The Stapleton neighborhood of Denver is the newest addition to the greater metro area. Following the demolition of Aurora's Stapleton Airport in 1995, large tracts of Stapleton real estate became available for the construction of new homes, businesses, and community centers. Stapleton real estate went up overnight. That is not to say the planning of the new community was hasty; in fact, quite the opposite. The demolition of the old airport had been in the works for more than a decade, so by the time the last building was leveled, city developers had a complete idea of what would replace the runways, hangers and terminal. The result of the Stapleton real estate development project ended up being the largest urban redevelopment project in U.S. history. The first step in transforming a defunct airport into an urban development project was connecting Stapleton to downtown Denver. City planners managed to do so via lightrail. Since the city wanted to make a concerted effort to slow urban sprawl and develop the greater metro area more responsibly, the next step was to establish the parks and green open space. Finally came the addition of new homes, office buildings, retail stores, recreation, community centers and city buildings. The result of the Stapleton project was a community developed to prevent urban sprawl, "lauded as a leading national example of new urbanism and sustainability," according to the Denver Post. Because of these efforts by planners, Stapleton has something to offer everyone, from recreation to retail shopping to residential housing.
Northfield Stapleton Main Street Shops: The Main Street Shops at Northfield Stapleton offer a wide variety of retail and entertainment options. Located at the heart of the Stapleton urban development project, the Main Street Shops feature large pedestrian streets, several outdoor fountains, an 18-screen movie theater and more than 100 retail outlet stores. Northfield Stapleton is home to dozens of restaurants as well as specialty shops.
Central Park: With more than 80 acres, Stapleton's Central Park is Denver's third largest municipally funded and maintained park. Central Park features hills for sledding in the winter, a lake for RC boating in the summer, an amphitheater, barbecue and covered picnic/party areas, indoor facilities, bocce ball courts, jogging paths and athletic fields, a play fountain and a Dr. Seuss-inspired children's park. It also has large maintained but undesignated green open space areas, and an area where dogs are permitted to run free without a leash.
Dick's Sporting Goods Park - An indoor stadium, Dick's Sporting Goods Park seats 18,000 people. It has an open roof, but shade awnings that cover those people in the upper decks. The Dick's Sporting Goods Park is home to the Colorado Rapids, Denver's Major League Soccer team. The stadium is available for private event bookings and, as such, concerts, rallies and large public events are often held there. Dick's Sporting Goods Park is also home to the Colorado High School Championships as well as the Lacrosse Championships.
Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum: The museum has more than 25 airplanes and fighter jets, including a Super Sabre and a Star Fighter, the first jet to break the sound barrier flying horizontally and the first to double it. The Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum also has a replica space station module and a life-size replica of the Star Wars X-Wing. The museum is one of a kind in that it not only exhibits airplanes and space craft, it also contributes money to the funding of aeronautical projects. In addition to the permanent features in the museum, The Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum features aircraft, rocketry and space exhibits that travel around the country. In other words, visitors rarely walk into the same museum twice. It constantly changes.
Stapleton Farmers Market: Every Sunday from mid-June through mid-October, the Stapleton Farmers Market is open to the public. Stands sell fresh, Colorado-grown fruits and vegetables, and visitors can purchase fresh herbs and spices, baked goods, specialty meats, and gourmet food items. The market is open from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The farmers market is located at Northfield Stapleton's Main Street.
The residential homes in the Stapleton neighborhood are primarily two-story stick or brick houses, all less than 10 years old. Strict building codes maintain the uniformity of the neighborhoods, but in addition to the three- and four-bedroom homes, part of the sustainable living program required builders to develop affordable housing. Most of the affordable housing homes are two-bedroom and one story. In addition to the affordable housing, developers were also required to emphasize rental housing, including single-family homes, apartment complexes and condominiums. There are 11 neighborhoods in Stapleton, three of which are north of Interstate 70, and the remaining south. The majority of the commercial buildings in Stapleton are made of brick and no more than four stories. As with the residential zones, the municipality has attempted to maintain a consistent aesthetic appearance among the buildings. There are 13 schools, one of which is a high school. Recreators can utilize any one of the 30 parks, six community pools, or 11 community centers. The lightrail runs parallel to the interstate, south of I-70. In addition to the lightrail, buses travel from Stapleton to downtown Denver every five minutes, and shuttles run back and forth from Stapleton to Denver International Airport hourly.
