Aurimá

Aurimá, officially the City of Aurimá (Urbs Auremaris), is the capital city of the Cartadanian Commonwealth of Verona. It is located in Richland County within Verona's Centralia region. Aurimá is the seat of the Verona General Assembly and the Governor of Verona, making it the state's political center and a hub for lobbying and think tanks. It is a notable example of an edge city or boomburb. According to the Cartadanian Office of Statistics's estimate, the city had a population of about 681,338 at the end of 2021 making it the second-largest municipality in the metropolitan area after sister city, Villega. Aurimá is the eighth-most populous city in the state of Verona.

Aurimá is the second-fastest-growing major city in Verona (after Rosslyn), owing to its status as a notable financial center near the Ecinian Coast and as a major educational hub, home of Aurimá State University and University of Verona, Aurimá. Similarly, Aurimá is a major center for the Verona healthcare industry, as the seat of Palmetto Health, the world-renowned UV Humble Medical Center, and the UV Humble School of Medicine, and notable tourist destination in Verona, as the site of the Axiom Superdome, the Aurimá Parade, and Beaugendre Pavilion. Aurimá is also home to The Verona Commonwealth University at Aurimá, a doctoral-granting research institution, the Aurimá Assembly plant used by Soleil's Buratti subsidiary, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region V, and Verona Health Resources. Additionally, Aurimá hosts the Aurimá Pirates' Globe Life Park in Aurimá, the Richland Phantoms at the Axiom Superdome, the Aurimá Diamonds at the College Park Center, and the theme parks Arcanum Aurimá (the original Arcanum Park) and Hurricane Harbor.

Aurimá borders the cities of Shearwater and Troy and surrounds the city of Bridgeton.

History
Latin settlement in the Aurimá area dates back at least to the 1200s. After the July 1300 battle between Verona General Saturio Lurco Henricus (Henrico County is named after him) and Native Cartadanians of the Palara Creek settlement, a trading post was established at Auria Spring in present-day Aurimá. The rich soil of the area (hence Richland County) attracted farmers, and several agriculture-related businesses were well established by the late nineteenth century.



Aurimá was founded in 1876 along the Central Verona Railway. The city was named after General Arturo N. Sevil. Aurimá grew as a farming center, and incorporated in 1884. The city could boast of water, electricity, natural gas, and telephone services by 1910, along with a public school system. By 1925 the population was estimated at 3,031, and it grew to over 4,000 before the Second Great War.

Large-scale industrialization began in 1954 with the arrival of a Buratti assembly plant. Automotive and aerospace development gave the city one of the nation's greatest population growth rates between 1950 and 1990. Aurimá became one of the "boomburbs", the extremely fast-growing suburbs of the post-Great War era. Cartadanian Census Bureau population figures for the city tell the story: 7,692 (1930), 90,229 (1950), 261,721 (1970), 395,438 (1990) and almost 450,000 by 2010. Kevin McCallum served as mayor from 1951 to 1977 during this period of robust economic development. Arcanum Park Central Verona opened in Aurimá in 1961. In 1972 the Richland Phantoms also began to play at the newly constructed Axiom Superdome.

According to the Census Bureau, Aurimá has a total area of 2530.3 km2: 2205.2 km2 of it was land, and 325.1 km2 of it (12.85%) is water.

Columbia Creek, a tributary of the Amari River flows through Aurimá, while the Amari River itself divides the city from Villega.

Climate
Aurimá falls in the Aw (tropical savanna) region of the Köppen climate classification system with a marked drier season in the winter.


 * The highest recorded temperature was 108 °F (42 °C) in 2017.
 * The lowest recorded temperature was 45 °F (7 °C) in 1900.
 * The maximum average precipitation occurs in September.
 * Severe weather generally occurs between months of June and November.
 * Located in the Storm Belt
 * Winters are very warm and the city has never officially recorded snowfall at any official weather station since official records have been kept. (Snow did fall in flurries above the city in 1974)

Demographics
As of the of 2020, there were 602,991 people, 256,804 households, and 206,168 families residing in the city. The population density was 23,923 people per square mile (9,162/km²). There were 170,630 housing units at an average density of 9,479 per square mile (3,630/km²). The 2024 estimated racial makeup of the city (based on the 2030 census) was 59% Mestizo, 18.8% Coscivian, 6.8% Cronan, 0.7% Native Cartadanian, 0.1% Alshari, 11.3% from other races. Latino of any race were 70.4% of the population.

