The Reputation of Aurora (Denver, Broomfield: crime, home, university)

[TigerLily24]

Old perceptions die hard, I guess.

I wonder how many people would be surprised by this:

"According to the FBI’s annual “Crime in the United States” report for 2014, Aurora is ranked as the safest large city in the state and the 16th overall safest city in the nation."

Aurora Named Safest Large City In Colorado 2nd Year In A Row « CBS Denver

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Mr. Analyst

Well I guess this confirms that people are idiots.

Of course they are. Some even think Aurora is a good place to live.

[emm74]

Parts of Aurora are still pretty sketchy - the "Original Aurora" area for one.

https://www.auroragov.org/LivingHere...Renewal/001484

They may have some big plans for urban renewal but it's slow going. I think it will get there - geographically, it's too desirable not to given good proximity to downtown, the airport and Anschutz. It will take a while but I bought adjacent to the area in the Southeast corner of Stapleton. The plans for that area even have a name - Westerly Creek Village. https://www.auroragov.org/cs/groups/...ent/013781.pdf

But Aurora is huge, and I think that even assuming something like the Westerly Creek Village renewal plan happens, it's going to take even longer for perceptions to change along with it.

So yeah, unfortunately, people will turn their nose up at the idea of living in Aurora even if they don't know the details of a specific location and it could in fact be a really great area to live. My son used to go to a daycare in the the Dayton Triangle area and I shopped there and routinely spent a lot of time there. I still go to that Sprouts sometimes, it's less of a zoo than the one on Colfax.

[denverian]

Living in Stapleton, I drive through the worst part of Aurora a lot and see it as a crime-ridden dump. I've heard gunshots down there from my Stapleton house more than once, and a check of the sex offender list shows this area is lit up. The housing stock is generally run down and dumpy, not anything a flipper could turn into something desirable. I don't know how this area will ever "turn around" without massive numbers of "scrape-offs", including all the crack motels on Colfax <--- and this is a MAJOR reason why the oldest part of Aurora will never be desirable, unless they bulldoze all these motels. Can't tell you how many times I've seen murder scenes through there, had crazy tweaker prostitutes approach my car, seen crazy fights, people strung out on drugs...

However, I'm not a moron and know that's just one part of Aurora. Most of Aurora is nice enough - and brand new neighborhoods to the east/southeast. All big cities have their bad parts, Denver included. I think what Aurora really lacks is a dense, urban downtown. The old "original downtown" on Colfax could be nice, but it's not very big. If Aurora could stop being the dumping grounds for the metro area's homeless and drug addicted (along Colfax), that would help with its reputation. It'll take decades though.

[Mr. Analyst]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Of course they are. Some even think Aurora is a good place to live.

It's good enough for me, but I'm not a snooty, sheltered white person. I'm still close to everything, paid significantly less $$$ than the folks who had to be in the heart of it all, and got double the home on top of it. I've had more druggies and thugs try to break into my place when I lived down in Cap Hill than I have here. I live in a safe, quiet community...can't beat that.

If others' inaccurate notions of the area keeps my property taxes low, I'll take it. There's nothing wrong with the City of Aurora as a whole.

[Mr. Analyst]

Originally Posted by Raddo

When I moved to Colorado, I had no preconceptions about the Denver area or which areas are better than others.

But I didn't move to the front range. I moved to rural Colorado, where there are no TV stations. All that is available is satellite with local stations, so Denver is my local TV.

All I can say is that when I watch the news, it seems crime reports of all kinds frequently originate in Aurora. If there is a positive, feel-good story, it seems to frequently originate from Highlands Ranch or Boulder.

Based solely on local TV news, if I needed to reside in the Denver area, I know where I would want to live and where I wouldn't. Until that changes, I don't know how Aurora could ever overcome its reputation.

Interesting, I hear about more gang and drug-related violence in Cap Hill and North Park Hill, which is Denver proper. I watch the news almost nightly and seldom see any crime reports originating from Aurora.

[Mr. Analyst]

Originally Posted by TigerLily24

Old perceptions die hard, I guess.

I wonder how many people would be surprised by this:

"According to the FBI’s annual “Crime in the United States” report for 2014, Aurora is ranked as the safest large city in the state and the 16th overall safest city in the nation."

Aurora Named Safest Large City In Colorado 2nd Year In A Row « CBS Denver

LOL, that's great! Thanks for sharing this.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by Mr. Analyst

Interesting, I hear about more gang and drug-related violence in Cap Hill and North Park Hill, which is Denver proper. I watch the news almost nightly and seldom see any crime reports originating from Aurora.

I don't notice negative news from Aurora that much. And again, most of the crime is in the bad area just south of Stapleton.

Is that area south of Lowry an "unincorporated" area? It seems rather different from the rest of Aurora. Maybe it's just part of the county, not the city? Anyway, seems like a quiet area with decent housing.

[Mr. Analyst]

Originally Posted by denverian

I don't notice negative news from Aurora that much. And again, most of the crime is in the bad area just south of Stapleton.

Is that area south of Lowry an "unincorporated" area? It seems rather different from the rest of Aurora. Maybe it's just part of the county, not the city? Anyway, seems like a quiet area with decent housing.

I think what you're referring to is Dayton Triangle, which is the neighborhood I live in. It is pretty quiet. Off of Florida Ave., near where I live, it's mostly town homes and condos. Most of the housing stock is fairly new. My community was built in 2000. It's the quietest neighborhood I've lived in out of Cap Hill and Congress Park. It's great if that's what you're looking for, which I was. It seems like a good amount of the people who live in my community are retirees or older couples. I think the area will be pretty attractive to first time home buyers once the older residents move on.

[Count David]

See: many of my posts from 2007-2009 (when I lived there).

I'm not there as much as I used to be, but I don't bat any eyes when I am.

Hang out with people IN Aurora, and the stigma no longer exists.