CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Over the past decade, the City of Centennial has consistently been named one of the safest, business friendly suburbs in the Denver metro area.
Many Coloradans who live and work in Centennial describe it as a community that feels welcoming. And even though it’s just 14 miles south of Denver, it’s a home-rule community with its own identity and collection of diverse voices.
Denver7 | Your Voice recently traveled to Centennial to hear from the residents about living in the city.
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"Centennial is interesting. It is a collection of some old and some new,” said Kristen Watson, who works in Centennial. “Right next to a lot of industrial office space, you've got a mix of families coming in with kids."
She mentioned an old horse farm nearby that sits next to office space.
Centennial is made up of more than 110,000 residents, 5,000 businesses, and 150 neighborhood associations.
Included in that mixture of residential, agricultural, and business land is more than 100 parks, more than 100 miles of trails, and 4,000 acres of open space.
“We moved here in 2020, we moved here from Ohio, and we love it," explained Centennial resident Ashley Adams. "The community is great. Shops are great. Schools are great. We love it. We've had a great sense of community, almost like a little family. Been all around Denver, and would love to stay in Centennial.”
Centennial's beginnings
On Sept. 12, 2000, 77% of voters approved the formation of the City of Centennial and it was officially established early the following year.
“This is the largest city in the history of the United States at time of incorporation," said John Brackney, founder of Centennial, said. "New York City was smaller. Chicago was smaller. There's no other city in the history of the United States that started out at 100,000 people from scratch. The nice neighbor to the north of ours, Greenwood Village, was doing some major annexations.”
Brackney said the annexation would have caused the taxes for residents living in what was then-unincorporated Arapahoe County to increase without benefiting from the increases.
“The bottom line is we determined that we needed to form a city in order to stop the annexation of another city,” Brackney said.
Then and even now, Brackney describes Centennial as a good mixture of nice and modest neighborhoods.
“Middle income, maybe some poverty here and there, and some nicer homes, but the bottom line is, we're kind of middle-income America,” Brackney said.
But the middle-income community has also experienced some growing pains.
Cost of living, traffic, and city parks
Resident Adams, who moved to the Centennial from Houston, said she would describe the city as "on the pricier side," but acknowledged that Colorado as a whole tends to lean that way.
"But Centennial is pretty pricey," she said. "I would love to see the prices come down, making it more affordable for more people in all areas. I feel like since 2020, it's gotten a lot more diverse. Still, some improvement could happen in that area as well.”
Adams also said she would like to see upgrades to some of Centennial’s parks. The city owns three parks and open spaces: Cherokee Trail Park, Centennial Center Park and Parker Jordan Centennial Open Space.
Watson said she thinks city leaders should consider adding some safety barriers to Centennial's main roads, like E. Arapahoe Road.
“Maybe having a little bit of separation. We have a lot of big shipping semis coming through, and then you have that really close to a park like this (Centennial Center Park)," she said. "For moms with little kids, you know, I have a lot of younger siblings... And having semis so close could be nerve-wracking for some parents."
Brackney said while city ordinances and regulations can help fix some issues in the community, the solution to at least some, not all, of the cities issues starts with open communication.
“We've gotten away from that in society, and I think we need to get back to just human beings talking to each other,” Brackney said. “We need to keep listening to people. So in today's world, it seems like we're always looking for a click or a rating. No disrespect… We're looking for a click, a rating, a show, money, power, fame. And that's more than it used to be. When I was growing up and started getting involved in politics, it was just 'What's right, what's good long-term for our community.'"
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