city of thornton fort collins 144,453 5 lakewood1 143,230 6 thornton1, 2 119,324 7 arvada1, 2...

City of

ThorntonThornton

Community Demographic Profile

2012

2

Table of Contents I. Introduc on

II. Land

III. Popula on

IV. Household and Housing Characteris cs

V. Employment and Income

VI. Parks and Trails

a.

b.

c.

a.

b.

a.

b.

c.

d.

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

a.

b.

c.

a.

b.

3

3

4

History of Thornton………………….……...

Regional Context…………………….………..

Local Context……………………………………

4

5

Land Composi on………………………..…..

Land Annexa on………………..………..…..

6

7

7

8

City and Ward Popula on Es mates...

Popula on Trend……………………………...

Popula on Characteris cs………………..

Race and Ethnicity……………………….…..

9

9

9

10

10

11

Households………………………………….….

Household Size and Tenure Rates..…..

Home Values……………………………..…....

Housing Unit Types………………….…...

COs and Future Housing Growth..….

Commute Pa erns…………………..…….

12

12

Employment………………………….………

Household Income………………..……….

Commercial and Industrial Space

Inventory……………………………………….12

13

13

Parks……………………………………………...

Trails……………………………………………….

3

I. Introduc on The Policy Planning Division, upon receipt of significant new data, publishes a demographic packet which comprises informa on on land use, popula on and housing unit projec ons, demographics, and housing characteris cs. Sources of this data include the City of Thornton, the 2010 Census, 2010 American Community Survey 1‐year es mates (for year 2011), Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), and the Colorado State Demographer’s Office. The purpose of this packet is to provide an overview of the City of Thornton.

Thornton incorporated in 1956 with a popula on of 8,630. Thornton is a first‐ er suburb located approximately ten miles north of downtown Denver. Original Thornton is encompassed by Washington Street on the west, Thornton Parkway to the north, Steele Street to the east, and 88th Avenue to the south. The land area of Thornton was just over one square mile at 786 acres at the

me of incorpora on. One commercial development existed in Thornton at the me of incorpora on called “Thornton Shopping Center”. Since that me, Thornton has grown to over 120,000 residents and a land area of 36 square miles with numerous commercial developments.

History of Thornton

Regional Context

The City of Thornton is located in the north Denver metro area mostly along the east side of I‐25 extending from 84th Avenue to State Highway 7. Thornton is located in northwest Adams County.

Adams

Arapahoe

Douglas

Jefferson

Boulder

Gilpin

Clear Creek

Denver

Broomfield Thornton

Loca on of Thornton in the Denver Metro Area.

Source: City of Thornton, 2012

Denver Regional Council Of Governments 2012

Colorado

4

Ci es bordering Thornton.

Source: Map ‐ City of Thornton, 2012

Popula on ‐ US Census Bureau 2010

II. Land

(118,772)

(55,889)

(106,114)

(35,789)

(45,913)

(11,467)

Residen al 6,735.6 29%

Vacant 5,055.0 22%

Right of Way (ROW) 4,284.1 19%

Parks & Open Space 2,295.3 10%

Other 1,941.0 8%

Commercial 1,110.6 5%

Ins tu onal 700.0 3%

Agricultural 672.2 3%

Industrial 152.0 1%

TOTAL 22,945.8 100%

USE ACRES PERCENTAGE

Source: City of Thornton, 2012.

Land Composi on

The chart on the right lists the total acreage of each land use as of June 2012.

Quick Facts:

120,742 residents (2012 Es mate)

22,991.6 acres or 36 sq. mi.

43,939 housing units

5 neighboring ci es

28 schools:

Elementary: 18

Middle : 5

High School: 5

3 Rangeview Library District branches

120 miles of trails

2 golf courses

Approximately 70 parks

$203,000 median home price

$62,500 median household income

1,380 businesses

25,920 jobs

1 major hospital (2 just outside City boundaries)

Local Context

5

Annexa on by year. City of Thornton, 2012.

Since incorpora on, Thornton has expanded its acreage through annexa on nearly every year. Today, Thornton has grown to 22,991 acres or approximately 36 square miles. The map on the right shows Thornton’s annexa on by five‐year increments from original Thornton (1950’s) through today.

The chart below shows escala ng City acreage through me. In recent years, the economic recession has slowed annexa on and development in the City. This explains the plateauing in the graph over the past few years.

