Aurora
has long been considered by many only as one of Denver's
larger suburbs, its growing population in recent decades
(now over half the size of the City of Denver) has
led to efforts for co-equal recognition with its larger
neighbor. A former mayor once expressed the somewhat
whimsical notion that eventually the area would be
called the "Aurora / Denver Metropolitan Area."
However, such efforts are somewhat hampered by the
lack of a large, historically important central business
district in the city, which is largely suburban in
character.
World
attention focused on Aurora for seven weeks during
the fall of 1955, as President Dwight D. Eisenhower
recovered from a heart attack at Fitzsimons Army Medical
Center. The hospital is also the birthplace of 2004
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Decommissioned
in 1999, the facility is now under redevelopment as
the campus of the University of Colorado Health Sciences
Center and Hospital, which are relocating there from
Denver, and the Colorado Bioscience Park Aurora. These
facilities will employ a workforce of 32,000 at build-out.
Aurora
was honored as the Sports Illustrated magazine's 50th
Anniversary "Sportstown" for Colorado In
2004, because of its exemplary involvement in facilitating
and enhancing sports. Aurora's active populace is
also reflected in the variety of professional athletes
hailing from the city (see Notable People from Aurora
below). Aurora's first professional sports franchise,
the Aurora Cavalry in the International Basketball
League, began play in 2006.
Aurora
has always been awkwardly split between two counties
(more recently, three counties) and lies distant from
the respective county seats. A consolidated city and
county government was considered in the mid-1990s
but failed to win approval by city voters. The issue
was reconsidered in 2006. Colorado voters created
the City and County of Denver in 1902 and the City
and County of Broomfield in 2001. A consolidated city
and county of Aurora would likely include areas not
within the current city limits, but the new city-county
boundaries would be set, restricting future expansion.
Donald
Fletcher founded the town of Fletcher on the plains
east of Denver in 1891, naming the town after himself.
The real estate tycoon left two years later, leaving
the new residents with bond payments for non-existent
water. The town was renamed Aurora (Latin for dawn)
in 1907, and remained a small community until after
World War II. Postwar suburban development transformed
the town into what became the fastest growing city in
the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
