Wheaton

The good things are that it’s safe, quiet, and if you’re in a poor situation as a young adult, Wheaton has a VERY good youth outreach program (see http://www.outreachcommunityministries.com/ —they’re a christian organization, but they don’t preach at you if you’re not interested and they’re very nice).

The bad things are that it’s a very religous town with churches everywhere you look, very republican, very traditional, and very boring. Aside from Cosley Animal Farm (which someone posted pics of) and the Prarie Path (which is excellant to bike on), there’s not much to do…you always go somewhere else to do things.

The most interesting thing is, despite being very religious and republican, it has the headquarters of the Theosophical Society of America ( http://www.theosophical.org/ ) which is this weird occult/alternate religion place. Why they’re in the middle of a mostly christian town, who knows, but they have an interesting metaphysical bookstore for the New Age types and those studying religion as their majors at Wheaton College.

I’ve lived here for 10 years, and now that I’m finally leaving, I’m getting all nostalgic. This would be a beautiful place to raise a family: lovely parks, sidewalks, ice cream shops. And family-raising is in fact a primary industry here.

Likewise, it’s a good place for angsty 20-somethings to become deeply cynical about what happens when wealthy Christians dominate the culture.

I’ve definitely been cynical about this place (where, famously, college students are forbidden to dance), but I can’t deny I’ve benefited greatly from its peaceful environment. I lived in a house for 3 years and never once locked the door; I’ve been on many a moonlit walk down the Prairie Path without fear.

Like so many of the tidy western suburbs of Chicago, it’s a good place to live, but a terrible place to visit. If you do, check out the Popcorn Shop, gawk at Perry the Mastodon, take a driving tour of million-dollar homes and dozens of beautiful churches, have a pint at Muldoon’s, but get out before nightfall, or parking tickets and overzealous traffic cops will break your spirit.