Aurora is a Home Rule Municipality that is the third most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 59th most populous city in the United States. The population was 276,393 at the 2000 census, with an estimated population of 295,835 in 2007. The municipality is split between Arapahoe County and Adams County, with a small portion lying in Douglas County. The city and its western neighbor are the principal cities of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in 2007 had an estimated population of 2,464,866. (22nd most populous MSA), the estimated population of the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area was 2,998,878 (15th most populous CSA),.
The city's official elevation, posted on signs at the city limits, is 5,471 feet (1,668 m). However, the city spans a difference in elevation of nearly 1,000 feet (300 m). The lowest elevation of 5,285 feet (1,611 m) is found at the point where Sand Creek crosses the city limit in the northwest corner of the city, while the highest elevation of 6,229 feet (1,899 m) is on the extreme southern border of the city in Douglas County, near the intersection of Inspiration and Gartrell Roads.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 142.7 square miles (369.7 km²), of which, 142.5 square miles (369.1 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it (0.17%) is water.
Aurora straddles Interstate 70, Interstate 225 and the E-470 beltway. The Regional Transportation District's light rail transit system was extended to serve the southwestern edge of Aurora on November 17, 2006. The G Line and H Line stop at Aurora's Dayton and Nine Mile Stations; a comprehensive network of feeder buses in southern Aurora serve the latter. An extension of light rail along I-225 through the city is planned to connect with a commuter rail line between downtown Denver and Denver International Airport (DIA), both scheduled for completion by 2015. Much of Aurora is more convenient to DIA than Denver itself. This proximity is a factor in the expected growth of the E-470 corridor directly south of DIA, projected to eventually accommodate 250,000 additional Aurora residents. |
