Front Range
Broomfield County
17 Porch Notes tied to Broomfield County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Money and taxes (1)
Home and property (2)
Home and property
Broomfield maps its floodplains, and they follow its drainages
Broomfield tracks floodplains along its creeks and channels and offers an online tool to check whether a specific property sits in a mapped flood area.
Read note ->Home and property
Radon and expansive soils are normal home questions in Broomfield
Like much of the Front Range, Broomfield sits on ground where radon gas and swelling clay soils are common things to test for when buying or building a home.
Read note ->Water and land (2)
Water and land
Broomfield's tap water is mostly piped in from the mountains
Broomfield does not sit on a big local river, so much of its drinking water is brought in through mountain water projects and treated before it reaches homes.
Read note ->Water and land
Fishing in Broomfield happens at named ponds, under state rules
Broomfield allows fishing at several named city ponds and reservoirs, with a Colorado fishing license required and state regulations that can differ by water.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (3)
Outdoors and wildfire
Broomfield County Commons is the city's central prairie open space
Broomfield County Commons Open Space is a flat prairie loop in the middle of the city with reservoir overlooks and Front Range views.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Rocky Flats refuge trails sit just west of Broomfield
A federal wildlife refuge with public hiking trails sits just west of Broomfield, and it has its own access rules set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Wintering bald eagles hunt the fields above Stearns Lake on Broomfield's west edge
A flat 1.3-mile loop to Stearns Lake on Broomfield's western edge is one of the easier places near town to watch bald eagles hunt the open fields in winter.
Read note ->Local rules (2)
Local rules
Broomfield writes its own oil and gas rules on top of the state's
Drilling near Broomfield homes is overseen by both the state's energy commission and Broomfield's own local oil and gas regulations and inspectors.
Read note ->Local rules
In Broomfield, one government makes both the city and county rules
Because Broomfield is a combined city and county, the same home-rule government handles zoning, building, and county-style duties, so you usually deal with one office instead of two.
Read note ->History and culture (7)
History and culture
Broomfield Days is the city's big September festival on Midway Boulevard
Broomfield Days is a long-running one-day community festival each September at Midway Park, with a parade, 5K, vendor booths, and food along Midway Boulevard.
Read note ->History and culture
Broomfield is both a city and a county at the same time
Broomfield is one of only two places in Colorado that is a combined city and county, formed when the city's land was pulled out of four other counties.
Read note ->History and culture
Broomfield's library is named for Mamie Doud Eisenhower, who came to its dedication
Broomfield's public library carries the name of First Lady Mamie Doud Eisenhower, who attended its July 1963 dedication alongside General Eisenhower.
Read note ->History and culture
Broomfield's rail stop was Zang's Spur, and the name is usually traced to broomcorn
Broomfield grew from farm country along the railroad and was known to the railroad as Zang's Spur after a local landowner; the name Broomfield is traditionally traced to broomcorn grown nearby, though the city's own history does not settle the question.
Read note ->History and culture
Six WWII veterans started a museum that records Colorado's war stories
The free, volunteer-run Broomfield Veterans Memorial Museum keeps nine exhibit rooms, a 3,000-book military library, and hundreds of recorded veteran interviews inside the old Mamie Doud Eisenhower Library.
Read note ->History and culture
The Broomfield Depot Museum is a 1909 train depot moved to a park
Broomfield's local history museum sits in a railroad depot built in 1909, later moved to Zang's Spur Park and run with the help of the Broomfield Historical Society.
Read note ->History and culture
The Brunner Farmhouse is Broomfield's restored 1908 farm home
The yellow Brunner Farmhouse on Midway Boulevard is a restored early-1900s farm home the city keeps as a community gathering place and gardens.
Read note ->