It is time to re-visit my Wildly Important Goals (WIG) for Aurora. I’ve added a few new goals to my previous list, although the older recommendations are still uppermost in my mind for the improvement of “Life in Cythera.” (Sorry, that was a shameless plug for my two satiric novels about my home town.)
• Two-way street conversion: For some unknown reason, this project has stalled, and the segments of Galena Boulevard and New York Street from Oak Avenue to Broadway remain untouched. Can it be that the Department of Streets has run out of money to complete this project? If so, might The Chas suggest raising the rent on the Hollywood Casino? The Casino can afford it, and it would slow down the traffic in front of its building.
• On-street parking: I’ll keep harping on this subject until the Aurora City Council wakes up to the fact that 21st-Century traffic on 19th-Century streets is the reason that there is so much congestion downtown. Duh!
Curbs and sidewalks: Many streets in Aurora look like they were after-thoughts when they were laid down, and perhaps they were. The danger to pedestrians walking along these unimproved streets, especially after dark, should go without saying. If the Department of Streets has run out of money to provide funds for this project, might The Chas suggest raising the rent on the Hollywood Casino?
• City-wide WiFi: We have WiFi in the central business area. But, when it came time to wire up the rest of the City, there was a debate over who owned the poles on the streets (AT&T, ComEd, or the city government), and the project was put on the shelf. The telecom industry keeps raising its rates, but does not improve its services. A City-owned network would be cheaper and more customer responsive. Tell me, dear reader, does the expression eminent domain ring your chimes? Duh!
• And speaking of utilities, a buy-out of Commonwealth Edison would be in order. Aurora used to have a public utility, the old Western United Gas and Electric Company on Stone Avenue, and there is no reason why it can’t have one again. Rates would be lower due to the elimination of the profit motive. ComEd is a major polluter, because it still burns coal.
• No PACE: Aurora used to have its own bus system which worked very well, with more routes, lower fares, longer hours of service, much better than PACE. PACE gets a subsidy from the State of Illinois, and yet it raises fares and cuts routes and hours of service because the administrators think they need to make a profit. Time to opt out, I say! Aurora has been growing by leaps and bounds, and it deserves a mass-transit system worthy of the name.
• AmTrak station, my favorite WIG: Illinois’ second largest city deserves its own AmTrak station. The vacant property on South Broadway where the old train depot once resided is still the ideal spot for a station; it can be sold/leased to the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Feds can renovate the property as they see fit.
• Water fountains: Who remembers when Aurora had water fountains downtown, one at each intersection? Who remembers getting a cool drink of water on a hot summer day? The Chas remembers. These days, many travelers carry a single-use plastic bottles (many to be tossed aside to litter the streets after the final gulp) whose contents are of dubious value. Aurora’s water is allegedly among the best in Illinois. Restore the fountains, and you can re-fill that plastic bottle again and again (saving you money as an additional benefit!).
Just a thought.