Commerce City, Colorado

7 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3 or North Metro Rail Line. “We have one station, the 72nd Avenue station, the second station stop going northbound from downtown Denver,” clarifies Claymore. “There’s been discussions with landowners, RTD, the county and the school district on community opportunities around the new station stop. What will it look like over the next two decades? What revitalization efforts can we start now?” These types of proactive discussions are important, because the city’s downtown district, locally known as ‘the old town of Derby’, is less than eight miles away. During the 1950s, Derby was the place everybody went for entertainment whether it was being served dinner from the roller skating waitstaff at the drive-in diner or renting a lane at the bowling alley. Even though it has changed a lot since then, it remains a popular business-centric area. Only now, the area includes a number of Latino business owners and operators. For example, El Jardín Restaurant has been a Derby staple for the last 39 years and companies that are located in Commerce City, along with a large cluster of transportation and warehousing operations.” However, this is not that random, considering the school districts in Commerce City offer Careers and Technical Education (CTE) programs. One of Adams County School District 14’s most popular CTE tracks is in the culinary arts. Claymore reports, “Students practice in Adams City High School’s commercial kitchen. This program really prepares the next generation of chefs, food truck operators and restauranteurs.” Programs like these would not be possible without partnerships, which Claymore says the city is “always open to” because strong partnerships solve problems and help get things done! A current collaboration involves the area north of Interstate 70 where Denver’s transit, Regional Transportation District (RTD), has been expanding over the last 20 years. Commerce City has a new station stop along the North (N) Line