Denver-Aurora metropolitan area
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The Denver-Aurora metropolitan area (population 2,179,240 in 2000) is the official Census designation of the metropolitan area centered on the city of Denver, Colorado and its eastern neighbor, Aurora.
Denver_satellite_1999.jpg
The area is colloquially referred to by the terms Denver Metro or Metro Area, and includes the City and County of Denver; Jefferson and Broomfield counties to the north and west; Arapahoe and Douglas counties to the south and east; and Adams County to the north and east. The most prosperous portions lie to the south, in Douglas County; while the most industrialized areas are to the north, in Denver and extending north to areas such as Commerce City.
Although each county and its cities and towns are self-governing, there is some cooperation in the metropolitan area. Many of the counties and cities belong to the Denver Regional Council of Governments, an association which fosters cooperative planning in the region. In addition, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) provides mass transit, and the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District provides funding for scientific and cultural facilities including the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Zoo, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and the Denver Botanic Gardens. The RTD has developed a twelve-year comprehensive plan, called "FasTracks", to build and operate rail transit lines and expand and improve bus service throughout the region.
The entire metropolitan area sits in a valley, the Denver Basin, and suffers from air pollution known colloquially as the brown cloud, building up if the air is stagnant as it often is in the winter. In the late 1980s the area was frequently in violation of multiple National Ambient Air Quality Standards established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) was formed in 1989 to create plans to address the problem. Through a variety of measures the area's air quality was improved and in 2002 the EPA designated the area in compliance with all federal health-based air quality standards. Denver was the first major city in the United States to reach compliance with all six of these standards after previously violating five of them[1] (http://www.raqc.org/LG%20Communicators/lg%20fact%20sheet%20092204.pdf). Since then the EPA introduced a new standard for small particulates and made the existing ozone standard stricter. In 2003 the new ozone standard was frequently exceeded in the area and was occasionally exceeded as far away as Rocky Mountain National Park. The RAQC hopes to implement plans enabling the area to comply with the new standards by 2007.
See: Colorado Front Range
Official Definition
United States metropolitan areas as defined by the Census Bureau are based on counties. The Denver-Aurora metropolitan area includes the following 10 counties:
Adams - Arapahoe - Broomfield - Clear Creek - Denver - Douglas - Elbert - Gilpin - Jefferson - Park
Because of the relatively large county size in Colorado, much of this area is generally not considered to be part of the metro area. For example, little to none of Clear Creek, Elbert, Gilpin, or Park counties are metropolitan in nature, and only Denver and Broomfield counties are more than half urban by area.
List of communities in the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area
This is a partial list of communities in the metro area. For a complete listing, see the individual county pages.
Arvada - Aurora - Broomfield - Centennial - Cherry Hills Village - Commerce City - Denver - Englewood - Federal Heights - Glendale - Greenwood Village - Highlands Ranch (unincorporated Douglas County) - Lakeside - Lakewood - Littleton - Lone Tree - Northglenn - Thornton - Westminster - Wheat Ridge
The following are a few surrounding communities that are sometimes considered a part of the metro area; some amount of open space separates them from the communities listed above:
Boulder
- Brighton*
- Castle Rock*
- Golden*
- Lafayette
- Louisville
- Morrison*
- Parker*
* Included in the Census definition of the area, the others are not
External Links
- Denver Regional Council of Governments (http://www.drcog.org/)
- Regional Air Quality Council (http://www.raqc.org)
- Regional Transportation District (http://www.rtd-denver.com/)
- Science & Cultural Facilities District (http://www.scfd.org/home.shtml)
