Broomfield, Colorado
The City and County of Broomfield is a consolidated city and county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. Broomfield has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The Broomfield population was 74,112 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the 15th most populous municipality and the 12th most populous county in Colorado. Broomfield is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor. History. Several railroads figure in the development of this area. The Colorado Central  Railroad built a narrow gauge line from Golden in 1873, the Denver, Utah and Pacific Railroad arrived in 1881, and the Denver, Marshall and Boulder Railway built a line through what would become Broomfield in 1886. The Denver, Utah and Pacific was widened to standard gauge in 1889. One of the early names for the area was Zang's Spur, after the railroad spur serving Adolph Zang's grain fields. The municipality of Broomfield was incorporated in 1961 in the southeastern corner of Boulder County. While it is unsure how it received its name, most researchers guess it is from  the broomcorn grown in the area, a tall sorghum that farmers sold for use as brooms and whisk brooms. Over the next three decades, the city grew through annexations. Eventually, Broomfield spilled into portions of four counties: Adams, Boulder, Jefferson and Weld. In the 1990s, city leaders felt increasing chagrin with the need to deal with four separate court districts, four different county seats, and four separate county sales tax bases. They began pushing to make Broomfield a consolidated city-county similar to Denver, reasoning that they could provide services more responsively if it had its own county government. They  sought an amendment to the Colorado State Constitution to create a new county. The amendment was passed in 1998, after which a three-year transition period followed. On November 15, 2001, Broomfield County became the 64th and smallest county of Colorado. It is the most recently created county in Colorado, and also in the United States as a whole if county equivalents are not included. On February 20, 2021, United Airlines Flight 328 experienced an engine failure after takeoff from Denver International Airport and debris from the engine landed in parts of Broomfield. Geography. Broomfield is located midway between downtown  Denver and Boulder along U.S. Route 36. Its coordinates are (39.931817, -105.065919). The elevation in Broomfield ranges from 5,096 to 5,856 feet. At the 2020 United States Census, Broomfield had a total area of including of water. It is the smallest county by area in Colorado and the 5th smallest in the United States. Broomfield is the second most densely populated county in Colorado behind Denver. Climate. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Broomfield has a Cold Semi-arid climate ("BSk"). According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the Plant Hardiness zone is 6a with an average annual  extreme minimum temperature of -9.4 °F (-23.0 °C). Ecology. According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. Potential natural vegetation Types, Broomfield would have a Grama, aka Bouteloua / Buffalo grass ("65") vegetation type and a Shortgrass prairie ("17") vegetation form. Demographics. Broomfield is a part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The 2017 census estimates there were 68,341 people living in the city. The population density was 2,193 per square mile as of the 2010 census. The racial makeup of the city was 86.1 percent White, 11.1 percent Hispanic or Latino, 6.1 percent Asian, 2.1 percent  from two or more races, 1.1 percent African American, 0.6 percent Native American, and 0.1 percent Pacific Islander. There were 22,016 households, of which 41.2 percent had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.8 percent were married couples living together, 8.2 percent had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.8 percent were non-families. 19.3 percent of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.2 percent had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 people, and the average family size was 3.19 people. Age  distribution figures show 26.2 percent of residents under the age of 18 and 9.9 percent age 65 years or older. The median age was 36.4 years. Females made up 50.2% of the population. The median household income was $79,034 and the median family income was $96,206 in 2013. The per capita income for the city was $38,792. 48.1 percent of the population over age 25 held a bachelor's degree or higher. Politics. When the county was formed in 2001, it was a swing county, and the city itself had voted for the winning candidate in each  presidential election from 2000 to 2012. In the 2012 election, incumbent president and Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney by roughly five percentage points. However, in recent years the county has trended towards the Democratic Party. In 2016, it voted decisively for Hillary Clinton. Joe Biden won the county by an even larger margin in 2020. As of March 1, 2021, 15,671 voters were Democrats, 11,658 voters were Republicans, and 23,354 voters were not affiliated with any party. Economy. In the 1990s, Broomfield and other area suburbs experienced tremendous economic growth, much of it focused in technology. The Flatiron  Crossing Mall is a large shopping and entertainment center, anchored by Dick's Sporting Goods, Macy's, and Forever 21. The "Broomfield Enterprise" is the local newspaper. KBDI-TV, the secondary PBS member station for the Denver area, is licensed to Broomfield. Ball, Vail Resorts, MWH Global, Flatiron Construction, Webroot, Noodles & Company, WhiteWave Foods and Mrs. Fields are headquartered in Broomfield. Top employers. According to Broomfield's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are: Recreation. Broomfield's recreation opportunities include the Paul Derda Recreation Center and pool, athletic fields, courts and rinks and open space  and trails. Broomfield has an extensive trail system that connects the various lakes and parks. A scenic trail connects the Stearns Lake and the Josh's Pond on the west side of town. Broomfield also has a 9/11 memorial containing a piece of a steel beam from one of the towers. Broomfield also has a skate park with many different features such as bowls, a large half pipe and several "street" obstacles. Government. Sheriff and county commissioners. Broomfield operates as a consolidated city-county. The city council acts simultaneously as the board of county commissioners, and the police chief is  simultaneously the county sheriff. The Broomfield Police Department performs all of the duties that would normally be performed by a county sheriff's office, including operating the county jail (detention center), providing security and bailiff services for the Broomfield Municipal, County, and District Courts and the Combined Courts Building, and providing civil process in the county. The police chief can be hired or fired at will by the city council, which makes Broomfield's sheriff, along with Denver's, the only non-elected sheriffs in the state. Education. Since Broomfield used to be divided among four counties, students living in  the city were served by the separate school districts for their county. While the city is now united within one county, the city is still separated among multiple school districts. There are five school districts that overlap Broomfield, but the two largest school districts in Broomfield are Adams Twelve Five Star Schools and Boulder Valley School District. Broomfield features two large public high schools (Broomfield High School, which underwent significant renovations from 2009 to 2010, and Legacy High), two public middle schools and eight public elementary schools. There are three private schools: Broomfield Academy, with an academic preschool, an elementary  school and a middle school; Holy Family, a Catholic high school; and Nativity of Our Lord Parish, a Catholic elementary school. Broomfield also contains two K-12 charter schools, Prospect Ridge Academy, and Front Range Academy, which has two Broomfield campuses. Notable people. Notable individuals who were born in or have lived in Broomfield or both include: