Aurora, Colorado encyclopedia topics

History

In 1891, Donald Fletcher founded the town of Fletcher on the plains east of Denver, naming the town after himself. The real estate tycoon left two years later, leaving the new residents with bond payments for non-existent water. The town was renamed Aurora (Latin for dawn) in 1907, and remained a small community until after World War II. Postwar suburban development transformed the town into what became 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 now under redevelopment as the campus of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and Hospital, which are relocating there from Denver, and the Colorado Bioscience Park Aurora. 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.

Aurora has always been awkwardly split between two counties (more recently, three 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. 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.

Geography

Aurora is located at (39.695887, -104.808101). 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. 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 Douglas County, near the intersection of Inspiration and Gartrell Roads.

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.

Neighborhoods

Aurora is composed of dozens of neighborhoods, districts and (current and former) military installations. Among them:

Aurora Hills
Aurora Knolls
Beacon Point
Buckley Air Force Base
Chadsford
Chambers Heights
Crestridge
Cross Creek
The Dam East
Del Mar
The Dam West
Eastridge
East Quincy Highlands
The Farm
Fitzsimons Campus
Hallcraft's Village East
Heritage at Eagle Bend
Highpoint
Hoffman Heights
Jackson Farms
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
Siena
Stapleton (a portion of the redevelopment of Denver's former airport lies in Aurora, directly north of Original Aurora)
Smoky Hill (the original Smoky Hill 400 subdivision)
Smoky Ridge
Sterling Hills
Summer Valley
Tallyn's Reach
Tallgrass
The Farm
The Timbers
Tollgate Crossing
Tollgate Village
Tuscany
Village East
Waters Edge
Wheatlands
Woodrim

Demographics

As of the census 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.

Education

Notable people from Aurora

William L. Armstrong - former U.S. Representative and Senator
Scott Bentley - professional football player
Michael D. Brown - former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director
Zachery Ty Bryan - television actor
Dwayne Carswell - professional football player
Larry Coyer - professional football coach
T.J. Cunningham - former professional football player
Danny Dietz - U.S. Navy SEAL
Fear Before the March of Flames - experimental rock band
Penny Flame - pornographic actress
Maggie Flecknoe - radio personality and voice actress
Michael Garcia - former Colorado legislator
Eddie Gill - professional basketball player
Foolish Things - alternative rock band
Freddy Glick - former professional football player
John Grahame - professional hockey player
Bob Hagedorn - Colorado legislator
Matt Jordan - professional soccer player
Brian Kelly - professional football player
John Kerry - U.S. senator and U.S. presidential candidate
Daniel Kucera - retired bishop of the Roman Catholic Church
Aaron Moorehead - professional football player
Sean Moran - professional football player
Jane Norton - Former Lieutenant Governor of Colorado
The Oats - pop band
Bill Owens - 40th Governor of Colorado
Aaron Pitchkolan - professional soccer player for FC Dallas of the Major League Soccer
Bill Ritter - 41st Governor of Colorado
Paul Smith - former professional football player
Billy Thompson - professional football player
Sean Tufts - professional football player
Tiffany Vise - professional ice skater
Frank Weddig - state politician
DaVarryl Williamson - former professional boxer
Louis Wright - professional football player
3OH!3 - band

Sister cities

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.