Land Annexa on

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

YearSource: City of Thornton, 2012

Sq

uar

e M

iles

Land Annexed By Year

Acr

es

6

City and Ward Popula on Es mates

Thornton es mates its popula on on a quarterly basis and uses US Census data as the founda on for its calcula ons. Thornton’s popula on es mate for the second quarter of 2012 is 120,742.

Thornton’s popula on is denser in southern Thornton where a diversity of housing will be found such as duplexes, apartments, manufactured homes, and small single‐family houses. Thornton’s popula on density decreases moving north where mostly single‐family units dominate the landscape.

Most vacant land (acres shown on page 4) exist within northern Thornton with sca ered vacant lots of various sizes suitable for infill development in the south.

Ward Popula on

Ward 1 28,091

Ward 2 29,670

Ward 3 32,443

Ward 4 30,538

City Total 120,742*

City of Thornton, 2012.

Es mate is different than the US Census

American Community Survey (ACS) due to

different methodologies.

Thornton and Ward Popula on

Rank City Popula on

1 Denver1 604,414

2 Colorado Springs 419,586

3 Aurora1, 2, 3 326,719

4 Fort Collins 144,453

5 Lakewood1 143,230

6 Thornton1, 2 119,324

7 Arvada1, 2 107,604

8 Pueblo 106,865

9 Westminster1, 2 106,518

10 Centennial1 100,909

Source: US Census 2010 ‐ ACS 1‐year Es mates 1 Within Denver MSA 2 Within Adams County 3 A small por on of Aurora exists in Adams County

Most Populous Ci es in Colorado

III. Popula on

Coral Springs, Florida 121,492

Lafaye e, Louisiana 120,871

Charleston, South Carolina 119,834

Carrollton, Texas 119,759

Abilene, Texas 119,688

Roseville, California 119,335

Thornton, Colorado 119,324

Enterprise CDP*, Nevada 118,697

Beaumont, Texas 118,355

Allentown, Pennsylvania 118,240

Frisco, Texas 117,839

Surprise, Arizona 117,826

Independence, Missouri 117,027

City, State Popula on Rank

213

214

215

216

217

218

219

220

221

222

223

224

225

Na onal Comparison

Source: US Census 2010 ‐ ACS 1‐year Es mates

*CDP ‐ Census Designated Place ‐ defini on and criteria: h p://

www.census.gov/geo/www/psap2010/cdp_criteria.html

Thornton’s rankings are as follows:

The most populous city in Adams County

The 4th most populous city in the Denver Metropolitan Sta s cal Area (MSA)

The 6th most populous city in Colorado

The 219th most populous city in the United States

Persons per acre 5.25

Persons per sq. mi. 3,353

Popula on Density

7

Thornton has grown at a rapid rate since 1990. Future trends indicate that Thornton may return to growing at similarly rapid rates in the next 20 years, a er a few years of below trend growth. Thornton remains one of the fastest growing communi es in the Denver metropolitan area. The chart on the right portrays Thornton’s projected residen al build‐out through 2050. This popula on projec on is based on available developable land and the poten al growth from the FasTracks North Metro Corridor transit line, among other factors.

Popula on Characteris cs

The following graphs and charts display the characteris cs of age, race, and ethnicity of Thornton’s res‐idents. Thornton is a city of young residents. Thornton’s median age is 31.5 years, lower than Colorado (36.0) and Adams County (32.5). Thornton’s largest age group is 25‐34 year olds, making up 1/6 of the popula on. From 2000 to 2011, groups with the largest percentage increase were those ages 45 and older. Though Thornton remains a young community, an increase in residents 65 and older is an cipat‐ed as the baby boomers reach re rement age.

