|
Metro Brokers
Realtors in Denver Colorado for Homes and Real Estate
Useful Denver Links
Denver Demographics
The "Mile High
City" . . .
By Tom McKnight
DENVER, capital city
of Colorado, located in the central part of the state. The largest
city in Colorado, Denver is known as the Mile High City because of
its elevation of about 1 mi (about 1.6 km). The population is
467,610 (1990). Denver is the commercial, manufacturing, financial,
and transportation center for an important ranching and mining
region of the Rocky Mountains. Major manufactures include rubber
products; processed food; electronic devices; building materials;
luggage; mining, aerospace, and railroad equipment; and chemicals.
The Urban Landscape Points of
interest in Denver include the Denver Art Museum & Museum of Natural
History, Ocean Journey, Gates Planetarium, Denver Zoo, and the
Denver Botanic Gardens. A major branch of the United States Mint
opened in 1906. Denver is a major winter-sports center and is home
to four major professional sports organizations: the Denver Nuggets
basketball team and the Colorado Avalanche hockey team play in new
Pepsi Center; the Denver Broncos football team plays in Mile High
Stadium and building a new stadium due to be completed for the 2001
season; and the Colorado Rockies baseball team plays at the
beautiful Coors Field.
History: The Denver area was
originally inhabited by numerous Native American peoples, including
the Arapaho, Comanche, and Kiowa. In 1858 gold was discovered on the
South Platte River in what is now the center of Denver, sparking a
gold rush. The city served as an outfitting point for prospectors
throughout the area. Temporary settlements developed into the towns
of Auraria and Saint Charles. Auraria was renamed Denver City, for
the territorial governor, James W. Denver, and in 1860 the two
communities were consolidated. The city was incorporated in 1861.
Denver was selected as the territorial capital in 1867, and it
prospered in the 1870s and 1880s as a result of the discovery of
rich gold and silver deposits in the area and the coming of the
railroad. The city began a major redevelopment program in the
1960s.Denver is ranked the second most livable city in the United
States just behind Seattle, according to Fortune Magazine's November
1996 issue. The magazine's editors examined business indicators
such as the price of office space, job growth and infrastructure in
determining its choices. Denver's Class "A" office rental rates are
$22 per square foot and job growth has risen for nine consecutive
years. Also evaluated in determining this rating were the cities'
crime rate, taxes, number of doctors, traffic, movie ticket prices
and schooling. The capital of Colorado
and as economic center of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain
regions, Denver is located on the South Platte River in the north
central part of the state. The city, which has an area of 287 sq. km
(111 sq. mi.), is coextensive with Denver County. Denver has a
population of 554,636 (2000 census), with a metropolitan-area
population of 2,581,506 (2000 census).
Denver is situated at an elevation
of about one mile above sea level, a fact reflected in its nickname,
"Mile High City." The Front Range of the Southern Rockies rises
abruptly to heights of more than 4,265 m (14,000 ft) nearby to the
west, but Denver itself sprawls over an unimpressive prairie
landscape. Despite a semiarid climate (annual precipitation is 405
mm/16 in) and relatively steady winds, considerable smog is
generated locally. The average temperature in January is - 2 deg. C
(29 deg. F); the July average is 23 deg. C (73 deg. F).
The economy is diversified, with
commerce, particularly sales and distribution, of primary
importance. Although the city is not a major tourist resort, Denver
is the gateway to the various attractions of the nearby mountains.
The city also has regional federal offices and rapidly growing
industries, including aerospace; rubber; energy; and food processing
associated with the stockyards. A branch of the U.S. Mint (1904) is
located there, as well as a number of military installations. A new
$5 billion Denver International Airport completed in 1993.
Denver is the home of the
University of Colorado Medical Center and the University of Denver
(1864). Other cultural institutions include the Colorado State
Historical Museum, the Denver Art Museum, the Buffalo Bill Museum
(at Lookout Mountain), and a center for the performing arts. In
addition, Denver has an extensive system of public parks covering
about 1,740 ha (4,300 acres) in the city and 5,442 ha (13,447 acres)
in the foothills of the Front Range.
Originally consolidated (1860) from
two small mining camps, Denver, which was named for James W. Denver,
governor of Kansas Territory in 1858, was designated capital of the
Colorado Territory in 1867. The coming of the railroads in 1870 and
a subsequent silver-mining boom in the mountains stimulated
population growth, from 5,000 in 1870 to 107,000 in 1890. Denver has
since emerged as the main urban center between the
Minneapolis-Kansas City-Dallas axis and the Pacific Coast.
Bibliography
- Dorsett, Lyle, The Queen
City: A History of Denver (1977; repr. 1986)
- Leonard, Stephen J., and Noel,
Thomas J., Denver: From Mining Camp to Metropolis (1991).
Copyright 1995 by
Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.
1st
Denver Home Real Estate, Ltd.
Metro Brokers, Inc.
8201 Shaffer Parkway Ste B
Littleton, Colorado 80127
(303) 587-5128
Colorado Licensed Real Estate Broker
|