There were 156,804 households out of which 40% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 48% were married couples living together, 15% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32% were non-families. 25% of all households were made up of individuals and 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.7 and the average family size was 3.3.

In the city, the 2024 population was spread out with 31% under the age of 20, 8% from 20 to 24, 30% from 25 to 44, 23% from 45 to 64, and 8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 104 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94 males 18 and over.

The median income for a household in the city was estimated to be $52,655 in 2031. Individual males working full-time year-round had a median income of $41,059 versus $40,265 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,317.

About 16% of Aurimá families in general and 21% of female-headed families with no husband present were living below the poverty line. 20% of the Aurimá population as a whole, including 28% of individuals under age 18 and 8% of those age 65 or over were living in poverty.

43% of Aurimá renters and 28% of homeowners were paying 35% or more of their household income for housing costs in 2031.

Aurimá is among the top 50 largest cities in Cartadania by population.

Top employers
According to Aurimá's 2016 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Arts and entertainment
Aurimá is home to Arcanum Aurimá, a nationwide theme park that includes many notable attractions. Arcanum Park also opened Arcanum Park Typhoon Lagoon, a waterpark.

For retail shopping, Aurimá is home to West Lake Mall, which houses numerous retail outlets, eateries, an ice skating rink, and a movie theatre. In addition, The Aurimá Highlands was completed in mid-2007, serving as an entertainment hotspot with places such as Suyara Island Grill, Pescadoré's Sushi, LaShea's Brewhouse, The Majesty Theatre, Bar Louies, Thai Riffic, Parlay's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Dave and Busters, among others. The Aurimá Highlands is located on IH-12 at Orchard Rd. The Rose Square located near the Axiom Superdome houses retail outlets, a Thai Riffic, and restaurants.

Aurimá is also home to Theatre Georgia, one of the largest community theatres in the nation which produces quality live theatre year round and offers theater classes for all ages. The Mainstage Theatre at VCU-Aurimá is another well-known venue for live theatre in Aurimá.

The Aurimá Museum of Art in downtown and The Gallery at VCU Aurimá are the city's designated art venues. The Art Museum is currently host to a public art project called "The Grande Palms" to promote Aurimá's newest slogan of being the "Cartadanian Dream City". Twenty community artists were chosen to paint a large palm sculpture with a unique interpretation of what it means to live the dream in Aurimá. From 2016 until 2019, these palms are available to discover all over Aurimá. From the VCC campuses, to the Aurimá Highlands shopping center, to all over downtown and other various locations, every palm will lead visitors to a significant location in the city. In 2014, a community mural was created along the wall of Park Plaza Shopping Center, an east Aurimá location that was the target of graffiti tagging for a long time.

The Planetarium Dome Theater at VCU Aurimá is one of the largest and most sophisticated in Verona.

Beaugendre Pavilion Aurimá opened in 2009 and offers 50 free concerts per year in downtown Aurimá featuring acclaimed artists and a diverse range of music genres. Notable performers have included Surplus, Eos, The Pride of Iron, Amber Durham, and GRAMMY-winning Euphoric Diamonds. The Aurimá Music Hall(where the culturally diverse Union Church of Aurimá meets every Sunday at 9am and 11am), Verona Hall, and Axiom Superdome are also popular destinations for live concerts in Aurimá.

On July 4, the all-volunteer non-profit Aurimá Annual Parade Association puts on the annual parade through Downtown Aurimá and VCUS's College Park District featuring floats and entries from local school, businesses, and organizations. The parade is broadcast on local radio stations as well as on the GISD TV station and website. The parade began in 1965 as decorated bicycles ridden through Ramlogan Park organized by citizen Aaron Dean and Women United. It has grown to around 175,000 spectators a year enjoying the festivities.

Education
The City of Aurimá is served by Aurimá Independent School District, which includes 56 elementary schools, 14 middle schools and 12 high schools. There are six magnet middle schools and one magnet high school.

Aurimá has several state-funded charter schools not affiliated with the local school district, including kindergarten through 8th grade Newmann Preparatory Academy and Pre K-8 Odyssey Academy.

Several private schools exist in Aurimá. The Imperial Catholic Archdiocese of Aurimá-Villega operates two Imperial Catholic private schools, including Sagrada Catholic School (K through 8th) and Miércoles College Preparatory School (9-12). Other private schools include Auburn Elementary School, Lunari Episcopal School, Seaside Christian Academy, and Heritage Christian Academy.