Popula on Trend

Source: US Census 2010 ‐ACS 1‐year Es mates

Geographic Area Median Age

Colorado 36.0

Adams County 32.5

Thornton 31.5

Popula on By Decade

Source: City of Thornton, 2012

0

25,000

50,000

75,000

100,000

125,000

150,000

175,000

200,000

225,000

250,000Projection

Count

Year

Popula

on

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

20,000

22,000

Source: ‐ US Census 2010 ‐ ACS 1‐year Es mates

8

Race alone Colorado % of

Colorado

Adams

County

% of Adams

County Thornton

% of

Thornton

Hispanic or La no* 1,047,700 20.7% 169,287 38.2% 34,563 29.0%

White 3,528,477 69.9% 235,974 53.2% 73,692 61.7%

Asian 131,852 2.6% 15,280 3.4% 5,510 4.6%

Black / African American 189,658 3.8% 12,993 2.9% 3,061 2.6%

Am. Indian / AK Na ve 26,890 .5% 2,659 0.6% 477 0.4%

Pacific Islander 4,313 0.1% 567 0.1% 223 0.2%

Some Other Race 6,092 0.1% 175 0.0% 42 0.0%

Two or More Races 114,089 2.3% 6,780 1.6% 1,756 1.5%

Total Popula on 5,049,071 100% 443,715 100% 119,324 100%

Thornton’s popula on composi on is ever changing and the City con nues to a ract Hispanic families. Today, the Hispanic popula on is about 1/3 of Thornton’s total popula on. Overall, this minority popula on has grown about 40% since 2000 according to the Census. This growing minority popula on will draw a en on to the need to provide services to all cultural groups.

White* 72%

Hispanic/

Latino 21.3%

Asian*2.5%

Black/African

American*

1.4%

Other Race* 2.3%

Thornton 2000 Source: US Census 2000

* Not Hispanic or La no ethnicity

The popula on makeup of Thornton and Adams County tends to be slightly different than the makeup of Colorado’s popula on. Thornton and Adams County have higher Hispanic and Asian percentages and lower White and Black percentages when compared to Colorado.

Thornton 2011 Source: US Census 2010 ‐ ACS 1‐year Es mates

* Not Hispanic or La no ethnicity

White* 61.7%

Hispanic / Latino 29.0%

Asian*4.6%

Black / African

American*

2.6%

Other Race* 2.1%

Race and Ethnicity

* Of any race. Source: US Census 2010 ‐ ACS 1‐year Es mates

No

t H

isp

anic

or

Lan

o

Note should be made that race and ethnicity are different, people belonging to one ethnicity can be of different races.

9

IV. Households and Housing Characteris cs

Households

Households con nue to change in Thornton based on data from the US Census. Over

me, non‐family households have grown slightly in Thornton, but Thornton remains a suburban community composed mostly of tradi onal families with children. Defini ons of family and non‐family households are found on page four of this US Census webpage:

h p://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br‐14.pdf

Household Size and Tenure Rates

Colorado* Adams

County* Thornton

OWNER

Household (HH) Size 2.59 2.87 3.05

Tenure (%) 65.9 65.5 69.2

RENTER

Household Size 2.38 2.80 2.68

Tenure (%) 34.1 34.5 30.8

Average HH Size 2.49 2.85 2.86

Home Values in Thornton

Homes in the City of Thornton are priced for a variety of incomes. In Thornton, 52% of homes are priced at $200,000 and above, while 48% are priced at $199,999 and lower. This creates a me‐dian home price of $203,000 in Thornton. In Thornton, 61% of homes are priced from $150,000 to $299,999.

Home Values

Household Size and Tenure Rates

By defini on, household size is the number of people living in a home, while tenure rate as defined by the US Census is the status of an occupied housing unit as either owner‐occupied or renter‐occupied. Thornton’s household size and owner‐occupied tenure rate remains higher than those of Colorado and Adams County, which is typical of a suburban community, whereas, renter tenure rates in the City are lower.

Non‐Family26.9%

Traditional Family73.1%

Household

Type



* Adams County data includes the City of Thornton.

Colorado data includes Adams County and Thornton.


10

Housing Unit Types The chart below shows the percentage of residen al units by housing type. Single‐family detached homes are the majority of housing units in Thornton and will con nue to be in the foreseeable future based on proposed residen al developments to‐date. Thornton’s residen al unit count is currently 43,939. Thornton tracks residen al unit growth by Building Permits (BPs) and Cer ficates of Occupancy (COs).

Residen al growth rates as expressed through COs have been muted since early 2009. Single‐family detached remains rela vely constant over me, while there has been li le to no growth in mul ‐family or mobile home units. Based on City data, there are about 16,000 units in the development process that are in the approved or ac ve stage. Of the approved and ac ve units, about half are proposed as single‐family detached with about 4,500 units projected as mul ‐family.

COs and Future Housing Growth


0 5,000 10,000 15,000

Approved

Active MF

SFA

SFD


Ac ve—Projects with at least one CO issued.

Approved—Projects with approved subdivisions, pla ed and recorded with the City and the County.

