Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area

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Map of the 5-county Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area

Satellite image of the core of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area

The Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area is a United States Census Bureau defined Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the State of Colorado that includes the City and County of Denver and nine suburban counties. The Census Bureau estimates that the population was 2,357,404 on 2007-07-01, an +14.23% increase since United States Census 2000.^[1] In 2007, 50.7% of Coloradans lived in the Denver-Aurora MSA.

The Denver-Aurora MSA, the Boulder MSA, and the Greeley MSA comprise the larger Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area. Local residents generally use the term Denver area or Denver metro area which may informally mean anything from the continuously urbanized area within the six central counties of the MSA to the entire Front Range Urban Corridor north of Colorado Springs and south of Fort Collins.

The central part of the MSA includes the City and County of Denver and its three immediately adjoining counties: Jefferson County to the west, Adams County to the north and east, and Arapahoe County to the south and east. The continuously urbanized area extends northwest into Broomfield County, bordering Jefferson and Adams counties, and south into Douglas County, adjoining Arapahoe County. The most prosperous parts of the area are in the south, while the most industrialized areas are in the northeast, specifically in the northern part of Denver proper and extending to areas such as Commerce City in Adams County.

Also included in the MSA defined by the United States Census Bureau are four rural counties that are not popularly considered part of the Denver metro area. Elbert County is on the southeastern prairie; Clear Creek, Gilpin, and Park counties are in the Rocky Mountains.

Although the counties, cities, and towns are self-governing, there is some cooperation in the metropolitan area. The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG, pronounced Doctor Cog) is a regional planning and inter-governmental coordination organization in a nine-county region. The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) provides funding for scientific and cultural facilities in a seven-county region including:

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science
The Denver Zoo
The Denver Art Museum
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts
The Denver Botanic Gardens

In addition, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) provides mass transit, including a light rail system. In 2005 the RTD 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 center of the 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. Severity of pollution in this area has varied enormously over the years. 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]. 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.

1 Counties
2 Cities and Towns
3 Sister "city"
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Counties

The Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area comprises ten counties.^[2] The sortable table below includes the following information:

The name of the county
The population of the county as of 2007-07-01, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau^[1]
The county population as of 2000-04-01, as counted by the United States Census 2000^[1]
The percent county population change from 2000-04-01, to 2007-07-01, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau^[1]

**Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area**
County	2007 Pop	2000 Pop	Δ Pop
DenverCity and County of Denver, Colorado	588,349	554,636	A08+6.08%
Arapahoe County, Colorado	545,089	487,967	A06+11.71%
Jefferson County, Colorado	529,354	527,056	A09+0.44%
Adams County, Colorado	422,495	363,857	A03+16.12%
Douglas County, Colorado	272,117	175,766	A01+54.82%
BroomfieldCity and County of Broomfield, Colorado	53,691	0	A00NA
Elbert County, Colorado	22,720	19,872	A04+14.33%
Park County, Colorado	17,004	14,523	A02+17.08%
Clear Creek County, Colorado	8,956	9,322	A10-3.93%
Gilpin County, Colorado	5,091	4,757	A07+7.02%
Total	2,464,866	2,157,756	A05+14.23%

[edit] Cities and Towns

The Denver-Aurora MSA includes the Town of Alma, the City of Arvada, the City of Aurora, the Town of Bennett, the City of Black Hawk, the Town of Bow Mar, the portion of the City of Brighton in Adams County, the City and County of Broomfield, the City of Castle Pines North, the Town of Castle Rock, the City of Centennial, Central City, the City of Cherry Hills Village, the Town of Columbine Valley, the City of Commerce City, the Town of Deer Trail, the City and County of Denver, the City of Edgewater, the Town of Elizabeth, the Town of Empire, the City of Englewood, the Town of Fairplay, the City of Federal Heights, the Town of Foxfield, the Town of Georgetown, the City of Glendale, the City of Golden, the City of Greenwood Village, the City of Idaho Springs, the Town of Kiowa, the Town of Lakeside, the City of Lakewood, the Town of Larkspur, the City of Littleton, the portion of the Town of Lochbuie in Adams County, the City of Lone Tree, the Town of Morrison, the Town of Mountain View, the portion of the City of Northglenn in Adams County, the Town of Parker, the City of Sheridan, the Town of Silver Plume, the Town of Simla, the portion of the Town of Superior in Jefferson County, the portion of the City of Thornton in Adams County, the City of Westminster, the City of Wheat Ridge, unincorporated Adams County, unincorporated Arapahoe County, unincorporated Clear Creek County, unincorporated Douglas County, unincorporated Elbert County, unincorporated Gilpin County, unincorporated Jefferson County, and unincorporated Park County, Colorado.

The following outlying communities were previously part of the Denver Metro Area, but according to Census definition they are now part of the separate Boulder Metropolitan Area, since they are located in Boulder County:

The following outlying communities are sometimes popularly associated with the Denver Metro Area, but according to Census definition they are part of the separate Greeley Metropolitan Area, since they are located across the county boundary in southwestern Weld County:

[edit] Sister "city"

Though Arvada, Aurora, Boulder, Brighton, Broomfield, Denver, Lakewood and Longmont have their own individual sister city relationships, the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) as a whole has a sister city relationship with the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq. [2]