Many of these buildings sport decorations or features very different from their overall construction (such as homes that are part brick and part wood, or sleek modernism mixed with antennae from the 50s and gas lamps from the 1800s.) On the west side, residences (mostly townhouses) predominate, gradually shading into the larger homes of Bayview. As one proceeds north, west, and south, the district opens out to display its characteristic trees, landscaping, and well-maintained twentieth century buildings that can seem surreal and almost dreamlike. Aurora runs along the border of Downtown with the district's overall development consisting of bland, no-nonsense mid-rises that contain a mixture of offices and apartments which lend a grey, sleepy feel to the area. Aurora is often described as sleepy, dreamlike or even nightmarish, however the neighborhood's description largely depends/varies from person-to-person and their location and circumstances.