Proposed—Projects with a submi ed Conceptual Site Plan or Subdivision Plan


Number of COs Issued By Quarter

11

Commute Pa erns

0102030405060708090

<10 10‐14 15‐19 20‐24 25‐29 30‐34 35‐44 45‐59 60+

Minutes

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

Median Time: 28 min.

1 Denver

2 Thornton

3 Adams Co. Unincorporated

4 Westminster

5 Broomfield

Top Five Loca ons Where

Thornton Residents Work

1 Thornton

2 Westminster

3 Adams Co. Unincorporated

4 Denver

5 Northglenn

Top Five Loca ons Where Those

Employed In Thornton Live

Source: DRCOG

The commuter characteris cs of Thornton portray the City as a typical suburban community. Roughly 77% of Thornton’s households have two or more vehicles. The average Thornton commuter travels 28 minutes (one‐way) in a Single Occupancy Vehicle (SOV) to reach their des na on. The number one commute des na on for Thornton residents is Denver followed by des na ons within Thornton. These commute characteris cs lend support to the proposed North Metro FasTracks line linking commuters to Denver.




Vehicles per Household

Mode of Transporta on

Commute Times

Percentage

No Vehicle

One Vehicle

Two Vehicles

Three Vehicles

3%

20%

43%

34%

12

V. Employment and Income Employment

Households Income (Dollars)

1,082 $9,999 or less 1,605 $10,000 to $14,999 3,514 $15,000 to $24,999 2,637 $25,000 to $34,999 7,520 $35,000 to $49,999 8,324 $50,000 to $74,999 5,908 $75,000 to $99,999 6,568 $100,000 to $149,999 2,365 $150,000 to $199,999 596 $200,000 or more

Median Household Income

$62,512

Household Income


Compared to the State of Colorado, Thornton has a higher median house‐hold income at $62,512. The median household income for Colorado is $54,046.

Type Year Total Sq. Ft. Vacancy

2011 2,013,108 6%

Industrial 2010 1,980,981 6%

2009 1,980,981 6%

2011 1,429,863 22%

Office 2010 1,429,863 24%

2009 1,429,863 23%

2011 3,791,197 9%

Retail 2010 3,791,197 11%

2009 3,791,197 11%

2011 715,771 30%

Flex 2010 715,771 29%

2009 715,771 29%

Commercial and Industrial

Square Feet and Vacancy

Thornton strives to expand its employment diversity. Currently, Thornton’s four major employment sec‐tors are: Retail Trade, Administra ve Support, Health Care, and Accommoda on and Food Services. These four sectors comprise over 12,000 jobs or about 47% of the job market in Thornton. Thornton is es mated to have about 25,920 jobs in 2012.

Thornton has about eight million square‐feet of commercial and industrial space. Currently, there are about 1,380 businesses in Thornton. For more informa on about commercial and industrial space and development, please see Thornton’s Economic Development webpage: h p://www.businessinthornton.com/


13

VI. Parks and Trails

Parks

Thornton currently has more than 70 parks, open lands, and sports fields, most connected by trails. Combined, parks and open lands including joint use facili es, total 2,131 acres, equaling one‐tenth of the City. Major recrea onal ameni es include:

Thornton’s Community Center, located at Gaylord and Eppinger;

Margaret W. Carpenter Recrea on Center at 112th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard;

Thornton Senior Center on Dorothy Boulevard in Original Thornton;

Thorncreek Golf Course located at 136th and I‐25 serves as the only City‐owned golf course

Heritage at Todd Creek Golf Club (privately‐owned) located in northeast Thornton; and

Thornton Arts and Cultural Center on Dorothy Blvd.

Trails

Thornton’s trail system is intertwined throughout the city. As of early 2010, the City of Thornton maintained about 120 miles of trails and bike lanes with more planned for the future. Thornton’s trail system consists of regional and mul purpose trails, local trails, and bike lanes/routes. These trails connect most city parks and ul mately connect to the South Pla e River Trail System. Thornton trails will exist conveniently at all six proposed FasTracks sta ons.

Detailed maps of trails and parks can be found on the City’s website at:

h p://www.cityo hornton.net/Departments/CommunityServices/Parks/Pages/default.aspx

city of thornton fort collins 144,453 5 lakewood1 143,230 6 thornton1, 2 119,324 7 arvada1, 2...

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