The Town of Mountain View is a

home rule municipality Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

located in Jefferson County,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, United States. Mountain View is situated west of, and adjacent to, the city and county of Denver. As of the 2010 census, the population of Mountain View was 507. The Denver Post Office ( ZIP Code 80212) serves Mountain View.

History

Mountain View was incorporated in 1904 on the land occupied by the Berkeley Annex subdivision established in 1888, which itself was part of the Berkeley Farm founded by John Brisben Walker in 1879. The town grew to approximately 500 residents living in 272 houses by 2008, with approximately 20 businesses in operation, but occupying a total of only 12 square blocks "sandwiched between

Wheat Ridge The City of Wheat Ridge is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Wheat Ridge is located immediately west of Denver and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The ...

and Denver." By 2009, several businesses had closed down, sales taxes declined, and city workers were paid late on three occasions over two months. The town council added a fee to sewer bills in order to maintain basic services. The Colorado state government stepped in to pay for getting the city's financial records in order. The town wrote a letter to its residents saying, "'Our town is in serious trouble and we need your help!' fferingthree options: Get some more businesses into town, unincorporate and be absorbed into Jefferson County or let a neighboring community annex the town."

Geography

Mountain View is located on the eastern edge of Jefferson County at (39.775692, −105.056122). It is bordered to the north by Lakeside, to the west and south by

, and to the east by

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, Mountain View has a total area of , covering 12 square blocks, all of it land.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 569 people, 272 households, and 130 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 287 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 52.4%

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, 8.6%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.5% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.3%

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, 3.87% from

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, and 1.93% from two or more races.

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Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 36.7% of the population. There were 572 households, out of which 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.5% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 52.2% were non-families. 41.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.91. In the town, the population was spread out, with 20.2% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $41,364, and the median income for a family was $42,250. Males had a median income of $32,917 versus $27,063 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $21,425. About 12.2% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 31.8% of those under age 18 and 14.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

With its land area of only 12 square blocks, Mountain View has a tiny retail sales tax base from which to raise revenue and relies primarily on

traffic ticket A traffic ticket is a notice issued by a law enforcement official to a motorist or other road user, indicating that the user has violated traffic laws. Traffic tickets generally come in two forms, citing a moving violation, such as exceeding ...

s to pay its police and municipal employees. The town called an emergency meeting on March 2, 2009, to get input on its future. The town sent a letter
/ref> to all residents stating that it faced a growing debt crisis, with a budget shortfall between six and eight thousand dollars a month. The letter stated that its police officers had been paid late three times in the last two months, 40 percent of the town's businesses had closed, and that it had petitioned the Attorney General of Colorado to use Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA seizure money to pay police department salaries, which was declined in May 2009. The letter proposed imposing additional fees for police services and even streetlights, noting in its last sentence that being annexed into a neighboring community was one possible outcome of the fiscal crisis.

Police department controversies

The Mountain View Police Department has been criticized for its overuse of issuing citations for menial traffic violations. Officers have frequently issued tickets for such violations as cracked windshields or objects such as air fresheners hanging from rearview mirrors. In 2013, the department issued more citations than the cities of Denver,

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

, and Boulder, combined. Nearly half of the town's revenue comes from court fees and citations, according to its 2014 budget. A typical "obstructed view" citation alone can run someone $80, which includes a $30 surcharge. It is alleged that the excessive enforcement of these laws is motivated to raise revenues for the police department, a force with only nine full-time or part-time officers. In 2014, the Mountain View Police Department was mentioned in a "Best of the Worst" piece on

Reason TV ''Reason'' is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 50,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the ''Chicago Tribune''. History ''Reas ...

, pointing out that Mountain View police fund their own jobs in part by over-ticketing out-of-town motorists for obstructed view citations. Mountain View PD was again featured in a 2015 interview with 9NEWS KUSA reporter Jeremy Jojola following an investigation by 9NEWS of all 270 Colorado municipalities with respect to budgets and police ticketing of motorists. In 2014, Mountain View brought in 53 percent of total town revenue from police tickets. Mountain View issues tickets for the primary enforcement of a seat-belt violations in addition to the "obstructed view" violations previously mentioned.

References

External links

Town of Mountain View official websiteCDOT map of Mountain View
{{authority control Towns in Jefferson County, Colorado Towns in Colorado Denver metropolitan area