Light Review

Light Review Rating A few of CHicago's suburbs' downtown Chirstmas light displays

It's that time of year again. How can you tell? Other than the bite in the air, city downtowns get their annual Christmas makeover. Suburbs around Chicagoland are participating in the yearly stringing of lights. This year, a dose of holiday cheer could not come soon enough. Although all cheer is apreciated, it must be acknowledged that some suburbs' Christmas displays are simply better others. This past weekend, my friends and I, all from different Chicago suburbs as to eliminate bias, reviewed the lights of a few suburbs around Naperville. Here are our rankings, lowest to highest:

Bartlett: 2/10

The bottom line is Bartlett's lights were incoherent. Too spread out and uncreative, the display was underwhelming. However, the nieghborhood lights made up for the cheer the city's lights lacked.

Warrenville: 4/10

Mini Christmas trees decorated by different businesses from around the city added a cute personal touch to Warrenville's display. This being said, the location of the lights, a field, brought down the rating with an unfestive sourrounding.

Glen Ellyn: 4.5/10

Glen Ellyn clearly had a plan when it came to its lights this Christmas. The decorations were neat and put together, satisfying viewers. However, it seems the town sacfrificed creativity for uniformity. There was only one type of lights, those present in the picture, which came across as a lack of effort on the city's part.

Wheaton: 6/10

Wheaton was the opposite of Glen Ellyn. Colorful chaos is the only way to describe the makeover which these trees recieved, each one adporting a personaily of its own. It was impossible not to smile walking through such a cheerful display.

Geneva: 7/10

The gorgeous glowing trees of the city framed a word that we all crave desperately this holiday season: hope. Located within a bustling downtown similar to that of Naperville, Geneva's decorations displayed the mission of Christmas 2020 perfectly.

Schaumburg: 7.5/10

Although a bit of a drive from Naperville (about 30 minutes), Schaumburg surprised us with a decadent light display. The centerpeice of the display is a clocktower, giving off a classic Christmas feel. The decorations are not centrally located downtown. The Woodfield Mall, however, only minutes away, provides a perfect food or shopping stop if a pit stop is needed.

St. Charles: 8/10

Driving into St. Charles, every lightpost was topped with a small decorated tree. By the time we neared downtown, we were expecting a magnificent display, and St. Charles did not disapoint. The location- a vibrant downtown lining the Fox RIver- created an atmosphere that added to the lumination of the lights. The only critisism we had was the spread of the lights (it's too cold to walk far this time of year).

Naperville: 8.5/10

To the surprise of none, Naperville received the highest ranking of the suburbs we visited. The interactive lights attracted many to meander around and through the display. Both in quantity and quality, Naperville was astounding, adding a shimmer to the already popular downtown.

I hope these displays have inspired you to take your own holiday light show tour. Whether with friends or family, the Christmas season is meant to be a time of joy and light. Although COVID has put a damper on many activities, enjoying a display of lights, outside and socially distanced, is the perfect way to catch the holiday spirit.

Created By

lucy westlake

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