Aurora, Illinois

Aurora is the second most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the 112th largest city in the United States. Part of the Chicago metropolitan area, its population in 2010 was 197,899. Aurora is located within Kane, DuPage, Kendall, and Will counties. The city is located 35 miles (57 km) west of Chicago.

Aurora officially adopted the nickname "The City of Lights" in 1908, because it was one of the first cities in the United States to implement an all-electric street lighting system in 1881. Aurora's downtown is located on the Fox River. As of 2011 the city is undergoing large-scale renovation of its underdeveloped business district Stolp Island. There are plans to add 6,000 housing units along the Fox River.

Aurora is home the Hollywood Casino, Chicago's premier dockside gaming facility with 53,000 square feet and 1,200 gaming positions. Like its namesake, the casino also houses original movie memorabilia from films such as Wayne's World, Untouchables, Blues Brothers, Twister, Rocky, Titanic and others. The Aurora area is home to one of the most impressive architectural collections in the Midwest, featuring structures by Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Bruce Goff and George Grant Elmslie. Aurora is also home to one of the largest collections of Sears Mail Order Houses (over 50 homes) and Lustron all-steel homes (seven homes). The Farnsworth House, located in Plano, is one of only three Mies van der Rohe residential designs in existence in the United States.

In 2002, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked the City of Aurora as the 34th fastest growing city in the United States, and the 13th fastest growing city with a population of over 100,000. Auroras population has spilled into Kendall County, the fastest growing county in Illinois, and is the fastest growing county in the United States.

History
Before European settlers arrived, there was a Native American village in what is today downtown Aurora, on the banks of the Fox River. In 1834, following the Black Hawk War, the McCarty brothers arrived and initially owned land on both sides of the river, but sold their lands on the west side. The Lake Brothers opened a mill on the opposite side of the river. The McCartys lived and operated their mill on the east side. Aurora was originally two villages: one on the East Side of the Fox River, founded by the McCarty brothers and one on the West Side, founded by the Lake brothers. A post office was established in 1837, officially creating Aurora. In 1857, Aurora (then what is now known as the East Side) joined with the West Side and officially incorporated. The Aurora Fire Department was established in 1856, and took ownership of its first fire engine that year. The two sides couldn't agree on which side of the river should house the public buildings, so most public buildings were built on or around Stolp Island in the middle of the Fox River. (A parking garage stands at the site of the original City Hall and Post Office.)

As the city grew, many factories and jobs came to Aurora, along with many people. In 1856, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad located its railcar construction and repair shops in Aurora to become the town's largest employer until the 1960s. Many of the heavy industries were located on the East side which provided employment for many generations of European immigrants. Many immigrants flocked to the city, mainly from Great Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Luxembourg, Germany, France, and Italy. The professional and managerial workers more likely came from Yankee stock and settled across the river, making the West side more affluent. Aurora became main economic center of the Fox Valley area. The combination of these three factors—a highly industrialized town, a sizable river that divided it, and the Burlington's shops—accounted for much of the dynamics of Aurora's political, economic, and social history. Both sides of Aurora still maintain a rivalry which is enacted through yearly high school football/basketball games. This is the oldest high school rivalry in the state of Illinois.

Beginning in the boom period, the town was inclusive and tolerant, and welcomed a variety of immigrants and openly supported abolitionism prior to the American Civil War. Mexican migrants began arriving after 1910. Socially, the town was progressive in its attitude toward education, religion, welfare, and women. The first free public school district in Illinois was established in 1851 and a high school for girls four years later. By 1887, 20 congregations, including two African American churches, representing nine denominations were established, and a YWCA started in 1893, still in operation today.

The city was a manufacturing powerhouse until 1974, when the railroad shops closed. Soon many other factories and industrial areas relocated or went out of business. By 1980, there were few operating industrial areas in the city, and unemployment soared to 16%. Although development of the Far East side at Westfield Fox Valley brought stimulus, it helped lead to the decline of the downtown area on Stolp Island. Crime rates were up and street gangs started to form in the mid 1980s. Many Hispanic immigrants also started coming to the city in the 1980s as well. In the late 1980s, several business and industrial parks were established on the outskirts of the city. In 1993, a casino was built downtown, which helped bring the first redevelopment to the downtown area in nearly twenty years. In the late 1990s, more development began in the rural areas outside of Aurora. Subdivisions sprouted up all around the city, especially in Dupage County, and Aurora's population soared. Today, approximately 70,000 of the city's residents live in these areas of the city.

