Commerce City is a home rule city located in Adams County, Colorado, United States. In April 2007, the citizens of Commerce City voted more than 2:1 to retain their city's name.

The Mile High Kennel Club, a greyhound racing park founded in 1949, is no longer operational. Purchased by the Commerce City Urban Renewal Authority (CCURA) in 2011, the site is an officially designated urban renewal area, which allows tax increment financing to be used as a funding source for the redevelopment. The CCURA and City Council adopted an updated Master Developer Agreement for the Mile High Greyhound Park in July 2019, and the project broke ground in October 2020.

A new Adams City High School has been constructed on land at 72nd and Quebec streets. This was formerly part of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. The new school campus opened in 2009.

Geography

Commerce City comprises a downtown area, and northern community stretching north of Denver International Airport.

At the 2020 United States census, the city had a total area of , including of water.

|date=May 2015

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Commerce City had a population of 62,418. The median age was 32.4 years. 30.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 7.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 102.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 100.9 males age 18 and over.

There were 19,145 households in Commerce City, of which 49.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 55.9% were married-couple households, 16.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 19.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 14.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

|-

| White || 32,049 || 51.3%

|-

| Black or African American || 2,636 || 4.2%

|-

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 1,085 || 1.7%

|-

| Asian || 1,974 || 3.2%

|-

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 111 || 0.2%

|-

| Some other race || 12,493 || 20.0%

|-

| Two or more races || 12,070 || 19.3%

|-

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 30,505 || 48.9%

|}

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 20,991 people, 6,668 households, and 4,974 families residing in the city. The population density was under the age of 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.1 males.

The demographic breakdown of the city shows a composition of 74.15% White, 3.39% African American, 1.23% Native American, 2.46% Asian, 13.15% from other races, and 5.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino individuals of any race constitute 46.8% of the total population.

The median income for a household in the city was $69,268 and the median wage in the city was $54,340. The labor force was 28,684 with 31,086 jobs residing within the city. About 15.3% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.5% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

thumb|right|[[Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, home of the Colorado Rapids Major League Soccer franchise]]

Commerce City is home to an oil refinery with a capacity of . Originally, this facility existed as two separately owned refineries, one on each side of Brighton Boulevard.

Suncor Energy bought the west refinery from ConocoPhillips in 2003. A project to upgrade this facility began in August of that year.

Suncor purchased the east refinery from Valero in June 2005 with the eventual goal of combining the two operations. As a result of a lawsuit by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a number of states (including Colorado) alleging violations of the Clean Air Act, Valero agreed in June 2005 to make pollution-reducing changes to its refineries, including the Commerce City facility. Suncor's purchase agreement included an assumption of all liability from this suit.

The west refinery's upgrade project, named "Project Odyssey," was extended to the east refinery. The west plant was shut down in February 2006 to complete the upgrade, while the east plant continued to refine of oil per day. The completion of the $445 million project was announced in June 2006 and allows Suncor to meet the EPA's mandate to reduce the sulfur content of diesel fuel. It also gives the refinery the ability to process Suncor's Canadian sour crude oil sands. The combined facility is the largest refinery in the Rocky Mountain region.

Parks and recreation

The city features of parks and open spaces with of connecting trail system. There are two recreation centers run by the city, and a pool.

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is the largest land-based, urban wildlife refuge in the United States, featuring of open lakes, wetlands, and grasslands.

The latter district's comprehensive high school is Adams City High School.

Notable people

  • Ronnie Bradford (born 1970), football defensive back
  • Dominick Moreno (born 1985), Colorado state legislator
  • Joe Rogers (1964–2013), former Lieutenant Governor of Colorado
  • JoAnn Windholz, Colorado state legislator

See also

  • Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area
  • Denver-Aurora-Greeley, CO Combined Statistical Area
  • Front Range Urban Corridor
  • List of municipalities in Colorado
  • List of populated places in Colorado
  • List of post offices in Colorado

References

  • State of Colorado
  • History Colorado
  • City of Commerce City website