Aurora is the second largest city in Illinois,^[3] with a population of 171,782 (2008 est.)^[1] and part of the Chicago metropolitan area. The city refers to itself as "The City of Lights" because it was one of the first cities in the United States to implement an all-electric street lighting system in 1881. Aurora officially adopted the nickname in 1908.^[4]

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 cover parts of four counties (the others are Barrington Hills & 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 on in the DuPage River watershed. 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.

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 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.Healthcare

Rush-Copley Medical Center

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.

Click here to view Aurora Chamber information

Click here to view entertainment Paramount Theatre

Click here to view entertainment Riverfront Playhouse

Click here to view site for Aurora Hollywood Casino