Geography


Aurora is located at 41.76333°N, -88.29°W (41.7634594 -88.2900680).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 39.42 sqmi, of which, 38.53 sqmi is land and 0.89 sqmi or 2.26% is water.

While the city has traditionally been regarded as being in Kane County, Illinois, Aurora is one of only three cities in Illinois whose city limits actually include parts of four counties (the others are Barrington Hills and Centralia, Illinois): Kane, DuPage, Kendall, and Will. Aurora is the largest city in Kane County, and about 100,000 of the city's residents reside in Kane (and in fact its downtown is still entirely in that county). The DuPage portion of Aurora contains about 60,000 residents. Will and Kendall County together only account for a few thousand of Aurora's total population.

Regions of Aurora
Though politically the city is divided into several wards, Aurora is generally divided into three regions:
 * The West Side, which is located of west of the Fox River.
 * The East Side, which spans the region east of the Fox River, stopping at the DuPage County line.
 * Fox Valley, also referred to as the Far East Side, is the portion of Aurora located east of the Dupage County line. Its name is slightly inaccurate because the region is not located on the Fox River. In fact, some parts of Fox Valley actually lie in the DuPage River watershed instead. The area acquired its name because of its proximity to the Westfield Fox Valley Mall and Fox Valley Villages, one of the first housing developments to be constructed after the mall.

Climate
The annual precipitation for Aurora is about 40 inches. The record high for Aurora is 111 °F, on July 14, 1936. The record low is -26 °F, on January 20, 1985. The average high temperature for Aurora in July is 84 °F, the average January low is 10 °F.

On July 17–18, 1996, a major flood struck Aurora, with 16.9 in of rain in a 24 hour period, which is an Illinois state record, and the second highest ever nationally. Flooding occurred in almost every low lying area, and in the Fox River valley. The flooding was just as bad in Blackberry Creek, on Aurora's far west side.

Aurora has not been struck by any major tornadoes in recent history, although they occur in the area annually. The city can still receive heavy snowfall and experiences blizzards periodically.

Aurora was hit with one of the strongest earthquakes ever to strike Illinois on May 26, 1909. It put cracks through chimneys and could be felt 500000 sqmi around.

In 1906, a tornado went through the Aurora Driving Park, a large recreation/amusement park and race track located where Riddle Highlands now stands. The tornado hit during the afternoon performance of the Ringling Brothers "Greatest Show on Earth" circus, when the park was crowded. It killed 2 people and injured 22, but the grandstand was still filled for the evening performance.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 142,990 people, 46,489 households, and 34,215 families residing in the city. The average number of residents to one household is 3.6 residents. The population density was 3711.5 PD/sqmi. There were 48,797 housing units at an average density of 1266.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 51.07% White, 19.06% African American, 0.36% Native American, 3.06% Asian American, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 14.52% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 46.56% of the population.

There were 46,489 households, out of which 44.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.5% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.04 and the average family size was 3.55.

In the city, the population was spread out with 31.7% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 35.9% from 25 to 44, 15.9% from 45 to 64, and 6.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $54,861, and the median income for a family was $61,113. Males had a median income of $41,429 versus $30,150 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,131. About 6.2% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.9% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

Economy
Aurora is on the edge of the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor. The city has a long tradition of manufacturing as does much of Chicago metropolitan area. Prominent manufacturers, past and present, included: Lyon Workspace Products, The Aurora Silverplate Manufacturing Company, Barber Greene Ltd., the Chicago Corset Company, the Aurora Brewing Company, Stephens-Adamson Company, Caterpillar Inc., Allsteel Metals, National Metalwares, and Western Wheeled Scraper Works (later Austin-Western Inc.). The most prominent employer and industry was the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad (later Burlington Northern) which was headquartered in Aurora. The CB&Q Roundhouse is still standing, and is now the popular restaurant originally called Walter Payton's Roundhouse but now called America's Historic Roundhouse.

Tourism
Formed in 1987, the Aurora Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (AACVB) is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to aggressively promoting and marketing the area as a premier overnight destination. The goal of the AACVB is to enhance the economic and environmental well-being of a region comprising ten communities: Aurora, Batavia, Big Rock, Hinckley, Montgomery, North Aurora, Plano, Sandwich, Sugar Grove, and Yorkville.

