Aurora, Colorado
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| City of Aurora, Colorado | |||
 |
|||
|
|||
| Nickname(s): The Gateway to the Rockies | |||
 |
|||
| Coordinates: 39°41′45″N 104°48′29″W / 39.69583°N 104.80806°W | |||
| Country |  United States |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| State |  State of Colorado |
||
| Counties | Arapahoe County[1] Adams County |
||
| Platted | 1891 as Fletcher | ||
| Incorporated (town) | 1903-05-05, as the Town of Fletcher[2] | ||
| Incorporated (city) | 1929 as the City of Aurora[3] | ||
| Government | |||
| - Type | Home Rule Municipality[1] | ||
| - Mayor | Ed Tauer (R) | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 142.7 sq mi (369.7 km2) | ||
| - Land | 142.5 sq mi (369.1 km2) | ||
| - Water | 0.2 sq mi (0.2 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 5,471 ft (1,648 m) | ||
| Population (2007) | |||
| - Total | 292,403 | ||
| - Density | 1,939.6/sq mi (789/km2) | ||
| Time zone | MST (UTC-7) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) | ||
| ZIP codes | 80010-80019, 80040-80047 (all but 80045 PO Boxes), 80247[4] | ||
| Area code(s) | Both 303 and 720 | ||
| FIPS code | |||
| GNIS feature ID | 0204737 | ||
| Highways | I-70, I-225, US 40, SH 30, SH 83, SH 88, E-470 | ||
|
|
|||
| Website | City of Aurora | ||
Aurora is a Home Rule Municipality spanning Arapahoe and Adams Counties in Colorado. The city is the third most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 61st most populous city in the United States. The population was 276,393 at the 2000 census, with an estimated population of 292,403 in 2007.[5] The city and its western neighbor are the principal cities of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in 2007 had an estimated population of 2,464,866. (22nd most populous MSA),[6] the estimated population of the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area was 2,998,878 (15th most populous CSA).[6][7]
Contents |
[edit] History
It originated in the 1880s, as the town Fletcher, taking its name from Denver businessman Donald Fletcher who saw it as a real estate opportunity. He and his partners staked out four square miles east of Denver, but the town - and Colorado - struggled mightily after the Silver Crash of 1893. At that point Fletcher skipped town, leaving the community with a huge water debt. Inhabitants decided to rename their township Aurora in 1907, and it slowly began to grow in Denver’s shadow becoming the fastest growing city in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Although Aurora has long been considered by many only as one of Denver's larger suburbs, its growing population in recent decades (now over half the size of the City of Denver) has led to efforts for co-equal recognition with its larger neighbor. A former mayor once expressed the somewhat whimsical notion that eventually the area would be called the "Aurora/Denver Metropolitan Area." However, such efforts are somewhat hampered by the lack of a large, historically important central business district in the city, which is largely suburban in character.
World attention focused on Aurora for seven weeks during the fall of 1955, as President Dwight D. Eisenhower recovered from a heart attack at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. The hospital is also the 1943 birthplace of 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Decommissioned in 1999, the facility is part of the Anschutz Medical Campus of the University of Colorado Denver, and the Colorado Bioscience Park Aurora. The Anschutz Medical Campus also includes the University of Colorado Hospital which moved to Aurora from Denver in 2007. These facilities will employ a workforce of 32,000 at build-out.
In 2004, Aurora was honored as the Sports Illustrated magazine's 50th Anniversary "Sportstown" for Colorado because of its exemplary involvement in facilitating and enhancing sports. Aurora's active populace is also reflected in the variety of professional athletes hailing from the city (see Notable People from Aurora below). Aurora's first semi-professional sports franchise, the Aurora Cavalry in the International Basketball League, began play in 2006 but folded by seasons end due to budget mishaps.[citation needed]
Aurora has always been awkwardly split between two counties and lies distant from the respective county seats. A consolidated city and county government was considered in the mid-1990s but failed to win approval by city voters. The issue was reconsidered in 2006. [1] Colorado voters created the City and County of Denver in 1902 and the City and County of Broomfield in 2001. A consolidated city and county of Aurora would likely include areas not within the current city limits, but the new city-county boundaries would be set, restricting future expansion.
[edit] Geography
Aurora is located at 39°41′45″N 104°48′29″W / 39.69583°N 104.80806°W (39.695887, -104.808101)[8]. The city's official elevation, posted on signs at the city limits, is 5,471 feet (1,668 m). However, the city spans a difference in elevation of nearly 1,000 feet (300 m). The lowest elevation of 5,285 feet (1,611 m) is found at the point where Sand Creek crosses the city limit in the northwest corner of the city, while the highest elevation of 6,229 feet (1,899 m) is on the extreme southern border of the city in Arapahoe County, near the intersection of Inspiration and Gartrell Roads.[2]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 142.7 square miles (369.7 km²), of which, 142.5 square miles (369.1 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it (0.17%) is water.
Aurora straddles Interstate 70, Interstate 225 and the E-470 beltway. The Regional Transportation District's light rail transit system was extended to serve the southwestern edge of Aurora on November 17, 2006. The G Line and H Line stop at Aurora's Dayton and Nine Mile Stations; a comprehensive network of feeder buses in southern Aurora serve the latter. An extension of light rail along I-225 through the city is planned to connect with a commuter rail line between downtown Denver and Denver International Airport (DIA), both scheduled for completion by 2015. Much of Aurora is more convenient to DIA than Denver itself. This proximity is a factor in the expected growth of the E-470 corridor directly south of DIA, projected to eventually accommodate 250,000 additional Aurora residents.
