Denver

Denver

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This article is about the capital of Colorado. For other uses, see Denver (disambiguation).

City and County of Denver

—  City-county  —

Denver, Colorado

Denver Skyline from City Park

Flag   

Seal

Nickname(s): The Mile-High City[1] Queen City of the West, Queen City of the Plains,[2] Wall Street of the West[3]

Location of Denver in the State of Colorado

City and County of Denver

Location in the United States

Coordinates: 39°44′21″N 104°59′5″WCoordinates: 39°44′21″N 104°59′5″W

Country        United States

State  Colorado

City and County     Denver[4]

Founded       11/22/1858, as Denver City, K.T.[5]

Incorporated          11/7/1861, as Denver City, C.T.[6]

Consolidated          11/15/1902, as the City and County of Denver

Named for   James William Denver

Government

 - Type           Consolidated City and County[4]

 - Mayor        Guillermo "Bill" Vidal (D)[7]

Area[5]

 - City-county          154.9 sq mi (401.3 km2)

 - Land           153.3 sq mi (397.2 km2)

 - Water        1.6 sq mi (4.1 km2)  1.03%

 - Metro        8,414.4 sq mi (21,793.2 km2)

Elevation[8]            5,130-5,685 ft (1,564-1,732 m)

Population (2010)[9][10][11][12]

 - City-county          600,158 (24th in 2,009)

 - Density     3,905/sq mi (1,507/km2)

 - Urban         1,984,887

 - Urban density     3,979.3/sq mi (1,536.4/km2)

 - Metro        2,552,195

 - Demonym            Denverite

Time zone    MST (UTC-7)

 - Summer (DST)     MDT (UTC-6)

ZIP codes      80201-80212, 80214-80239, 80241, 80243-80244, 80246-80252, 80256-80266, 80271, 80273-80274, 80279-80281, 80290-80291, 80293-80295, 80299, 80012, 80014, 80022, 80033, 80123, 80127[13]

Area code(s)           Both 303 and 720

FIPS code     08-20000

GNIS feature ID     0201738

Highways     I-25, I-70, I-76, I-225, I-270, US 6, US 40, US 85, US 285, US 287, CO 2, CO 26, CO 30, CO 35, CO 83, CO 88, CO 95, CO 121, CO 177, CO 265, CO 470, E-470

Website       City and County of Denver

Most populous Colorado city

The City and County of Denver (pronounced /ˈdɛnvər/) is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The Denver downtown district is located immediately east of the confluence of Cherry Creek with the South Platte River, approximately 12.3 miles (20 km) east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Denver is nicknamed the "Mile-High City" because its official elevation is exactly one mile (1.6 km) or 5,280 feet (1,609.344 m) above sea level.[5] The 105th meridian west of Greenwich passes through Union Station and is the temporal reference for the Mountain Time Zone.

The population of Denver was 600,158 according to the 2010 census.[10] According to 2009 Census estimates, Denver was the 24th most populous U.S. city.[9] The 10-county Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated 2009 population of 2,552,195 and ranked as the 21st most populous U.S. metropolitan statistical area[11] and the 12-county Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area had an estimated 2009 population of 3,110,436 and ranked as the 16th most populous U.S. metropolitan area.[14] Denver is the most populous city within a 500-mile (800 km) radius and the second-largest city in the Mountain West and Southwest after Phoenix. Denver is the most populous city in the Front Range Urban Corridor, an urban region stretching across eighteen counties in two states, and the second-largest in area after Colorado Springs. The population of the Front Range Urban Corridor was estimated to be 4,328,406 in 2009.[15]

Contents [hide]

1 History

2 Geography

2.1 Climate

2.2 Neighborhoods

2.3 Parks and recreation

3 Demographics

4 Government

5 Economy

6 Media

6.1 Television stations

6.2 Radio stations

6.3 Print

7 Transportation

7.1 City streets

7.2 Freeways and highways

7.3 Mass transportation

7.4 Airports

8 Education

9 Culture and contemporary life

10 Sports

11 Sister cities

12 Adjacent counties and municipalities

13 See also

14 References

15 External links

[edit]History

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)

Main article: History of Denver

Former Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver visited his namesake city in 1875 and in 1882.

Panorama print of Denver, 1898

Denver City was founded in November 1858 as a mining town during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush in western Kansas Territory.[16] That summer, a group of gold prospectors from Lawrence, Kansas, arrived and established Montana City on the banks of the South Platte River. This was the first settlement in what was later to become the city of Denver. The site faded quickly, however, and by the summer of 1859 it was abandoned in favor of Auraria (named after the gold-mining town of Auraria, Georgia), and St. Charles City. The Montana City site is now Grant-Frontier Park and includes mining equipment and a log cabin replica.[citation needed]

The "Broncho Buster", a variation of Frederic Remington's "Bronco Buster" western sculpture at the Denver capitol grounds, a gift from J.K. Mullen in 1920

