Commerce City: Industrial Roots North of Denver
Commerce City grew out of unincorporated Adams County land that was too industrial for most residential developers to touch. Oil refineries, stockyards, and chemical plants occupied much of the area from the early twentieth century onward. The city incorporated in 1952 and has since grown to about 53,700 residents, many of whom moved in during the housing booms of the 2000s and 2010s when new subdivisions were built on former agricultural land north and east of the older industrial core.
Dick's Sporting Goods Park, home to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, opened in 2007 and brought a different kind of attention to Commerce City. The 18,000-seat stadium sits on the eastern edge of town, surrounded by open prairie and commerce parks rather than the urban streetscape typical of newer MLS venues. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, a former chemical weapons manufacturing site that was cleaned up and converted into a 15,000-acre preserve, occupies the western portion of the city and is home to bison, deer, and bald eagles.
The Suncor Energy refinery complex along Brighton Boulevard remains the most prominent industrial presence. Air quality complaints related to the refineries and other heavy industry have been a persistent issue for residents in the southern neighborhoods, and environmental justice has become a focal point in local politics.
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Commerce City grew out of unincorporated Adams County land that was too industrial for most residential developers to touch. Oil refineries, stockyards, and chemical plants occupied much of the area from the early twentieth century onward. The city incorporated in 1952 and has since grown to about 53,700 residents, many of whom moved in during the housing booms of the 2000s and 2010s when new subdivisions were built on former agricultural land north and east of the older industrial core.
Dick's Sporting Goods Park, home to the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, opened in 2007 and brought a different kind of attention to Commerce City. The 18,000-seat stadium sits on the eastern edge of town, surrounded by open prairie and commerce parks rather than the urban streetscape typical of newer MLS venues. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, a former chemical weapons manufacturing site that was cleaned up and converted into a 15,000-acre preserve, occupies the western portion of the city and is home to bison, deer, and bald eagles.
The Suncor Energy refinery complex along Brighton Boulevard remains the most prominent industrial presence. Air quality complaints related to the refineries and other heavy industry have been a persistent issue for residents in the southern neighborhoods, and environmental justice has become a focal point in local politics.
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