David Sutton
Staff Reporter
North Central College’s hometown has recently been named among Liveability’s Top Ten Best Cities for New College Grads, placing nine out of 10 on Livability’s list.
The website considered median age of graduates, median income, commute times, among other criteria.
Also on the list were larger college towns like Austin, Texas and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The list also included cities known for large corporations, such as Mountain View, California, where Google is headquartered.
Livability cited the larger than average quantity of non-service jobs and the variety of businesses, which includes energy companies and technology firms. Alacatel-Lucent, Nicor and BP were all cited as the city’s largest employers.
Naperville didn’t make the cut without North Central College’s help. Livability included the College’s Wentz Concert Hall for large choices of entertainment, alongside Naperville’s 260 restaurants and well-known Riverwalk.
Kimberly Sluis, dean of students at the College, isn’t surprised that Livability included Wentz Concert Hall. “When I ran into a couple of recent graduates while at a play in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, they indicated that they come back to campus regularly to see all of the theater productions.”
Perhaps more important to college grads is the low level of unemployment in Naperville. Livability states that unemployment among 25-34-year-olds ranks at an exceptionally low 5.5%, which is alluring for a city with 66% of its population holding bachelors degrees or higher.
In fact, Indeed.com, a popular website for job searches, indicates that there are over 39,000 full-time and part-time positions available in the Naperville area.
North Central students may decide to stay near their campus after graduating. “If I were able to start my career in Naperville and jobs were available I’d definitely consider staying nearby,” says North Central sophomore Crystal Madrigal. “I’ll probably end up staying here a year after graduating to see.”
“I have known students who choose to stay in Naperville after graduation,” Sluis says. “With great internship and student teaching opportunities that can often lead to full-time work, staying in Naperville is a wonderful option for our graduates.
Many students indicate that part of the reason they chose to attend North Central College is because of the location. It makes sense, then, that when they have the option of staying here post-graduation that they take advantage of that.”
Affordable rent, a large amount of nightlife, and ease of public transportation to and from Chicago were also cited as perks.
The city of Naperville has also appeared on Money magazine’s Top 100 Places to Live multiple times. In 2008, Naperville ranked number three and currently sits at 53 in the latest ranking.
