http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-safest-city-in-america-st-0524-20150522-story.htmlI grew up in Naper(rhymes with "paper")ville and I must say it still is a great place. This article is not a puff piece. Naperville really is that calm. There is no where in that town I would not want my sister or mother walking through at night. There is almost no violent crime. They have a murder about once every 7-10
years. It's the kind of place where you really can leave your bike in the front yard and your doors unlocked at night.
Naperville consistently ranks high in similar surveys and ratings. I don't know how credible any one of them are, but when the same message comes from so many different sources, there's gotta be a truth in there.
Here's why I'm worried: This kind of idyll encourages complacency and is a massive OPSEC breach. And while I realize the publicity is good for the local economy and property values, it also sends up a big bright beacon to nut jobs and terrorists. I can imagine some ISIS-wannabe asshole out there somewhere reading this article and deciding he's just found his next easy target.
I was in Naperville over the holiday weekend. The town is very clean, has
amazing schools (I graduated high school there). A really cool, old historic downtown. It has an ethnic/racial demographic mix and everyone gets along. Nice, mostly conservative people. The police are effective and respectful. The government is efficient, by government standards anyway. There is no trouble.
I just hope they have not had their good deal ruined by the attention. I still have family there.