Featured Apartment:
Chicago - Downtown - Residents enjoy the services of a full-time concierge, an amenity-level floor with a state of the art fitness room, pilates studio, activities room, business center, library, a landscaped garden, stainless steel lap pool, hot tub, outdoor fireplace, guest suite, and much more View More Listings! -->
Renting an Apartment in Aurora
Aurora is the largest city in Kane County, Illinois. The city also lies
within DuPage, Will and Kendall counties. As reported in the 2000 U.S. census,
the city was home to 142,990 people, while the city's estimated 2007 population
is 175,952. About 110,000 of the city's residents reside in Kane County, while
about 42,000 live in DuPage County. Only a few thousand Aurorans are in Will and
Kendall Counties.
The city refers to itself as "The City of Lights" because it was one of the
first communities to adopt all-electric street lighting (in 1881 - the nickname
was adopted in 1908). In fact, the name Aurora itself means dawn. Aurora is the
second largest city in Illinois.
Landmarks
The city is the location of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA)
and Aurora University. A Non-profit Organization Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple
of Greater Chicago which is a major Hindu temple, and an Islamic mosque, are
located near IMSA. Aurora also has its own zoo, Phillips Park Zoo. Aurora's
Downtown is full of architectural landmarks, as well as historic places.
Downtown Aurora
Downtown Aurora is home to the Paramount Arts Centre, 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. It is also on the National Register of
historic places. 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 every
Friday night in the summer. Roughly 8,000-10,000 people attend every Friday
night. Downtown Aurora also hosts the annual Midwest Literary Festival during
the second weekend in September. The Riverfront Playhouse is a not-for-profit
theater that has held a storefront location in downtown Aurora since 1978.
Regions of Aurora
Aurora is generally divided into three regions, though politically the city is
divided into several wards.
* The West Side is all of Aurora west of the Fox River
* The East Side,is the city east of the river excluding the DuPage County part.
* Fox Valley, also referred to as the Far East Side is the DuPage County part of
the city. This is kind of a misnomer due to the fact that this region is not on
the Fox. In fact, some parts lie in the DuPage watershed instead of the Fox
watershed. It is actually nicknamed as such due to the proximity of the area to
Fox Valley Mall; one of the first housing developments to be constructed
simultaneously with the mall in Aurora is the "Fox Valley Villages".
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. In addition, Aurora
manages the southern parking lot of the Metra station at Illinois Route 59. The
northern lot is managed by neighboring Naperville. The city uses pace bus for
public busing. 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. 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 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.
Neighborhoods
* Near East Side: The oldest neighborhood of Aurora. This neighborhood is
located between Downtown and Uptown. There are several large older homes, some
dating back to the 1870's. This neighborhood is much more densly populated than
any other part of the city. This neighborhood has an elevated crime rate as well
as several vacant buildings.
* Near West Side: The residential neighborhood is generally well maintained with
expensive older homes.
* Pigeon Hill (East Side): The former neighborhood where romanian immagrents
once flocked to in the late 1800's. This neighborhood has generally smaller
homes and is located around High Street just east of the fox river.
* Frontenac (Far East Side)
* Exposition View (Northwest Side)
* Riddle Highlands: is located on the West Side, off of Lake Street and Illinois
Ave. It’s a very charming section of the city, with large, older homes dating
back to the early 1900s. Mature trees line the streets and most lawns are neatly
manicured.
* Scraper-Moecherville (South East Side)
* Newport Hill
* Marywood (North East Side)
* Southpark (South East Side)
* San Souci (Far West Side)
* Lakeside San Souci (Far West Side)
* Cherry Hill (Far West Side)
* Hometown (South East Side)
* Downtown: Historic downtown is the heart of Aurora and is home to a number of
large historic buildings dating back to the early 1900s. Downtown is located 3
miles South of Interstate 88. Much of downtown Aurora was developed in the lates
1800s and houses several pieces of impressive architecture. Downtown Aurora's
declined began in the late 1970s but of late is the home of several new
developments including the River Street Plaza Condo development and Downer Place
Lofts. Many new businesses have opened with success, along with the Hollywood
Casino. A major hotel and high rise condos are planned for the East Bank on the
east side of downtown. Today still, many areas just outside downtown remain
vacant due to the industrial recession of the 1980's. Downtown Aurora is the
home of the famous LeLand Hotel, a 22 story building built in 1921, which housed
the Sky Club, a former Blues recording studio. The building once was the tallest
building in Illinois outside of Chicago. Today its used as apartments.
* Uptown :The center of Aurora's strong Hispanic culture. The area was an area
just east of downtown, booming with large homes and bustling shops in the first
half of the 20th century. Today, some old storefronts are still there.
* White Eagle: is located at the most Southeastern portion of the city.
Although, most residents consider this to be Naperville, its technically Aurora.
In the early days of this development, the residents wanted to be considered
Naperville, so the mayor at that time, cut off all city services to prove his
point, that White Eagle is in fact in the City of Aurora. White Eagle is a very
wealthy and upscale area. Most homes are valued at well over a million dollars.
* Oakhurst (Far East Side)
* Pheasant Creek (Far East Side)
* Pine Meadows (Far East Side)
* Georgetown (Far East Side)
* Ginger Woods (Far East Side)
* Green Hills (Far East Side)
* Lake Wood (Far East Side)
* Patersonville (East Side): Declining Neighborhood with a high crime rate and
several vacant buildings. Located near South Ohio St. and East Galena Blvd.
* Westwood: A predominantly African American neighborhood on the west side.
* Stonebridge: is the most wealthy area of Aurora. Its located along Indian
Trail Rd and Eola Rd on the city's Far East Side. This is also one of the newest
sections of the city. With homes well over a million dollars, its residents have
an average household income of $ 112,800 and an average household net worth of $
165,112.00. The Stonebridge area is also home to the Stonebridge Golf Course.
Which was the home of PGA for several years in a row.
* Orchard Valley
During the 20th century, there was a "Dutchtown" neighborhood for German
immigrants, a neighborhood for French immigrants, and a neighborhood south of
downtown on the west side for Italian immigrants. Pigeon Hill was mainly an area
for Romanian and other Eastern European immigrants. Pigeon Hill is the only
neighborhood generally still referred to as that name, and virtually none of
those cultures still inhabit those neighborhoods today.