Journal of Urban History 2016, Vol. 42(6) 1135–1152 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0096144214566976 juh.sagepub.com Article A Small Suburb Becomes a Boomburb: Explaining Suburban Growth in Naperville, Illinois Brian J. Miller 1 Abstract The Chicago suburb of Naperville, Illinois, today has over one hundred forty thousand residents and is considered a “boomburb” because of its double-digit percentage growth over several decades. How did it reach this point? Explanations of urban growth—including the Chicago School and political economy perspectives; categories of suburbs, like boomburbs and edge cities; and narratives within Naperville itself—highlight different mechanisms at work. This study considers the factors that influenced Naperville’s growth and how each narrative fits the suburb’s development. The implications for future studies of suburban growth include the unpredictability of growth as it is happening, recognizing the limits of categorizing suburbs, undertaking comparative studies of suburbs across types or within regions, and not relying heavily on analyses of suburban outliers and unusual cases (like Naperville). Keywords suburbs, urban growth, boomburbs, edge cities Naperville, Illinois, in 1955 looked like many other post–World War II suburbs: some signs of postwar residential construction in a small community founded in 1831, railroad connections to the still-growing city of Chicago, and efforts by local officials to plan for future growth. 1 Yet, by 2000, Naperville had experienced double-digit growth for multiple decades, the only such rap- idly growing large suburb of over one hundred thousand residents outside the South and West (fifty-four total) to earn the designation of “boomburb.” 2 Its 2010 population was one hundred forty-two thousand, making it the fifth-largest city in Illinois. In addition to a growing population and square mileage, Naperville is also known for numerous white-collar businesses and jobs within its city limits, particularly along Interstate 88. Thus, some have labeled Naperville an “edge city” (one of over two hundred in the United States) or a “technoburb.” 3 A high quality of life accompanied the large population and numerous jobs: Naperville has a thriving downtown with national retail stores, an oft-visited Riverwalk along the west branch of the DuPage River, high-performing schools, a median household income of just over $108,000, and low crime and 1 Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, USA Corresponding Author: Brian J. Miller, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Wheaton College, 501 College Avenue, Wheaton, IL 60187, USA. Email: brian.miller@wheaton.edu 566976JUH XX X 10.1177/0096144214566976Journal of Urban History<alt-title><alt-title alt-title-type="right-running">MillerMiller research-article 2015 by guest on November 14, 2016 juh.sagepub.com Downloaded from