Mayor: Aurora transitions from ‘City of Lights’ to ‘city of bytes’ through innovation and technology
Aurora got its “City of Lights” nickname because, in 1881, it was one of the first towns in the United States to install electric streetlights.
That history of innovation continues, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said Wednesday during his fourth 2024 “State of the City” speech.
“We are no longer simply the City of Lights. We are becoming the city of bytes, bandwidths and breakthroughs. We are becoming the city of lightspeed,” Irvin said, in a speech themed “The State of Innovation and Technology.”
He gave it at Gripple Inc., a company that makes products for the suspension systems industry.
The previous 2024 speeches were about economic development, public safety and education.
Irvin said the city’s investment in installing and improving data networks has been key to attracting businesses.
“This is technology supporting innovation, which is supporting economic development,” Irvin said.
He noted CyrusOne expanded its Aurora presence by breaking ground this year on two buildings. And the 65-acre Aurora Tech Park, which features waterless cooling for computer equipment in the data centers there, opened, he added.
Irvin spoke about the city’s continued efforts to use data and technological advances to improve customer service for residents and businesses. That includes the recent debut of the “Destination Aurora” app for people to learn about events, parking, dining, lodging and more in Aurora.
But, “Innovation is not just technological. We are using it to solve social problems,” Irvin said.
That includes, he said, Aurora’s new partnership with Atlanta-based Operation Hope to start a children’s savings account program, beginning next school year with the kindergartners in West Aurora Unit District 129 and East Aurora District 131 schools. The city will seed the accounts with $50 per student. The other public school districts that serve the city may also join, he said.
Operation Hope began its savings-account program in Atlanta in 2021.
Irvin spoke about Aurora being the first city to have a carbon-neutral, net-zero energy Nicor Smart Neighborhood. Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity began construction of 17 of the homes in the spring.
He spoke about the information the city provides in its “Open Data Portal.” Additions in 2024 include portals for the emergency management agency and the fire prevention bureau.
Irvin also praised the recent creation of Elevate Aurora, which is merging the Aurora Area Chamber of Commerce, the Quad County African American Chamber of Commerce, Invest Aurora and Aurora Downtown. The city is giving $3 million toward the effort.
Irvin is seeking a third term as mayor of Illinois’ second-largest city. He faces aldermen John Laesch and Ted Mesiacos, plus former alderman Judd Lofchie and Jazmine Garcia, in a nonpartisan primary election in February to narrow the field to two candidates.