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| Majestic Mountains |
Douglas County is a suburban county located in the southern portion of the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of 2000, the population is 175,766. Douglas County is one of the fastest growing areas in Colorado. The county seat is Castle Rock, named after a small butte just north of the town. Castle Rock is on the Interstate 25 corridor just east of the frontrange of the Rocky Mountains.
Douglas County is lightly wooded, mostly with ponderosa pine, with broken terrain characterized by mesas and small streams. Cherry Creek and Plum Creek rise in Douglas County and flow north toward Denver and into the South Platte River. Both were subject to flash flooding in the past, Plum Creek being partially responsible for the Denver flood of 1965. Cherry Creek is now dammed.
Residents generally commute to workplaces elsewhere in the metropolitan area outside of the county. Urbanization is gradually displacing the ranching economy of the county.
Douglas County has been nationally recognized as one of the greatest places to live, work and raise a family in the country. Douglas County ranked fourth in the nation for Quality of Life in a May 2004 study by the American City Business Journals. The American City Business Journals used 20 statistical indicators to rate living conditions in all 3,141 counties and independent cities across the nation.
In the household income, homeownership rate and educational attainment categories, Douglas County ranked particularly well. Combine those with our prime location, excellent school district, wonderful weather and outstanding recreational and cultural opportunities and you too will understand Douglas County’s high rank in the Quality of Life study.
