El Paso County has surpassed Denver as Colorado's most populous county (Colorado Springs: neighborhood, universities)

[ColoWeb]

Here is an interesting development. With the latest Census, the bureau released a report showing that that El Paso County has surpassed Denver as Colorado's most populous county.

Other facts:
1. Hispanics of any race now account for one-fifth of the state's population as well. Total just over 1 million in Colorado. In 2000, it was about 736,000, or about 17 percent.
2. El Paso County grew by more than 105,000 people between 2000 and 2010. It now has more than 622,000.
3. The City and County of Denver grew by more than 45,500 and stands at just over 600,000.

Redistricting should be fun! Will there be enough water for the 2020 Census?

[chilicheesefries]

I was about to post this. It is interesting that the 2010 Census population for Denver was over 10K less than the 2009 estimate while El Paso's was quite a bit more than the 2009 estimate. At this pace Denver will be passed by Arapahoe County in not too long as well.

[GoneNative]

For all the talk about Denver's "urbanization," the census numbers show how Denver is becoming, if anything, an even more suburban city. Weld, Douglas, and Elbert counties are filling up with exurban subdivisions (Erie just anounced a huge building project that would bring in close to 10,000 more residents), while SE Aurora and Reunion are creating a lot of growth in Arapahoe and Adams counties. Maybe it's because there's not much more room to grow, but Jeffco looks like a county that is in serious decline. My Jeffco neighborhood is significantly worse than it was when I moved in about 18 years ago. And I think the same can be said for a lot of Jeffco. If you look at the Census Bureau's map of Colorado growth, Boulder, Jeffco, and Denver counties are losing big time to the frontier counties of Colorado's future: El Paso, Douglas, Weld, Arapahoe, and Elbert counties. And the growth on the western slope is also pretty remarkable. I just have a feeling that we're on the cusp of a 1980/1990 urban-to-suburban exodus where the city of Denver really declines while the suburbs explode.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Colorado Springs eclipse Denver's population by 2025, if not sooner, depending on the state of the economy. A building boom would almost definitely happen in COS before it happens in, say, in-fill areas of the city of Denver.

[chilicheesefries]

Originally Posted by GoneNative

For all the talk about Denver's "urbanization," the census numbers show how Denver is becoming, if anything, an even more suburban city. Weld, Douglas, and Elbert counties are filling up with exurban subdivisions (Erie just anounced a huge building project that would bring in close to 10,000 more residents), while SE Aurora and Reunion are creating a lot of growth in Arapahoe and Adams counties. Maybe it's because there's not much more room to grow, but Jeffco looks like a county that is in serious decline. My Jeffco neighborhood is significantly worse than it was when I moved in about 18 years ago. And I think the same can be said for a lot of Jeffco. If you look at the Census Bureau's map of Colorado growth, Boulder, Jeffco, and Denver counties are losing big time to the frontier counties of Colorado's future: El Paso, Douglas, Weld, Arapahoe, and Elbert counties. And the growth on the western slope is also pretty remarkable. I just have a feeling that we're on the cusp of a 1980/1990 urban-to-suburban exodus where the city of Denver really declines while the suburbs explode.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Colorado Springs eclipse Denver's population by 2025, if not sooner, depending on the state of the economy. A building boom would almost definitely happen in COS before it happens in, say, in-fill areas of the city of Denver.

A decline or stagnation in population doesn't necessarily correspond to a decline in quality of life. If anything, Denver has improved in recent years as there is a movement to get back to urban areas and Denver has increased in population due to infill. Back in the 80's it was losing population and it has grown about 33% from where it was then. There is also the issue of rising energy prices which make it more expense to travel. Don't forget doomsday predictors who talk about the exurbs becoming the new slums.

That being said I see Arapahoe and Adams Counties leapfrogging Denver as well and Colorado Springs becoming a bigger city in coming years. Colorado Springs is really beginning to have it's big city problems.

[tfox]

[quote=GoneNative;18011830st have a feeling that we're on the cusp of a 1980/1990 urban-to-suburban exodus where the city of Denver really declines while the suburbs explode.
[/QUOTE]

Nonsense! The City of Denver is not declining -- it grew 10% since the last census, from 554,636 to 610,345. That's an excellent growth rate for a core city, and most of it (but not all) is from infill development.

It is true that Denver County will likely be eventually leapfrogged in numbers by other counties, simply because Arapahoe County has plenty of room for growth and Denver can really only grow through infill and vertical development (Denver can't annex land for horizontal expansion).

But Denver's future is very bright indeed.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by GoneNative

For all the talk about Denver's "urbanization," the census numbers show how Denver is becoming, if anything, an even more suburban city. Weld, Douglas, and Elbert counties are filling up with exurban subdivisions (Erie just anounced a huge building project that would bring in close to 10,000 more residents), while SE Aurora and Reunion are creating a lot of growth in Arapahoe and Adams counties. Maybe it's because there's not much more room to grow, but Jeffco looks like a county that is in serious decline. My Jeffco neighborhood is significantly worse than it was when I moved in about 18 years ago. And I think the same can be said for a lot of Jeffco. If you look at the Census Bureau's map of Colorado growth, Boulder, Jeffco, and Denver counties are losing big time to the frontier counties of Colorado's future: El Paso, Douglas, Weld, Arapahoe, and Elbert counties. And the growth on the western slope is also pretty remarkable. I just have a feeling that we're on the cusp of a 1980/1990 urban-to-suburban exodus where the city of Denver really declines while the suburbs explode.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Colorado Springs eclipse Denver's population by 2025, if not sooner, depending on the state of the economy. A building boom would almost definitely happen in COS before it happens in, say, in-fill areas of the city of Denver.

All of those growth counties except El Paso are really suburban Denver.

The limitation in COS is jobs. Unless you want to work for FOTF, or the military, you're fairly limited. The seat of Colorado government is in Denver. The Health Science Center and all the major medical facilities are in Denver and/or its burbs, ditto the major universities in the state.