Total square miles annexed by each municipality in Boulder County from 1984 to 1997. For those communities that don't lie entirely within county lines, such as Broomfield, Erie, Superior and Longmont, these figures include only land annexed within Boulder County.
Annexation refers to the process by which cities acquire land for development and
extension of city services, such as water, sewers, utilities, roads and schools.

Why We Are Measuring This

The amount of land annexed over time is a measure of a region's growth and land-use. In other words, it is a measure of urbanization. The debate about growth and growth management is one of the predominant topics on Boulder County's public agenda. Recently, the Boulder County Commissioners issued a newsletter called Growth Watch which documents trends in population growth, projects population estimates out to 2010 and presents the impacts of this growth on housing, transportation and the schools.

Land Annexation, by Boulder County Municipalities (1984-1997 Combined)
One square mile = 640 acres. Over 13,000 acres
have been annexed in the county since 1984.

What the Data Show

Total land area annexed in Boulder County since 1984 equals roughly 20 square miles or about 13,000 acres. This represents a land area larger than Longmont and Niwot combined.

Longmont has annexed by far the most land over the past fifteen years, increasing its size by almost forty percent. The bulk of Superior's acreage was annexed in 1987, with the addition of over 1,000 acres for the Rock Creek development. Longmont added large portions to itself in 1994, 1995, and 1997, while annexation in Boulder, Broomfield and Lafayette tapered off in those years.

Based on these trends, future projections can be made about the growth and development in Boulder County. According to Growth Watch, Boulder county is slated for continuing population growth, which will be accompanied by a great deal more development, requiring enormous investments in roads, water, sewer systems, schools and other infrastructure. Boulder County must face these questions as a regions and as a community, because it has become clear that each municipality's land-use decisions affect all of us.

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