The city of Aurora, in partnership with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, invites Aurora residents, business owners and community stakeholders to help shape the future of downtown Aurora.

The Downtown Aurora Master Plan Workshop will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016, at the Aurora Regional Fire Museum, 53 N. Broadway.

This public workshop is a first step in the city of Aurora’s work to update, complement and enhance the master plan for downtown Aurora. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss their suggestions on how best to improve economic development, entertainment, attractions, mobility and the overall downtown area in general.

To RSVP, contact city of Aurora Planner Alex Minnella at 630-256-3080 or aminnella@aurora-il.org.

For more information on the new downtown master plan, visit the Aurora page on the CMAP website.

To share your ideas ahead of the meeting, go to aurora-draft.metroquest.com.

About Downtown Aurora

Downtown Aurora is located in Kane County, while the rest of the city extends into DuPage, Kendall, and Will counties. The city is located in the outer region of the Chicago metropolitan area, just 40 miles west of downtown Chicago. Aurora, known as the City of Lights, has a historic downtown on the Fox River and was once the main economic center for the Fox River region, employing many generations of European and Mexican immigrants who worked in the roundhouse and locomotive industry. Today the City of Lights remains highly diverse and is Illinois’ second most populous city. For more demographic information, view the Aurora Community Data Snapshot.

Through the CMAP Local Technical Assistance program, the city of Aurora is leading an effort to update, complement, and enhance the 2005 Seize the Future Master Plan, with a component dedicated to developing the transportation opportunities and walkability of downtown. The new downtown master plan will provide policy direction in the areas of sustainability, economic development, open space and recreation, arts and culture, and other quality-of-life factors. Once complete, the plan will recommend policies to help the City and its residents address identified challenges.

The planning process, developed in collaboration with the city of Aurora, involves three phases over the next 15 months. The first phase will involve a thorough analysis of the existing conditions within the community using information gathered from the steering committee, interviews with key stakeholders, a public meeting, an online interactive survey, review of previous plans and studies, and collection of maps and data. The second phase will focus on creating strategies for Aurora’s downtown based on findings from the phase one analysis and public engagement. The third phase will include plan creation, community feedback, and plan adoption.

About CMAP

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning is the region’s official comprehensive planning organization.  Its GO TO 2040 plan is helping the seven counties and 284 communities of northeastern Illinois to implement strategies that address transportation, housing, economic development, open space, the environment, and other quality-of-life issues.  See www.cmap.illinois.gov for more information.

About the City of Aurora

Located 35 miles west of Chicago, Aurora is the second largest city in Illinois with a population of 200,456.  Aurora is known as the “City of Lights” because it was one of the first in the nation to illuminate its streets with electric lights.  Situated along the Fox River and the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway (Interstate 88), the city extends 46 square miles encompassing Kane, DuPage, Kendall and Will counties.  Aurora also is home to six public school districts and seven townships.  For the latest news, access to an archive of past news releases or to follow the city on Facebook or Twitter, visit the city’s website at www.aurora-il.org.