Largest employers
According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are:

Arts and culture
Aurora's downtown is full of architectural landmarks and historic places. A non-profit organization, Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple of Greater Chicago, is a major Hindu temple. Aurora also has its own zoo, Phillips Park Zoo, located in Phillips Park (Aurora, IL).

Downtown Aurora


Downtown Aurora is home to the Paramount Theatre, a large live performance theater on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Hollywood Casino. There is also the Leland Tower, a former hotel which was the tallest building in Illinois outside the Chicago city limits and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The largest collection of George Grant Elmslie (Prairie architect - studied under Louis Sullivan) commercial buildings is located here. Also located downtown is the main building of Aurora Public Library and a branch campus of Waubonsee Community College. Downtown Alive, a festival that includes live music and a variety of food booths, is held on three weekends (Friday and Saturday night) in the summer; Blues on the Fox (featuring national blues artists) is held on the Friday and Saturday of Father's Day weekend. Roughly 8,000–13,000 people attend. The quarterly AuroraArtWalk is hosted by the Cultural Creatives—a grassroots team of local artist, property owners, patrons and the City of Aurora. The Riverfront Playhouse is a not-for-profit theater that has held a storefront location in downtown Aurora since 1978.

A fixture of Downtown Aurora, the Waubonsee Community College Campus, which formerly sat on Stolp Island near the Paramount Theatre, has recently been closed, as a new and greatly expanded campus was built on the Western banks of the river, between the river and IL Route 31. The construction of the campus was part of a larger plan to re-develop the Downtown area, putting in parks and new walking paths, making the area more inviting. The plan also included a pedestrian bridge, which would connect the two banks of the river. Also in the works is a plan to re-do or reconstruct the bridges onto Stolp Island, which have not been taken care of for close to 60 years.

Museums

 * Aurora Historical Society
 * Aurora Regional Fire Museum
 * The Aurora Public Arts Commission
 * Grand Army of the Republic Hall
 * Phillips Park Zoo
 * David L. Pierce Art and History Center
 * SciTech Interactive Science Museum.
 * Schingoethe Museum of Native American Culture

Entertainment
Aurora has a rich history of entertainment. There were several theaters in the downtown area and several large community parks with baseball stadiums, circus acts, and race tracks. Some of the more popular were:

Popular culture

 * Wayne's World (1992) is about two men, Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers), and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) who live in Aurora. The characters emerged from the television show Saturday Night Live; one of the original authors of the skit was from neighboring Naperville, Illinois, and thought Aurora had the appropriate blue-collar feel desired for the characters. Though most of the movie was filmed elsewhere, there are at least one or two bits that were filmed on location in Aurora, most notably the scene in which a White Castle is shown. Its sequel, Wayne's World 2 is also set in Aurora.
 * Prison Break, a Fox Broadcasting Company TV show has several references about Aurora, sometimes multiple times in an episode, as the show is filmed in the area.
 * Recently, former Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher used Aurora in an anti-casino ad in his unsuccessful re-election campaign. Governor Fletcher referred to Aurora as a good town gone bad, because of the casino. Contrary to the ad, the casino helped revitalize Aurora after the industrial recession of the 1980s.
 * The 1986 film Let's Get Harry used some establishing shots of the New York Street Memorial Bridge.
 * Alkaline Trio, Chicago based punk-rock band release a song on their 2000 album, Maybe I'll Catch Fire, entitled "Fuck You Aurora."
 * The 2002 Film Children on Their Birthdays was filmed in a large Victorian-era home on Aurora's West side, although the story is supposed to have taken place in Alabama.
 * President George W. Bush was the second sitting president to visit Aurora, Illinois on July 7, 2006. The first was Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.
 * Summer 2007: LaSalle St. is used as downtown Uniontown, Pennsylvania for the movie The Express.
 * Johnny Depp filmed a scene from one of his movies Public Enemies at Aurora's downtown Paramount Theater.

Sports
Aurora was once home to the Aurora Islanders/Blues/Foxes, a minor league baseball franchise that played from 1910-1915 in the Illinois-Wisconsin League. Their most famous player was Casey Stengel, who played one season with the team before being bought by the Brooklyn Dodgers. Stengel batted .352 and was the batting champion of the league for 1911, and also led the league with 50 stolen bases and had 27 outfield assists. The team played in a stadium on the west side in the former Riverview Park.

