Rebuilding Together Aurora provides home repair to low income home owners residing in Aurora. Surrounded by some of the wealthiest Chicagoland suburbs, Aurora is an island of poverty, crime, and poor education. There are definitely very fine points to Aurora, and it has a fantastic history, but for many many years was abandoned by all who could escape and has been slowly decaying since. Like Detroit and Buffalo, Aurora had its heyday at the beginning of the 20th century and has incredible architectural relics of that era. Over half of the homes were build before 1940, and something like 20% were build before 1920!
The New York Times just came out with this handy interactive map displaying key data from the 2009 census. And while it's fun to zoom around places like NYC and see the patchwork collage of demographic statistics, it also provides a very real reminder of the importance and need in our own community. Here are just a few:
The median household income for central Aurora is $25,000 or less, and the majority of the Aurora township falls beneath $50,000.
While a concentration of wealth lies at the perimeter of Aurora...
... a shockingly disproportionate number of households earn less than $30,000 a year within Aurora itself.
The median monthly rent in Aurora hovers between $500-$999...
... and yet 60-80% of the households in our key neighborhoods pay 30% or more of their monthly income to cover the cost of their mortgage...
... While home values continue to fall drastically at the city center.
you should learn GIS....
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