Aurora is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 175,952 (2007 est.). Aurora lies within four counties: Kane, DuPage, Kendall, and Will. About 110,000 of the city’s residents reside in Kane County, while about 42,000 live in DuPage County. Will and Kendall County together only account for a few thousand of Aurora’s total population. The city refers to itself as "The City of Lights" because it was one of the first cities in Illinois to implement an all-electric street lighting system in 1881. Aurora officially adopted the nickname in 1908.
The city was a manufacturing powerhouse until 1974, when the railroad shops began to close. 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 Fox Valley Mall brought stimulus, it helped lead to the decline of the downtown area on Stolp Island. Starting in the late 1980s, several business and industrial parks were established on the outskirts of the city. Today some of the old industrial districts have been reoccupied as warehouses. In 1993, a casino was built downtown, which brought redevelopment to the downtown area. In the late 1990s, more development began in the rural areas outside of Aurora. Subdivisions sprouted up all around the city; Aurora’s population soared. Today, approximately 70,000 of the city’s residents live in these areas of the city.
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