City and County of Denver
Flag Seal
Nickname: The Mile-High City
Location of Denver in Colorado
Location of Colorado in the United States
Coordinates: 39°44′21″N 104°59′5″W / 39.73917, -104.98472
Country	United States
State	Colorado
Founded [1]	November 22, 1858
Incorporated	November 7, 1861
Government
- Type	Strong Mayor/Weak Council
- Mayor	John Hickenlooper (D)
Area [1]
- 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 [1]	5,280 ft (1,609 m)
Population (2006)[2] [3]
- City & County	566,974
- Density	3,642/sq mi (1,396.4/km²)
- Metro	2,408,750
- Metro Density	286/sq mi (110.4/km²)
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[4]
Area code(s)	303, 720
FIPS code	08-20000
GNIS feature ID	0201738
Website: http://www.denvergov.org

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. State of Colorado. Denver is located in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Southern Rocky Mountains. The Denver downtown district is located immediately east of the confluence of Cherry Creek with the South Platte River, approximately 15 miles (24 km) east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Denver is nicknamed the Mile-High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile (5280 feet or 1609.344 m) above sea level.^[1]

The United States Census Bureau estimates that, in 2006, the population of the City and County of Denver was 566,974, making it the 27th most populous U.S. city.^[2] The Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated 2006 population of 2,408,750 and ranked as the 21st most populous U.S. metropolitan statistical area,^[3] and the larger Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area had an estimated 2006 population of 2,927,911 and ranked as the 17th most populous U.S. metropolitan area.^[5] The city claims to have the 10th largest central business district in the United States.^[6]

[edit] History

Main article: History of Denver, Colorado

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

Denver was founded in 1858 during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush in western Kansas Territory.^[7] 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 was abandoned in favor of Auraria (named after the gold-mining town of Auraria, Georgia) and St. Charles City by the summer of 1859. The Montana City site is now Grant-Frontier Park and includes mining equipment and a log cabin replica.

On November 22, 1858, General William Larimer, a land speculator from eastern Kansas, placed cottonwood logs to stake a claim on the hill overlooking the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, across the creek from the existing mining settlement of Auraria. Larimer named the town site Denver City to curry favor with Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver.^[8] Larimer hoped that the town's name would help make it the county seat of Arapaho County, but ironically 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.

The Colorado Territory was created on February 28, 1861,^[9] Arapahoe County was formed on November 1, 1861,^[9] and Denver City was incorporated on November 7, 1861.^[10] Denver City served as the Arapahoe County Seat from 1861 until consolidation in 1902.^[11] In 1865, Denver City became the Territorial Capital.^[9] With its new-found importance, Denver City shortened its name to just Denver.^[11] On August 1, 1876, Denver became the State Capital when Colorado was admitted to the Union.^[9]

Panorama of Denver circa 1898

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 gangs.^[12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14]

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 1902-11-15. Denver hosted the 1908 Democratic National Convention to promote the city's status on the national political and socio-economic stage.

Beat icon Neal Cassady was raised on Larimer Street in Denver, and a portion of Jack Kerouac's beat masterpiece On the Road takes place in the city, and is based on the beat's actual experiences in Denver during a road trip. Beat poet Allen Ginsberg lived for a time in a basement apartment on Grant Street (no longer standing), and Kerouac briefly owned a home in the Denver suburb of Lakewood in the late spring and summer of 1949. In addition, Ginsberg helped found the "Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa," in nearby Boulder at the Buddhist college Naropa University, then Naropa Institute.

Denver was selected to host the 1976 Winter Olympics to coincide with Colorado's centennial celebration, but Colorado voters struck down ballot initiatives allocating public funds to pay for the high costs of the games, so 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. Lamm was subsequently elected as Colorado governor in 1974.

Denver has also been known historically as the Queen City of the Plains because of its important role in the agricultural industry of the plains regions 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, Colorado

Denver is located at 39°44′21″N, 104°59′05″W^GR1 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 a total area of 401.3 km² (154.9 mi²), of which 4.1 km² (1.6 mi²), or 1.03%, is water. Denver is surrounded by three other counties: Adams County to the north and east, Arapahoe County to the east and south, and Jefferson County to the west.

[edit] Climate

Denver has a semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen Bsk), with four distinct seasons. While Denver is located on the Great Plains, the weather of the city and surrounding area is heavily influenced by the proximity of the Rocky Mountains to the west. The climate, while generally mild compared to the mountains to the west and the plains further east, can be very unpredictable. Measurable amounts of snow have fallen in Denver as late as Memorial Day and as early as Labor Day, and trace amounts have been recorded in every month of the year.^[15][16]

The average temperature in Denver is 50.1 °F (10.1 °C), and the average yearly precipitation is 15.81 inches (40.2 cm). The season's first snowfall generally occurs around October 19, and the last snowfall is about April 27, averaging 61.6 inches (156 cm) of seasonal accumulation. Although Denver's Convention and Visitor Bureau claims Denver receives over 300 sunny days a year,^[17] the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration places that figure at slightly above 250 days of sunshine a year.^[18]

Denver's winters can vary from mild to cold, and although large amounts of snow can fall on the mountains just west of the city, the effects of orographic lift dry out the air passing over the Front Range, shadowing the city from precipitation for much of the season. Additionally, warm chinook winds occasionally occur as air passing over the mountains heats as it descends, quickly melting snow accumulations and making Denver's winters milder than areas without this effect. 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 1990.

