Recently the Daily Herald ran a story called "Rethinking our way of living." The story focused on the affordability of Naperville housing (or rather the lack of it). Describing a report from the business and community oriented non-profit, Chicago Metropolis 2020, "The Metropolis Housing Index: Housing as Opportunity," the Daily Herald notes "[affordable] houses are [key] to economic, financial and especially educational opportunity." The report states: "It is an economic imperative: Workers must have housing choices close to job centers if our economy is to remain robust."

According to the Daily Herald, the "The Metropolis Housing Index" report finds that affordable housing is not available "in suburbs like Naperville where, the report says most jobs created in the 1990s paid $30,000 or less, but new single-family homes are affordable only to those with household incomes of at least $80,000." What are the implications of this for Naperville? "Aspenization", a separation of those who live in an area from those who work there, but must commute long distances to work. It is happening to many places in the U.S., with profound economic, social and even environmental implications - none of them good. If Naperville and DuPage County are to grow, thrive and maintain their high quality of life, affordable housing in Naperville and DuPage needs to become a priority for policy makers. This isn't a Democratic or Republican issue, it's an issue for us all.