[edit] Neighborhoods
Aurora is composed of dozens of neighborhoods, districts and (current and former) military installations. Among them:
- Aurora Heights
- Aurora Highlands
- Aurora Hills
- Aurora Knolls
- Beacon Point
- Brookvale
- Buckley Air Force Base
- Chaddsford Village
- Chambers Heights
- Chelsea
- Corning
- Crestridge
- Cross Creek
- The Dam East
- Del Mar
- The Dam West
- Eastridge
- Fitzsimons Campus
- Greenfield
- Hallcraft's Village East
- Havana Heights
- Heritage at Eagle Bend
- Highpoint
- Hillside at Del Mar
- Hoffman Heights
- Jackson Farm
- Kingsborough
- the former Lowry Air Force Base
- Meadowood Meadowood
- Mission Viejo Mission Viejo
- Morris Heights
- Murphy Creek
- Original Aurora (the Fletcher townsite, Aurora's "downtown")
- Peoria Park
- Pheasant Run
- Piney Creek
- Ptarmigan Park
- Queensborough
- Saddle Rock
- Settler's Village
- Serenity Ridge
- Seven Hills
- Sienna
- Stapleton (a portion of the redevelopment of Denver's former airport lies in Aurora, directly north of Original Aurora)
- Smoky Hill 400
- Smoky Ridge
- Sterling Hills
- Summer Valley Ranch
- Tallgrass
- The Timbers
- Tollgate Run at Kingsborough
- Tollgate Village
- Tuscany
- Village East
- Waters Edge
- Wheatlands
- Woodgate
- Woodrim
[edit] Notable people
- Zachery Ty Bryan - American actor, who plays Brad Taylor on Home Improvement.
[edit] Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1900 | 202 |
|
|
| 1910 | 679 | 236.1% | |
| 1920 | 983 | 44.8% | |
| 1930 | 2,295 | 133.5% | |
| 1940 | 3,437 | 49.8% | |
| 1950 | 11,421 | 232.3% | |
| 1960 | 48,458 | 324.3% | |
| 1970 | 74,974 | 54.7% | |
| 1980 | 158,588 | 111.5% | |
| 1990 | 222,103 | 40.1% | |
| 2000 | 276,393 | 24.4% | |
As of the census[9] of 2000, there were 276,393 people, 105,625 households, and 68,867 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,939.6 people per square mile (748.9/km²). There were 109,260 housing units at an average density of 766.7/sq mi (296.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.86% White, 13.42% African American, 0.81% Native American, 4.37% Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 8.14% from other races, and 4.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.81% of the population.
There were 105,625 households out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 34.7% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 7.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $46,507, and the median income for a family was $52,551. Males had a median income of $35,963 versus $30,080 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,095. About 6.8% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.0% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Economy
Mexicana de Aviación operates an office at 12134 East Mississippi Avenue.[10]
[edit] Education
- Aurora Public Schools
- Cherry Creek Public Schools
- Community College of Aurora
- University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus
[edit] Sister cities
 |
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009) |
Aurora has three sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:
In addition, the Denver Regional Council of Governments (consisting of the city and 51 other local governments) has established a "sister city" relationship with the Baghdad Governorate, one of Iraq's eighteen provinces.
[edit] Surrounding Municipalities
| North: Denver | ||
| West: Denver, Centennial | Aurora | |
| South: Greenwood Village, Centennial, Foxfield, Parker |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Active Colorado Municipalities" (HTML). State of Colorado, Department of Local Affairs. 2007-02-27. http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/local_governments/municipalities.html. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ "Colorado Municipal Incorporations" (HTML). State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives. 2004-12-01. http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/muninc.html. Retrieved on 2007-08-18.
- ^ "Aurora History". City of Aurora, Colorado. http://www.auroragov.org/AuroraGov/Visitors/About_Aurora/005079?ssSourceNodeId=871&ssSourceSiteId=621. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
- ^ "ZIP Code Lookup" (JavaScript/HTML). United States Postal Service. August 19, 2007. http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp. Retrieved on August 19 2007.
- ^ "Annual Estimates of the Population for All Incorporated Places in Colorado" (CSV). 2005 Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. June 21, 2006. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2005-04-08.csv. Retrieved on November 16 2006.
- ^ a b "Rankings for Metropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2005" (CSV). 2005 Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. June 21, 2006. http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metropop/2005/cbsa-04-fmt.csv. Retrieved on December 13 2006.
- ^ "Annual Estimates of the Population of Combined Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2005" (CSV). 2005 Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. June 21, 2006. http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metropop/2005/cbsa-06-fmt.csv. Retrieved on December 13 2006.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "USA/Canada Offices." Mexicana de Aviación. Retrieved on January 28, 2009.
[edit] External links
- Aurora, Colorado is at coordinates 39°41′45″N 104°48′29″W / 39.695887°N 104.808101°WCoordinates: 39°41′45″N 104°48′29″W / 39.695887°N 104.808101°W
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