Waubonsie Valley High School (IPSD - District 204) Soccer won the Northern Illinois regional championship in this highly competitive region, for both boys and girls, almost every year since 1987. In 2007, the Waubonsie Valley High School girl's team won the state championship and went on to achieve the #1 ranking of all high school girl's soccer teams in the United States, finishing with an undefeated season. Aurora has numerous youth soccer clubs, most of which have teams represented in the top five percent of the Northern Illinois Soccer League. Numerous youth soccer players from Aurora have been awarded college scholarships to major college soccer programs throughout the U.S. In addition to this legacy of success in soccer, Aurora maintains several developmental advantages for soccer enthusiasts. Three high quality indoor soccer venues allow for year-round soccer training and competition for children and adults. Additionally, several area traveling soccer clubs, as well as high schools, boast coaches and trainers who have played soccer professionally or have been starting players for national teams from various countries. Some even played for teams that won the World Cup. Supplementing the local soccer training regimen are professional soccer trainers from England, Brazil, The Netherlands, Scotland, and various other countries. Several of these trainers played in the Premier League and for the Brazil national team, and for the Argentina national team.

Fastpitch softball has been in Aurora since World War II and gained popularity in 1950 when the Aurora Sealmasters finished fifth in the nation. The Sealmasters went on to win National Championships in 1959, 1961, 1965 and 1967 and World Championships in 1966 and 1968. There were many different and competitive men's leagues in Aurora from the 1960s through the mid-1990s. There are still a few leagues and teams playing to this day.

In golf, the Stonebridge Country Club, on Aurora's far northeast side, was home to the LPGA Tour's Kellogg-Keebler Classic from 2002-2004. Stonebridge was also hosted the Ameritech Senior Open from 1991-1995 on the Senior PGA Tour.

Aurora University has Men's and Women's Basketball, Golf, Tennis, Track and Field and Cross Country. It also has a men's football and baseball team, as well as women's softball and volleyball teams. Aurora University athletics are division III.

High school athletics are a major event in the city, as East and West Aurora High Schools have been rivals in all sports for over 100 years.

Transportation
The city is the final stop of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line of the Metra commuter rail system, allowing rail service into Chicago. The city also has a stop at the Rt. 59 station on the BNSF Line. This station is located on the border with Naperville and each city maintains a parking lot on their respective sides of the tracks. PACE operates local bus service within Aurora six days a week (no service on Sundays) and serves other cities such as Naperville, Geneva, Batavia, Oswego, and St. Charles. Along with Metra trains and PACE buses, Greyhound buses also stop at the Aurora Transportation Center. Aurora does not currently have a stop for Amtrak trains, as the old station where they did stop closed in the 1980s. Aurora City Lines, the old city bus lines, was closed in the late 1980s, in favor of regional bus service. Aurora also used to have an extensive streetcar system, operated by the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Company, that served most neighborhoods. Additionally, Aurora was served by a number of interurban lines. The most prominent of these was the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad which provided service into Chicago. The STAR Line will have a third station at Ferry Rd. north of the BNSF Line.

The Aurora Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport located in Sugar Grove, IL just outside of Aurora, Illinois. Although the airport is located within Sugar Grove, it is owned and operated by the City of Aurora. The Aurora Airport is designed as a reliever airport for Chicago's O'Hare and Midway Airports, and also handles a lot of international cargo. It is capable of landing Boeing 757 aircraft.

Healthcare
Aurora currently has two hospitals, one on the west side, Provena Mercy Medical Center, and one in Fox Valley, Rush-Copley Medical Center.

There are other area hospitals, including Edward Hospital in Naperville, Delnor Hospital in Geneva, Central DuPage in Winfield and a Level 1 Trauma center at Good Samaritan in Downers Grove.

Aurora at one point had three hospitals, St. Joseph Hospital, on the west side, St. Charles hospital, in uptown, and Copley Memorial Hospital, on the east side. St Joseph and St, Charles hospitals have been converted into living centers, and the old Copley hospital, which was one of the largest hospitals in the area, sits vacant. The city of Aurora recently demolished the old smokestacks from the hospital, as they were starting to crumble and fall down.

Dreyer Medical Clinic and several other independent clinics and medical groups are spread throughout the city. The area surrounding Provena Mercy has evolved into a diverse healthcare district with services and offices.

