Denver Apartments

About Denver

Renting an Apartment in Denver

The City and County of Denver is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located on the plains just east of the Rocky Mountains and forms the heart of the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area. The central downtown district is on the east side of the South Platte River, near its confluence with Cherry Creek, approximately fifteen miles from the foothills.

Denver is the county seat of, and shares the same borders with, Denver County — one of the few consolidated city-counties in the United States. According to 2004 Census estimates, the city has a population of 556,835 and ranks as the 25th-largest in the United States and the sixth-largest state capital. The Denver Regional Council of Governments estimated that the 2005 population of the city was 579,744 (unofficial). The population of the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area was about 2,330,146, making it the twenty second-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. The city claims to have the tenth largest downtown in the United States.

Denver is nicknamed “The Mile-High City” because its official elevation, measured on the fifteenth step of the state capitol building’s west side, is one statute mile (5,280 feet or 1,609 meters) above sea level. Also, a row of seats in the upper deck of Coors Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies (NL), is marked in purple (one of the team’s colors) to indicate that the row is one mile above sea level. The city’s elevation, as surveyed at Denver International Airport, is 5,431 ft (1,655 m).

Denver has also been known historically as the Queen City of the Plains because of its important role in the agricultural industry of the plains regions along the foothills of the Front Range. Several US Navy ships have been named USS Denver in honor of the city.

Denver Neigborhoods

Denver has 79 neighborhoods that the City and community groups use for planning and administration. Although the City’s delineation of the neighborhood boundaries is somewhat arbitrary, the City’s definitions of its neighborhoods roughly correspond to those used by residents.

Denver also has a number of neighborhoods not reflected in the City’s administrative neighborhoods. Sometimes these neighborhoods reflect the way people in an area identify themselves; sometimes they reflect how others, such as real estate developers, have defined those areas.

Among the neighborhoods commonly spoken of are historic and trendy LoDo (short for “Lower Downtown”), part of the City’s Union Station neighborhood; Capitol Hill, Washington Park; Uptown, part of the North Capitol Hill neighborhood; Curtis Park, part of the Five Points neighborhood; Alamo Placita, the northern part of the Speer neighborhood; and the Golden Triangle, roughly the Civic Center neighborhood.

Denver Geography

Denver is located at 3943’35″ North, 10457’56″ West (39.726287, -104.965486) in the Colorado Front Range region. It has the Rocky Mountains to the west and the great plains to the east.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 401.3 km (154.9 mi). 397.2 km (153.4 mi) of it is land and 4.1 km (1.6 mi) of it is water. The total area is 1.03% water.

Climate

Denver has a semi-arid climate with four distinct seasons. While Denver is located on the Great Plains, the weather of the city and surrounding area is heavily influenced by the proximity of the Rocky Mountains to the west. The climate, while generally mild compared to the mountains to the west and the plains further east, can often be very unpredictable. Measurable amounts of snow have fallen in Denver as late as Memorial Day and as early as Labor Day, and trace amounts have been recorded in every month of the year.

The average temperature in Denver is 50.1F (10.1C), and the average yearly precipitation is 15.81 in (402mm). The season’s first snowfall generally occurs around October 19, and the last snowfall is about April 27, averaging 61.6 in (156cm) of seasonal accumulation. Although Denver’s Convention and Visitor Bureau claims Denver receives over 300 sunny days a year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says Denver receives about 250 days of sunshine a year.

Denver’s winters are cold and dry, and although huge amounts of snow can fall on the mountains just west of the city, the effects of orographic lift dry out the air passing over the Front Range shadowing the city from precipitation for much of the season. Additionally, warm chinook winds can occasionally be felt as air passing over the mountains heats as it descends. Nevertheless, winters are generally cold, with the coldest temperature ever recorded in Denver was recorded on January 9, 1875 at -29F (-34C), though the last time Denver recorded a temperature below -20F (-29C) was in 1990.

Spring brings with it significant changes as Denver can be affected by air masses on all sides, whether arctic air from the north, which occasionally combines with Pacific storm fronts bringing snow to the city. In fact, March is Denver’s snowiest month, averaging 11.7 in (29.7 cm) of snow. Additionally, warm air from the Gulf of Mexico can bring the first thunderstorms of the season, and continental warm air can bring summer-like warm and dry conditions.

Starting in mid-July, the monsoon brings tropical moisture into the city and with it come frequent short (and occasionally severe) late-afternoon thunderstorms. However, despite this tropical moisture, humidity levels during the day generally remain very low. The average high during the summer is 85F (29C) and the average low is 56F (13C).

In the autumn, the tropical monsoon flow dies down and as arctic air begins to approach it can combine with moisture from the Pacific Northwest to bring significant snowfall to the city – November is Denver’s second snowiest month, and Denver’s greatest recorded snowfall from a single storm, 45.7 in (116 cm), fell in late autumn from December 1 to December 6, 1913.

Colleges and Universities

Denver’s many colleges and universities range in age and study programs. The city boasts Catholic and Jewish institutions, as well as a well-respected health sciences school. In addition to those schools within the city, there are a number of schools located throughout the surrounding metro area.

* University of Denver
* Metropolitan State College of Denver
* University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center
* Johnson & Wales University
* Regis University
* Community College of Denver
* Heritage College
* National American University: Denver
* Yeshiva Toras Chaim Talmudical Seminary