A thunderstorm in Denver.

Spring brings with it significant changes as Denver can be affected by air masses on all sides. Arctic air from the north can occasionally combine with Pacific storm fronts bringing snow to the city. In fact, March is Denver's snowiest month, averaging 11.7 inches (29.7 cm) of snow. Additionally, warm air from the Gulf of Mexico can bring the first thunderstorms of the season, and continental warm air can bring summer-like warm and dry conditions.

Starting in mid-July, the monsoon brings tropical moisture into the city and with it come frequent short (and occasionally severe) late-afternoon thunderstorms. However, despite this tropical moisture, humidity levels during the day generally remain very low. The average high during the summer is 85 °F (29 °C) and the average low is 56 °F (13 °C).

In the autumn, the tropical monsoon flow dies down and as Arctic air begins to approach, it can combine with moisture from the Pacific Northwest to bring significant snowfall to the city – November is Denver's second snowiest month, and Denver's greatest recorded snowfall from a single storm, 45.7 inches (116 cm), fell in late autumn from December 1 to December 6, 1913.^[19]

[edit] Neighborhoods

See also: List of Denver neighborhoods

Denver's 79 official neighborhoods shown on this map

The City and County of Denver has defined 79 official neighborhoods that the city and community groups use for planning and administration. Although the city's delineation of the neighborhood boundaries is somewhat arbitrary, it corresponds roughly to the definitions used by residents. These "neighborhoods" should not be confused with cities or suburbs, which are separate entities within the metro area.

These neighborhoods' character vary significantly from each other and include everything from large skyscrapers to turn of the twentieth century houses to modern, suburban style developments. Generally, the neighborhoods closest to the city center are denser, older and contain more brick building material. Many neighborhoods away from the city center were developed after World War II, and are built with more modern materials and style. Some of the neighborhoods even further from the city center, or recently redeveloped parcels anywhere in the city have either very suburban characteristics or are new urbanist developments that attempt to recreate the feel of older neighborhoods. Most neighborhoods contain parks or other features that are the focal point for the neighborhood.

Looking Across the Central Platte Valley over Lower Highland.

Denver also has a number of neighborhoods not reflected in the administrative boundaries. Sometimes, these neighborhoods reflect the way people in an area identify themselves; sometimes, they reflect how others, such as real estate developers, have defined those areas.

Well-known neighborhoods include the historic and trendy LoDo (short for "Lower Downtown"), part of the city's Union Station neighborhood; Capitol Hill, Highland, Washington Park; Uptown, part of the North Capitol Hill neighborhood; Curtis Park, part of the Five Points neighborhood; Alamo Placita, the northern part of the Speer neighborhood; Park Hill, a successful example of intentional racial integration;^[20] and Golden Triangle, in the Civic Center.

[edit] Parks and recreation

The Denver skyline from City Park during a free summer jazz concert

When Denver was founded in 1858, the city was little more than a dusty collection of buildings on a long, grassy plain with a few contorted cottonwood and willow trees on riverbanks. As of 2006, Denver has over 200 parks, from small mini-parks all over the city to the giant 314 acre (1.3 km²) City Park.^[21] Denver also has 29 recreation centers providing places and programming for resident's recreation and relaxation.^[22]

Many of Denver's parks were acquired from state lands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This coincided with the City Beautiful movement, and legendary Denver mayor Robert Speer (1904-12 and 1916-18) set out to expand and beautify the city's parks. Reinhard Schuetze was the city's first landscape architect, and he brought his German-educated landscaping genius to Washington Park, Cheesman Park, and City Park among others. Speer used Schuetze as well as other landscape architects such as Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and Saco Rienk DeBoer to design not only parks such as Civic Center Park, but many city parkways and tree-lawns. All of this greenery was fed with South Platte River water diverted through the city ditch.^[23]

Chess players on 16th street

In addition to the parks within Denver itself, the city acquired land for mountain parks starting in the 1910s.^[24] Over the years, Denver has acquired, built and maintained around 14,000 acres (56 km²) of mountain parks, including Red Rocks Park, which is known for its scenery and musical history revolving around the unique Red Rocks Amphitheatre.^[25][26] Denver also owns the hill on which the Winter Park Resort ski area is operated in Grand County, 67 miles (110 km) west of Denver.^[27] City parks are important places for the both Denverites and visitors inciting controversy with every change. Denver continues to grow its park system with the development of many new parks along the Platte River through the city and in the Stapleton neighborhood redevelopment. All of these parks are important gathering places for residents and allow what was once a dry plain to be lush, active, and green.

[edit] Demographics

See also: Diversity in Denver, Colorado

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