Aurora, Colorado

Aurora is Colorado's third-largest city. The municipality is split between Arapahoe and Adams County, with a small portion lying in Douglas County. The city and its western neighbor are the principal cities of the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area. As of the 2000 Census, the city population was 276,900. The latest Census estimates place the city's population at 297,235, making it the 61st-largest in the United States. The city will soon reach the milestone of 300,000 residents.

In 1891, Donald Fletcher founded a town on the plains east of Denver and named it after himself. The real estate tycoon ran out 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 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 professional sports franchise, the Aurora Cavalry in the International Basketball League, began play in 2006.

In 2005, Aurora again made headlines because the city is planning to split from three counties to create the City and County of Aurora. The plan was originally created back in 1996 and it was defeated by Aurora voters while Broomfield successfully split from four counties to create the second city-county in 2001. [1]

Geography

Aurora is located at (39.695887, -104.808101). Signs posted at the city limits indicate an elevation of 5,471 feet.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 369.7 km² (142.7 mi²). 369.1 km² (142.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) 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 will be extended to serve the southwestern edge of Aurora by the end of 2006. An extension 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 (former) military installations. Among them:
* Buckley Air Force Base
* Fitzsimons Campus
* Lowry Air Force Base
* Mission Viejo
* Original Aurora (the Fletcher townsite, Aurora's "downtown")
* Saddle Rock
* Stapleton (a portion of the redevelopment of Denver's former airport lies in Aurora, directly north of Original Aurora)
* Tuscany
* Heritage at Eagle Bend
* Tallyn's Reach (won community of the year)
* Piney Creek
* Village East

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 748.9/km² (1,939.6/mi²). There were 109,260 housing units at an average density of 296.0/km² (766.7/mi²). 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.

Notable people from Aurora

* Sean Allen - high school student who prompted national controversy regarding teacher Jay Bennish
* William L. Armstrong - former U.S. Representative and Senator
* Michael D. Brown - former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director
* Zachery Ty Bryan - television actor
* Dwayne Carswell - professional football player
* Eddie Gill - professional basketball player
* John Grahame - professional hockey player
* Matt Jordan - professional soccer player
* Brian Kelly - professional football player
* John Kerry - U.S. senator and presidential candidate
* Daniel Kucera - retired bishop of the Roman Catholic Church
* Aaron Moorehead - professional football player
* Sean Moran - professional football player
* Aaron Pitchkolan - professional soccer player
* Bill Ritter - Colorado governor candidate
* Billy Thompson - professional football player
* Frank Weddig - state politician
* DaVarryl Williamson - former professional boxer
* Louis Wright - professional football player

Sister cities

Aurora has three sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
* Jaco, Costa Rica
* Seongnam, South Korea
* Zielona Góra, Poland

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.