It would be tempting to say, “Poor Commerce City.”
You see, the city that’s grown up in Denver’s northern shadow has been trying feverishly to shake its reputation. A reputation that requires journalists to call it sooty or gritty or hardscrabble whenever her story is written.
And then just days after Commerce City officials decide to spend $80,000 to hire consultants to help refine the city’s image and boost the local economy, the owner of a Dollar Value Plus is shot and killed in his store, garnering more headlines.
His murder, while tragic, shouldn’t further tarnish the reputation of this city. Sadly, it could have happened anywhere.
Commerce City, in fact, has much to be proud of. And while we certainly don’t begrudge city officials wanting to hire a consultant to help them lure “high-impact” companies to town, we’re growing as tired, as we suspect the people of Commerce City are also growing tired, of hearing about its reputation.
Commerce City today is so much more than a foul-smelling refinery town. And even if it wasn’t, where’s the shame in that?
Many factory towns, once considered the backbone of a growing industrial country, are now ghost towns as industries wilt or ship jobs overseas.
The hard hats and lunch buckets at the refinery keep the city chugging. To some, the odor being belched from the refineries is the smell of money.
Be proud of that.
The refineries generate about $15 million annually for the city budget, which pays most of the city’s bills. As Mayor Paul Natale notes, the refineries are “the moneymakers. They are the reason we pick up trash for free and we can recycle for free.”
But there’s much more to Commerce City.
Reunion, a neighborhood of pleasing suburban-style homes with decent pricetags, was featured in the Parade of Homes just a few years ago.
The city also boasts Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, a 18,000-seat soccer stadium that’s home to the Colorado Rapids. On the city’s west side sprouts the Prairie Gateway cultural center, a 917-acre parcel of land along the Rocky Mountain National Wildlife Refuge that includes shopping, open space and youth athletic fields.
And last fall, the city even went “green” as one of Colorado’s first cities to allow “neighborhood electric vehicles” on city roads. (NEVs are similar to golf carts in that they are self-propelled and electrically powered.)
So pay the consultant to help lure companies to Commerce City, but don’t let them mess with your reputation. Instead, embrace it.