On November 22, 1858, General William Larimer, a land speculator from eastern Kansas, placed cottonwood logs to stake a claim on the bluff overlooking the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, across the creek from the existing mining settlement of Auraria, and on the site of the existing townsite of St. Charles. Larimer named the town site Denver City to curry favor with Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver.[17] Larimer hoped that the town's name would help make it the county seat of Arapaho County, but unknown to him Governor Denver had already resigned from office. The location was accessible to existing trails and was across the South Platte River from the site of seasonal encampments of the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The site of these first towns is now the site of Confluence Park in downtown Denver. Larimer, along with associates in the St. Charles City Land Company, sold parcels in the town to merchants and miners, with the intention of creating a major city that would cater to new emigrants. Denver City was a frontier town, with an economy based on servicing local miners with gambling, saloons, livestock and goods trading. In the early years, land parcels were often traded for grubstakes or gambled away by miners in Auraria.[17]

"Pioneer Mothers of Colorado" statue at the Denver Post building

Colorado Territory was created on February 28, 1861,[18] Arapahoe County was formed on November 1, 1861,[18] and Denver City was incorporated on November 7, 1861.[6] Denver City served as the Arapahoe County Seat from 1861 until consolidation in 1902.[19] In 1867, Denver City became the Territorial Capital. With its new-found importance, Denver City shortened its name to just Denver.[19] On August 1, 1876, Colorado was admitted to the Union.

Between 1880-1895 the city experienced a huge rise in city corruption, as crime bosses, such as Soapy Smith, worked side-by-side with elected officials and the police to control the elections, gambling, and the bunko[20] gangs.[21] The city also experienced a depression in 1893 after the crash of silver prices. In 1887, the precursor to the international charity United Way was formed in Denver by local religious leaders who raised funds and coordinated various charities to help Denver's poor.[22] By 1890, Denver had grown to be the second largest city west of Omaha, but by 1900 it had dropped to third place behind San Francisco and Los Angeles.[23]

In 1901 the Colorado General Assembly voted to split Arapahoe County into three parts: a new consolidated City and County of Denver, a new Adams County, and the remainder of the Arapahoe County to be renamed South Arapahoe County. A ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court, subsequent legislation, and a referendum delayed the creation of the City and County of Denver until November 15, 1902.[24]

Denver has hosted the Democratic National Convention twice, during the years of 1908, and again in 2008, taking the opportunity to promote the city's status on the national, political, and socioeconomic stage.[25]

Early in the 20th century, Denver, like many other cities, was home to a pioneering Brass era car company. The Colburn Automobile Company made cars copied from the contemporary Renault.[26]

Denver was selected in 1970 to host the 1976 Winter Olympics to coincide with Colorado's centennial celebration, but in November 1972 Colorado voters struck down ballot initiatives allocating public funds to pay for the high costs of the games, subsequently the games were moved to Innsbruck, Austria. The notoriety of becoming the only city ever to decline to host an Olympiad after being selected has made subsequent bids difficult. The movement against hosting the games was based largely on environmental issues and was led by then State Representative Richard Lamm, who was subsequently elected to three terms (1974–86) as Colorado governor.[27]

Denver has also been known historically as the Queen City of the Plains, as well as the Queen City of the West, because of its important role in the agricultural industry of the high plains region in eastern Colorado and along the foothills of the Colorado Front Range. Several US Navy ships have been named USS Denver in honor of the city.

[edit]Geography

Satellite image of the Denver Metropolitan area

Main article: Geography of Denver

Denver is located in the center of the Front Range Urban Corridor, between the Rocky Mountains to the west and the High Plains to the east. According to the United States Census Bureau the city has an area of 154.9 square miles (401.2 km2), of which 1.6 square miles (4.1 km2), or 1.03%, is water. The City and County of Denver is surrounded by only three other counties: Adams County to the north and east, Arapahoe County to the south and east, and Jefferson County to the west.

[edit]Climate

Denver lies within the semi-arid, continental climate zone (Köppen climate classification BSk)[28] with four distinct seasons and generally low annual precipitation. Summers are hot and generally dry, with occasional afternoon thunderstorms. Winters are generally cool but can see sharp cold snaps; frequent periods of snow can alter with periods of warmth, which result from warming downslope chinook winds. Due to its inland location on the High Plains, at the foot on the Rocky Mountains, weather patterns in Denver are subject to rapid, volatile changes. Annual precipitation is 15.8 inches (401 mm). The first snowfall of the season generally occurs around October 8, and the last snowfall is about April 27, averaging 61 inches (155 cm) of seasonal accumulation, but the median is usually less than that. Extreme snowstorms and/or blizzards are rare (usually only occurring every 3–4 years). Also due to the high altitude, as well as the dry and sunny climate of the area, snow usually melts very quickly. With 300 days of sunshine per year, and 3100 hours of sunshine, or 69% of the possible total, the city's climate is very sunny, even when compared to many American cities.[29]

Temperatures of below 0 °F (−18 °C) occur on an average 7–8 nights per year, while there are usually at least 35 days or more that reach 90 °F (32 °C).[30]

The coldest temperature ever recorded in Denver was recorded on January 9, 1875 at −29 °F (−34 °C), though the last time Denver recorded a temperature below −20 °F (−29 °C) was in December 1990, when the low temperature was −25 °F (−32 °C).[31]

Sunrise in Denver on a typical January morning

The highest temperature ever recorded in Denver is 105 °F (41 °C) (National