Naperville is a city in DuPage and Will Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, within the Chicago metropolitan area.   Naperville is the fifth largest city in the state, behind Chicago, neighboring Aurora, Rockford, and Joliet. Approximately 100,000 Naperville residents live in DuPage County, while about 50,000 reside in Will County. Naperville was one of the ten fastest growing communities in the United States during the 1990s.

Once a farming town, Naperville has evolved into a wealthy city due in part to a migration of professionals in the 1990s seeking jobs and globally renowned public schools. A number of high-tech companies are located in the city, including Nalco Holding Company, Tellabs, Alcatel-Lucent and the BP North American Chemical Headquarters. In 2008, Fortune ranked Naperville as among the "best places to live and launch" a business in the United States, ranking 29th out of 100. In 2006, Money magazine listed Naperville as #2 on its annual list of America's best small cities to live in. The city took the #3 position on the 2005 and 2008 lists.

In 1999, Naperville was designated a White House Millennium Community, due to the construction of the Moser Tower and Millennium Carillon.  The tower is located just north of Aurora Avenue and at the base of Rotary Hill within the Riverwalk Park complex. The Millennium Carillon is specially designated as a Grand Carillon, with 72 bells, and is one of only four worldwide that span six octaves. The Millennium Carillon was dedicated in an Independence Day event on June 29, 2000, with a reception attended by over 15,000, and a performance by the Naperville Municipal Band and the Naperville Men's Glee Club and Festival Chorus. The Carillon is both manually and computer-playable, with most performances by hand, but with half the bells played by a computer-controlled system at set times during the day. The Moser Tower was opened to the public in the summer of 2007. The design of the tower won an award for "Best Custom Solution" from the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI).

The Naperville Riverwalk is a four mile (6 km) long walkway along the west branch of the DuPage River. The project began in 1981 as a memorial to Naperville's Sesquicentennial anniversary. Using volunteer time and donated money and materials, residents turned what was previously considered an eye-sore into a major attraction. The winding paths stretch through Naperville's downtown area and the residential neighborhoods flanking downtown. With fountains, benches, scenic bridges, and the Riverwalk amphitheater, the Riverwalk is referred to as Naperville's "Crown Jewel" by the Naperville Riverwalk Foundation.