBuell 23:03, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
About 1/2 of the town was German immigrants at one time. SS. Peter and Paul Church built (1926-1927) one corner stone side is in German the other English. Parish history states the stained glass windows came from Germany and/or Austria. Don't know if there is a source that meets the Wikipedia requirements for all of the info I know. Some info is lost because it was never recorded, I.E. the stained glass windows - only source of locations names on the windows if provided of companies.

http://www.sspeterandpaul.net/History.htm http://www.sspeterandpaul.net Kidsheaven 22:11, 28 April 2007 (UTC)