It’s easy to have a media driven opinion of Aurora, Colorado. Thirteen years ago a madman Joker wannabe killed 12 and wounded 58 Batman moviegoers, fueling a nationwide debate on gun control. Today, Venezuelan gangs are taking over the apartments. Aurora is not a “sanctuary city,” but it gets a lot of bad ink in the news as the destination of illegal immigrants bused in from the Texas border. Even POTUS piled on in his State of The Union address, calling it a “beautiful town destroyed.” When was the last time you read something good about Aurora, CO?
Aurora lives in the shadow of its celebrity Mile High neighbor, Denver. Denver’s western side abuts the magnificent Rocky Mountains and towns of lore. Picturesque Golden lies in its foothills where Coors brews the coldest tasting beer in the world from the Clear Creek mountain river. Red Rocks Amphitheater hosts marquis concerts in a stunning natural rock formation patterned after the ancient OG amphitheater in Taormina, Sicily.
Further west, the ski towns of Vail, Breckenridge and Keystone beckon with fresh powder and steep chutes. On the east side of Denver, Aurora abuts the airport, with nothing but the endless flat expanse of the Great Plains behind it.
It’s not easy being a “hidden gem” like Aurora and maybe that’s why we are attracted to it. Everyone loves an underdog story. Anchoring Aurora’s southern border, Cherry Creek State Park became our 10 day abode. Three years prior we tried to make a go of it camping, but ice cold temperatures and inadequate gear made it miserable. This time we returned with true four-season capability and, by God, we were entertained with four seasons of weather nearly everyday. In the morning we brushed the snow off of the tent, and by evening we were shirtsleeves in the sun. Mule Deer grazed, coyotes howled and the black billed magpie made camp above us in the Cottonwood trees.
It’s easy to see Aurora as suburban sprawl, apartments and townhomes separated by retail at the corners, 4/2.5 houses with attached garages on postage stamped lots off the main drags. But, look closely and you will notice that the retail is peppered with non-chain, mom-and-pop ethnic businesses. Aurora is a melting pot of hustle, hard work, and pursuit of the American dream. It’s ugly with Progress and beautiful with Promise.
The best place to start your day in Aurora is picking up fresh made tortillas from La Amapola on the way to Milly’s Community Cafe, where like minded progressives hole up in the basement of a church to drink hand crafted coffee drinks laced with housemade syrups and nosh on homemade bakery items. It’s as different from a Starbucks as you can get and still be caffeinating. A local crowd keeps the two proprietors busy. But, they are twenty something young, and they’ve been busy since they started rolling the dough for the fresh strawberry scones at 4 a.m. that morning.
If it’s a Tuesday – Saturday, head over to veteran owned Gone For Good on 2nd Street to pick and deal with Bill. It’s the ultimate Salon de Refuses thrifting experience where fresh finds are delivered daily to an enter-at-your-own-risk warehouse. Imagine the contents of 100 of your grandmother’s houses were dropped into a warehouse and then everyday more stuff shows up. Nothing is priced and bundling is encouraged. There is a good chance that an item from Gone for Good will be featured on Antiques Roadshow, you just have to find it.
Karina operates the New Era Barber Shop right outside of the entrance to Cherry Creek State Park. Sixteen years ago she left Armenia for a new life in the United States. Every year or two she returns to visit her family in the Old Country. They would NEVER travel to the U.S., especially today, but Karina is committed to making it work in her adopted home. Sheri says that her use of thinning shears on Eric’s new doo was legit. With a camp shower available every other day at best and freezing temperatures making a ski cap mandatory night gear, Eric was just happy to have it gone for good.
Down the street, JT’s Nails and Spa offers high end mani-pedi services at Aurora’s Best Of 2025 nail salon. Living in the snow, dirt, and dust day in and day out is no reason to let good nail hygiene slide. They were slightly confused when Sheri ordered her version of yo basic – manicure, no gels, dips, tips, or polish, just clean and clear coated with a pedicure; no scrubs or rubs, just clean and surprise her with a color (bubble yum). There was a lot of foreign exchange trying to explain that one. In between taking care of our beauty needs, we rendezvoused with the Sergeants who were busy packing, processing and PCS’ing to Italy. After three years in Aurora, it would soon become another in what will one day be a long list of duty stations. Who knew if we would find ourselves visiting here again? Only to hunt at Gone for Good, probably.
Dining out is a smorgasbord option. There’s the Coloradough pizza joint where Rocky Mountain High hipsters top a light and crispy crust with homemade sauce and organic meatballs. Place your order and walk down to the Tradishn Market & Cafe serving up Eastern European flavors like creme filled honey cake. If your feeling a little Hawaiian, hit up No Ke Aloha for Da Mix: BBQ chicken, Kalua Pig and Pulehu steak with 2 scoops of rice, a scoop of macaroni salad and two slices of pineapple for a traditional Polynesian plate. Walk three doors down to Launch Pad Brewery, where two retired Air Force vets brew 33 varieties and where you can BYO Da Mix to go with your Belgian Strong Dark Vow of Silence. If you’re on Airport road gassing up at Costco, hit Mondo’s Pizza where you order a large Brooklyn and watch them make the New York style dough, or the shiny silver Moonlight Diner where they smoke their meats in house, catering to the all-American palate passing through town.
Mixed in with all of the cultural flavor faves is your standard mix of American chain sameness. If you flew into Denver International and made your way to your room at the Aurora Hampton Inn, you would feel like you were in one of a hundred iterations of American capitalism at scale; clean, convenient, and priced for the times. Give yourself 240 hours on the ground to kill, however, and you will discover the multicultural diversity of Aurora, and that makes it far more interesting and fulfilling.
You can read about it in the papers and hate on Aurora, or you can call it home for ten days and make the most of it. In Aurora, it snows in April, it hails in July, and those are the good months. There are 300 new communities with over 3,000 new homes in progress. Every major street is 6 lanes of terror. King Soopers (Kroger family) is your superstore of choice and, like Publix in Florida, you will never find yourself far from one. As retirees traveling the country, Aurora is not the kind of place that makes us open the Redfin App and hunt for property. But, if we had a dream to start a business, raise a family, and chase the American dream, it just might be on the list.