Education
The city is the location of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) and Aurora University. According to the census of Aurora's population over the age of twenty-five, 26% hold a bachelor's degree.

Two main school systems have served the Kane County core location of Aurora since the 1860s, one on either side of the Fox River, which physically divides the city. In addition, the far eastern portion of Aurora within DuPage County, has been served by Indian Prairie School District (IPSD) 204, since that district's formation in 1972. All three districts (Aurora Public Schools: West Side (District 129), Aurora Public Schools: East Side (District 131) and IPSD) have their headquarters and administrative offices within the Aurora city limits. As of 2005, there will be no less than forty public schools within Aurora city limits, serving residents of Aurora and neighboring communities.

Due to the sheer size of the city of Aurora, these are not the only three school systems serving residents - some students in the far north end of the city (north of I88 in Kane County) attend Batavia public schools, some on the far southwest side attend Kaneland CUSD 302 schools (headquartered in Maple Park), and some students in the far south end of the city (a small corner of the Kane, Kendall and Will County portions) attend Oswego public schools. Four of the schools in Oswego CUSD 308, Wheatlands Elementary, Homestead Elementary, Wolf's Crossing Elementary, and Bednarcik Junior High, are located within Aurora's city limits.

The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) is a state-funded residential magnet school for grades 10 to 12. While IMSA operates under public funds (and uses the site originally designated West Aurora High School North Campus), it is managed independently of the other public schools in the city of Aurora. Any Illinois student who meets admission requirements may apply to attend IMSA, tuition free.

Aurora is also home to a few other private schools. Within Aurora, there are three Roman Catholic High Schools, Aurora Central Catholic (Diocese of Rockford), Rosary, and Marmion Academy (Order of St. Benedict), and 7 Catholic elementary schools operated by the Diocese of Rockford. Along with these three schools is Aurora Christian High School and Elementary School. Aurora is also home to Fox Valley Montessori School, one of the first Montessori schools established in Illinois in 1969, which offers a preschool and elementary program.

The above-named districts have forty-six public schools within the city limits of Aurora (seventeen for District #131, thirteen for District #129, eleven for District #204, four for Oswego District #308 and the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy). Aurora is also home to twenty-two private schools including Rasmussen College, two branches of Waubonsee Community College, and the main campus of Aurora University.

Library
The Aurora Public Library includes the main library, two branches, a support facility and a bookmobile. The current library operations budget is $10 million and the staff numbers 85 full-time and 89 part-time employees.

Media
In addition to the Chicago broadcast stations, the following are based in Aurora:

Television

 * WXFT-DT - TeleFutura Channel 50/60.1, Aurora/Chicago
 * WPVN-CA - Polnet Communications Channel 24, Aurora
 * Aurora Community TV (ACTV) - Channel 10
 * Total Living Network (TLN)
 * Waubonsee Community College Educational Television - Comcast Channel 99

Radio

 * WBIG (AM) 1280 Aurora
 * WERV-FM 95.9 Aurora
 * WLEY-FM 107.9 Aurora

Newspapers
The Beacon News is Aurora's oldest business, first published in 1846, and is part of the Sun-Times Media Group. The newspaper has two editions: the Aurora edition and the Kendall County edition. The Beacon-News has been recognized repeatedly by the Associated Press, Illinois Press Association, Northern Illinois Newspaper Association and the Chicago Headline Club as one of the best daily newspapers in Illinois.

Crime and social issues
In 2008, reported major crimes in Aurora were at their lowest level in nearly three decades. The Chief of Police attributed the drop to a number of factors but especially credited the hard work of the city's police officers and the increase in anti-gang priorities. Gang violence had reached a high in the 1990s, with the city averaging nearly 30 murders per year. In 2008, Aurora only had 2 murders. In July 2007, the Aurora Police Department and the FBI conducted "Operation First Degree Burn," a sweep that resulted in the successful arrest of 31 alleged Latin Kings gang members suspected of 22 murders dating back to the mid-1990s. Aurora has also adopted programs such as CeaseFire to reduce gang violence and prevent youths from joining gangs.

Environmentally, Aurora has long dealt with pollution of the Fox River. The river was heavily polluted up until the 1970s by factories that had lined the river for over a century. Cleanup efforts have been successful with the help of state grants and volunteer effort.