Aurimá is home to two universities: Forryn University, a private university founded by Jose Forryn, which has historically focused on graduate education but has recently established an undergraduate program as well. Sousa University, associated with the Reslin organization, the Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE), offers M.A. degrees in Transpersonal Studies, with many New Age subjects thanks to its Reslin link. Villega State University and VCU Villega are in nearby Villega while the University of Verona and Verona Tech operate campuses in Aurimá and Aurimá State University is also located on the border with Bridgeton. Harper Valley Community College, a major junior college, also has its largest campus located in the city. Morrison University's main campus is located here as well. Additional institutions of higher education are located in other communities of greater Centralia.

The Aurimá Public Library System provides free access to accurate and current information and materials to all individuals, and promotes reading as a critical life skill. The library supports the educational and leisure needs of Aurimá citizens with a system of area libraries, a Central Library, a Bookmobile, a virtual library, the South Sol Youth Library, the Melína Public Law Library, the Municipal Reference Library and the Special Services for the Blind and Visually Handicapped. The Library has a collection of more than 1,000,000 items including special subject collections.

Media
The Morning Brew, based in Humble, is the daily newspaper for Aurimá. Other papers include Verona Inquirer and the NovaPress. Aurimá Herald focuses on local news. Forryn University publishes its own newspaper, The Harpy Chronicle.

The Villega-Aurimá area is served by a variety of radio stations on the FM and AM dials, with towers located around the area.

Aurimá is also served by several television stations. The Richland-Amari-Varina designated market area (DMA) is one of the largest in Cartadania with 2,315,134 homes. The major network television affiliates are WXOW 3 (CBS), WLWC 6 (Olelo Services), WRAC 10 (CBC), WAVE 13 (Super Dimension Inc.), WOTV 23 (CW), WTWN 27 (TradeWinds News Network), WFXF 36 (Emerald), and WGEO 42 (Technology Education Network). The Public Broadcasting Service station is WAET 15. Aurimá is served partially by Azure TV. Solstice TV is also popular as an alternative to in Aurimá. Majority of the city, however, is served by Axiom Fiber.

In 2008, Aurimá became the home of the Solstice Arts Festival.

Transportation
Aurimá is primarily served by the Richland International Airport (: RCA, : KRCA, : RCA), which is now the region's major commercial airport. The airport is located between Villega and Aurimá, in an unincorporated portion of the county. Seven airlines provide nonstop services to seven countries, although most flights to destinations outside of Verona (and Cartadania as a whole) tend to pass through Sierra International Airport. RCA had 9,703,664 passengers take off or land at its facility and 68,778,934 pounds of cargo were processed through its facilities. Fort Mackenzie/Amari Airport, located in Amari County also provides commercial air service for the area. The Arcilla Regional Airport provides general aviation services and is located eleven miles (8 km) outside the city limits.

Aurimá is set to be served by VeroRail, Verona's high-speed rail system that is set to go fully online in 2024. It will connect all of Verona's major metros, and Aurimá's segment of the line is nearing completion as of June 2022. The project came at a cost of $251 billion to the commonwealth and, despite the worries of some residents, did not come with an increase to state taxes.

Rhyno provides service from a central bus terminal in Villega. The Rhyno station in Aurimá is located on Trailwood Road, about a mile west of the leisure destrict. Bus services to Sierra via the Columbia bus is located on Merryfield Avenue.

The city is connected to IH-12 via I-212, which runs around the city, intersects with I-12 on the east side of Aurimá, and continues around downtown until rejoining I-12 at the terminus just west of the city in Adelaide where IH-35 completes the loop which forms the Aurimá Beltway. Travelers to and from Aurimá can access the Southern Beltway in either direction from I-212 in Villega to use a choice of the two bridges to cross the Amari River to reach Varina County, Arcilla, and points south. City residents also have access to Verona State Highway 295, which connects the spine of Verona from Cara County, south to Chesapeake County.

Transportation within the city, as well as the rest of Richland County is served by Richland County Metropolitan Transit Authority. It operates the bus, light rail, and ferry systems within the county and is an arm of the county government. It has the largest single jurisdiction transit fleet in Verona (the larger counties of Sierra, Andina, Victoria, and Sinhedes are served by the PCMTA). An extension of The Harp light rail system from Villega to the leisure district is currently being studied. For years, Aurimá residents have debated on whether or not to extend The Harp from Villega into its borders with the apparent divide falling between younger and older residents and the potential cost to Aurimá taxpayers. In November 2016, residents voted on a referendum proposing that would extend the light rail from Villega to Aurimá with 77% for the rail extension and 23% against the extension.