Aurora’s profile on the national stage is set to expand exponentially over the next few years. It will start with the more than 1,500 rooms set to open late this year at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center and only grow from there as future hotels and resorts open around the massive project in the eastern portion of the city.
And as convention after convention take up shop within city limits, there will be a constant opportunity to show the rest of the country Aurora isn’t just another Colorado town or only a suburb of Denver, but its own thriving community that is the true center of diversity in the metro area.
“We’re really a community for so many years that was never considered anything but a suburb of Denver. And in the last few years that has changed so much,” said Bruce Dalton, president of Visit Aurora. “I think one of the biggest selling points of Aurora obviously is the diversity of the community, the uniqueness of our community.”
A joy of living in a city that is not just diverse but also spread out is everyone has their own little secret gem, whether it be a pocket park near their house or the restaurant down the street with only a couple of tables that serves the best food around. And there’s always a new discovery to be made. Even the staff at Visit Aurora is still finding some of the best the city has to offer.
During a recent restaurant tour set up by the Havana Business Improvement District, Randi Morritt, spokeswoman for Visit Aurora said even with the organization’s office nearby she found some spots she hadn’t known about but were now on her list to hit up for a meal.
“A lot of these places are not easily found on the internet so it would be hard to find them,” Morritt said. “They were really nice and even at 3 p.m. they were slammed and packed out the door. There were a lot of options I didn’t expect.”
Lifelong resident Cindy Bohl, spokeswoman for Aurora Mental Health, is constantly hosting people from out of town. Her twin daughters live out of the state and are always coming back to visit and bringing friends with them. And there’s always a list of things to do when they arrive, whether it’s going down to Cherry Creek State Park to enjoy the sun or down to Southlands Mall for one of the outdoor concerts over the summer.
Or enjoying the best fried pickles in the country.
“I have traveled across the country in search of the best fried pickles. And they’re here in Aurora down near E470 at the Parkway Bar and Grill. There just a little family owned restaurant and they do have the best,” Bohl said. “Aurora is unique because it’s very diverse with so many things to do and also it’s so spread out. It starts so far north and if you think about it, Parkway Grill it’s way down at E470 near Heritage Eagle Bend. It’s so big and in that there’s a lot of things to do.”
For Debbie Gerkin, a member of the Aurora Public School board and a longtime veteran of the school system, Aurora offers so much, from a bike ride along the High Line Canal Trail to playing a round of golf.
But one of the things she loves to do with new visitors to show off the city is finding those little “mom and pop” restaurants and stores.
In Aurora, mom may be from Ethiopia or Tokyo. Dad might be from Syria, Siberia or Guatemala.
“When people come to visit, I love to take people to good authentic Mexican food and our favorite place is this little mom and pop place called La Costa (Authentic Mexican Food) on Colfax,” Gerkin said. “Every time I think about what to do here, I always go back to that idea of diversity.”
Diversity doesn’t just mean the wide variety of food the city has to offer, Gerkin said. A visit to almost any of the parks in the city on a summer day and visitors will be able to experience how the diversity of the people living here contributes to why she has loved to call Aurora her home for so long.
“I think the thing that I continually like to raise up for people is the idea that we all live together here. And that’s what makes it such a great place to be,” Gerkin said.