Brighton, Colorado

Brighton is a home rule city located in Adams and Weld counties, Colorado, United States.<ref name=COMun/> Brighton is the county seat of Adams County and is a part of the Denver-Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> The city population was 40,083 at the 2020 United States census with 39,718 residing in Adams County and 365 residing in Weld County.<ref name=2020_Census/>

History

Brighton was founded as a stage/railroad depot and farming community named Hughes. The Hughes, Colorado Territory, post office opened on April 13, 1871,<ref name=CPO>Template:Cite book</ref> Colorado became a state on August 1, 1876,<ref name=Colorado_Statehood_Proclamation>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Hughes post office was renamed Brighton on August 4, 1879.<ref name=CPO/> The town was named for Brighton Beach, New York.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Town of Brighton was incorporated on September 1, 1887.<ref name=MuniIncCO/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Adams County was created on April 15, 1901, with Brighton as its seat.

Geography

Brighton is a suburb of Denver located at coordinates Template:Coord at an elevation of Template:Convert.<ref name=GNIS/>

At the 2020 United States census, the city had a total area of Template:Convert, including Template:Convert of water.<ref name=2020_Census/>

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Brighton has a cold semi-arid climate, abbreviated BSk on climate maps.

Demographics

Template:US Census population As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2000, there were 20,905 people, 6,718 households, and 5,058 families living in the city. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 6,990 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the city was 76.91% White, 0.99% African American, 1.47% Native American, 1.10% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 16.29% from other races, and 3.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 38.22% of the population.

There were 6,718 households, out of which 40.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.7% were non-families. 19.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.34.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 28.6% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $46,779, and the median income for a family was $53,286. Males had a median income of $35,686 versus $27,103 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,927. About 6.1% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.0% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Brighton is the home of two Vestas manufacturing plants, a wind turbine blade factory and a nacelle manufacturing plant. The factories are valued at $290 million and will provide 1,350 employment opportunities: 650 in the blade factory and another 700 in the nacelle manufacturing plant. Groundbreaking for the factories took place on March 25, 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Prairie Center is a Template:Convert shopping center with a pedestrian-oriented retail village.

The Greater Brighton Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau began helping small businesses in the Brighton community in 1955, paving the way for the expansion of Brighton retail, and manufacturing. The Brighton Chamber helped to secure Brighton as an Agritourism destination within the Denver Metro area for Farm Fresh Produce and opening the Brighton Visitors Center in May 2020. The Greater Brighton Chamber of Commerce is ranked the 14th Best Chamber in the Denver area per the Denver Business Journal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

School District 27J serves the community.

Notable people

Notable individuals who were born in or have lived in Brighton include:

• Todd Helton (born 1973), baseball 1st baseman<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• John L. Kane Jr. (born 1937), U.S. federal judge<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Richard Ling (born 1954), Shaw Foundation Professor of Media Technology at Nanyang Technological University
• Max Pfeffer, Senior Associate Dean of the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
• Dillon Serna (born 1994), soccer midfielder<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Brian Shaw, leading American strongman
• Angie Zapata (1989–2008), murder victim<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Sister city

Brighton has a sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International:

• Template:Flagdeco Ziębice, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland

See also

• Denver-Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area
• Front Range Urban Corridor
• Kitayama Carnation Strike
• List of county seats in Colorado
• List of municipalities in Colorado
• List of populated places in Colorado
• List of post offices in Colorado

External links

• City of Brighton
• State of Colorado
  • CDOT map of the City of Brighton
  • History Colorado