Centennial, Colorado

This page discusses the City of Centennial, Colorado. For other entries on Centennial, see Centennial (disambiguation).

Centennial is a city located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. Founded in 2001, no official census data is available on the city.

History

Centennial was incorporated from portions of unincorporated Arapahoe County in 2001. The city was incorporated to prevent the City of Greenwood Village from annexing certain portions of Arapahoe County to improve its tax base. The money generated from those businesses in the unincorporated portion of Arapahoe County were mostly what funded the majority of the county's services, including road work. There were a number of court cases establishing the right of incorporation to take precedence over the right of annexation. Located entirely within Arapahoe County, and forming part of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area, Centennial was formed February 7, 2001 (the day after its first city officials were elected). The citizens of the formerly unincorporated portion of Arapahoe County had voted to incorporate on September 12, 2000, choosing Centennial as the official name during the vote. It was created on a promise to keep city taxes at 1% (one of the campaigns against incorporation appealed to maintain the unincorporated 3.8% sales tax). Incorporation was approved by 77% of the voters, and the 100,000+ person population of the area made it the largest incorporation in U.S. history as of its creation.

James Michener's 1974 novel Centennial and the subsequent miniseries based on it were set in a fictional town called Centennial, Colorado; however, that town was not based on the actual city of Centennial, Colorado. Neither the geography nor history of Michener's town resemble that of the actual Centennial; Michener's "Centennial" can be placed in Weld County. In addition, the novel predated the formation of the actual city by more than a quarter of a century.

Similarly, Centennial Airport, formerly Arapahoe County Airport, lies adjacent to, but outside of the city limits; it is not named after the city, as it predates it by over 30 years.

Geography

Centennial covers 27.9 square miles (72 km²). Population-wise, it is the seventh-largest city in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area, behind Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Arvada, Thornton and Westminster, but as it is new, many people even in the area do not recognize the area by the name Centennial, often referring to the area with the names of neighboring cities, notably Littleton and Aurora. Centennial's boundaries are highly irregular and evocative of a gerrymander, particularly eastern portions of the city which appear with Foxfield, portions of Aurora, and unincorporated areas as a distorted checkerboard on a map.

Centennial is located at 39°35'47" North, 104°50'38" West (39.5963, -104.8439)¹.

Demographics

Population: 103,100 (2004 estimate) There are also 36,200 households in Centennial.

The city is approximately 87.4% White, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 3.6% Asian, 2.4% African American, 0.4% Native American, and 1/4% from other races.

The median age is 37.2 years, in comparison to the 35.3 year national average. For every 100 females there are 98.0 males.

Schools

Centennial is serviced mainly by Cherry Creek Public Schools and Littleton Public Schools, as well as a few private schools.

Government

The city is governed in what is known mayor-council style, which limits the city's tax levying and collection powers. The city council is comprised of eight members. The Mayor and all Council Members are part-time officials and hold other full time jobs.

Mayor: Randy Pye

Councilmember, Ward I: Rick Dindinger

Councilmember, Ward I: Vorry Moon

Councilmember, Ward II: Sue Bosier

Councilmember, Ward II: Bart Miller

Councilmember, Ward III: Rebecca McClellan

Councilmember, Ward III: Andrea Suhaka

Councilmember, Ward IV: Todd Miller

Councilmember, Ward IV: Ron Weidmann

Other Elected Officials

City Clerk: Goldie Fishbein

Treasurer: Doug Milliken

Surrounding municipalities

	North: Aurora, Greenwood Village
West: Littleton	Centennial	East: Aurora
	South: Lone Tree, Foxfield

External links

Arapahoe County, Colorado | Cities in Colorado

Centennial (Colorado)