Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin addresses the audience at the Fox Valley Mall during his annual State of the City address on March 3. (City of Aurora photo)

Illinois’ second-largest city is experiencing a renaissance that continues to pick up speed.

Aurora Mayor Richard C. Irvin offered that upbeat assessment during his third State of the City address on March 3 at the Fox Valley Mall.

“The state of Aurora is renewed and reawakened. The state of Aurora is revitalized and reenergized,” the first-term mayor said. “The state of Aurora is redeveloped and rebirthed.”

Staged in a pep rally atmosphere complete with balloons, music, videos and enthusiastic introductions, the event drew an estimated 350 persons to the mall’s new 13,000 square foot public space.

Irvin added his own exuberance during a 54-minute address as he traced a 15-year journey to the mayor’s office and repeated a frequent insistence that “there’s something happening here.”

The broad themes were “Renewal, Redevelopment and Revitalization.” But another word — recognition — could easily have been added.

Honors and national ratings recently bestowed on Aurora have ranged from Best Place to Buy an Affordable Home (Go Banking Rates) to top 10 listing among Best Cities to Start a Family (LenEDU) to the Top 15 Safest Cities in America (WalletHub) to Millennial Hot Spot in Illinois (RentCafe).

Aurora was even ranked as one of the best places for Trick or Treating in America (SmartAsset).

The city’s 59th mayor briskly moved through highlights that included new developments in and near downtown and far east side; how the city is home to some of the state’s best schools; the launch of a technology “Smart Cities” initiative; reduction in crime and recovery from tragedy; plus outreach and mentoring efforts toward Aurora’s youth.

But even with all the good news, Irvin suggested this was no time to rest.

“Better isn’t good enough if it can be the best,” he said. “We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.”

Among the highlights:

DEVELOPMENT — For many years Aurora’s downtown was empty as businesses closed or fled to malls on the city’s fringes. Downtown buildings — some vacant a half-century or more — are now coming back to life as residents, office space, entertainment venues and restaurants.

In the past year, the city has issued 125 permits for downtown residential housing and for eight restaurants, joining catalysts like the thriving Paramount Theater and adjacent arts school and downtown Waubonsee College and Santori Public Library.

“Even just a few years ago to talk about the downtown revitalization with restaurants and residential was a mere dream, some would say laughable,” Irvin said.

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Several blocks south, the $128 million redevelopment of the former Copley Hospital property continues. The 9-acre campus will feature a mixed-use development with headquarters for East Aurora School District 131 plus apartments, senior homes, medical facilities and park space.

New businesses are also arriving in the Fox Valley Mall, a significant regional economic driver. An adjacent property — Pacifica Square — is planned as the largest Asian lifestyle shopping center in the country.

In 2019 the city issued permits for 1.8 million in new commercial development, another 700,000 square feet in redeveloped and revitalized property and held 45 ribbon cuttings.

“The eyes of the developer world are on the City of Aurora,” Irvin said. “We must be prepared to continue this economic boom that we will experience hopefully well into the future.”

FIRST RESPONDERS — Staffing for the Aurora police and fire departments are at the highest levels in history with 307 police officers and 208 firefighters on their respective forces.

Irvin reported a decrease in crime in several categories, including burglaries (down 27.3 percent), robberies (down 5.3 percent), thefts (down 11.9 percent) and shootings (down by 7.6 percent).

MENTORING — In recent months the city has launched a mentoring effort to aid parents, law enforcement and educators to reach out to youth in efforts to prevent future violence.

“We saw an uptick in activity at the end of last year that caused the senseless and sad deaths of young people in our community,” Irvin said. “I knew we had to offer our community more from a prevention and intervention standpoint.”

The result was the Aurora Mentoring Alliance, a collection of community groups and agencies committed to helping youth.

RECOVERY — Last year’s State of the City address came in the wake of the Henry Pratt Co. workplace tragedy that claimed five lives. The shootings and passage of time resulted in a more unified community. They also were generous, contributing more than $500,000 to an Aurora Strong campaign fund to aid the families of victims. Another $500,000 was raised around the country.

“A new renewed commitment to volunteerism and community service was also born this past year,” Irvin said. “In addition to raising money, Aurorans came together by the hundreds to volunteer at churches, schools, businesses and throughout the entire community.”