Aurora community members share their viewpoints about national narrative

The City of Aurora has been thrown into the national spotlight by narratives about apartments in Aurora that some said have been taken over by violent immigrants. Those apartments were largely the focus of former President Donald Trump’s rally on Friday.
Sam Columna says she’s lived in Aurora most of her life.
“With the exception of moving away, like to the Tech Center. And I went to college up in Boulder,” Columna told CBS Colorado. She says Aurora is special to her. “It’s home, right? So, there’s always that home appeal.”
On a day where Aurora is under a national microscope, CBS News Colorado’s Michael Abeyta asked people what they like about living there and what they don’t.
Many people also reached out through email because they wanted to talk about their experience living in Aurora but couldn’t go on camera. 
“We’ve lived in Aurora for 11 years, and I’ve worked for Aurora Public Schools for almost 10,” Jessica Diaz said. “I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood and went to an almost all white school in Colorado Springs, but my mom worked hard to expose us to other races, nationalities and economic groups in order to show us that our little community was not truly representative of our country and world. One of my favorite things about living and working in Aurora is that my children see, hear and interact with people from many different cultures and from all over the world. When my mother was growing up, speaking Spanish was seen as a negative, so her mom never taught her and her siblings. Similarly when my husband was growing up, his school discouraged the use of his dad’s home language. Our children are being raised with English and Spanish, and being around so many other people who speak multiple languages makes them feel like it’s normal and celebrated instead of being ashamed to speak a language other than English. The benefit of having so many different cultures living close together is that we also get to try so many different cuisines. We love visiting Mango House and all the different taquerias.”
“Another one of our favorite things is living in the Aurora Cultural Arts District and having access to amazing local theatre at the Fox and Vintage theaters and the People’s Building,’ Diaz continued. “Our kids love the open studio at DAVA, where they’ve been able to learn a variety of art skills like pottery and sewing. We also love the MLK Library and all the programs they put together.” 
“Since I moved to Aurora, I’ve never worried about my safety at home or the safety of my kids playing in our yard or on our street. We have made amazing friends with many of our neighbors, and I can’t imagine a better place for our family to be,” Diaz said. 
Allison Ladner also shared comments via email with CBS Colorado. 
“I’m not interested in being on camera, but my family and I (two adults, 2 kids) have lived at 14th & Emporia for 7 years now,” Ladner said. “We love the diversity of the neighborhood — I wanted to live somewhere where everyone doesn’t look like me/my kids. We live near the library, a free kids art studio and multiple theaters. There are festivals throughout the year and lots of public art. I also love all the old trees and normal sized homes (as opposed to huge houses on small lots).”
“We live two blocks from one of the alleged gang takeover apartment complexes and have seen zero changes to our street/neighborhood before and after these allegations,” Ladner continued. “We’ve had to answer to family members who watched the national news and heard our politicians confirming these allegations and had to reassure them there’s nothing amiss (anymore than there was before). Are there gangs? Yes. Is it different than it always has been? Not that I’m aware. We moved from Five Points in Denver and feel much safer here.”
“Oh, yeah, and the food! Mango House alone has so many fantastic options. So many good Mexican restaurants as well,” Ladner said. 
Kaleab Samuel reached out to CBS Colorado via email, who is from Aurora.
“I’m born and raised in Aurora, Colorado; my first job was at the Vans at the Aurora Mall when I was 16, and, at 26 now, I show great pride in my city through my music + documentaries,” Samuel explained. “I’ve made albums dedicated to the city of Aurora specifically, and even though I’ve traveled the world (Japan, Australia, lived in LA + New York) traveling has only made me more proud of my city.”
“I hope to dispel a lot of misinformation/perceptions about our beautiful city,” Samuel said. 
Not everyone was as bullish about living in Aurora. An emailer who only identified themselves as Mike shared a counterpoint of his own. 
“I’ve been an Aurora resident most of my life. Don’t make it out that we don’t have problems,’ Mike shared. “I live in a decent “middle class” neighborhood. In the last year, we’ve had three shootings in my park. (Hampden and Chambers.) Last week we had a high-speed chase through the middle of the park mid-day by folks with Mexico license plates, tearing up the park and eventually crashing and being caught at the gas stations on Hampden and Chambers. Maybe southeast Aurora, where it looks like you live from the picture you showed is nicer, but central and north Aurora are getting worse. Don’t act like it’s not a problem.”  
Sam Columna also agrees there are parts of the city that need a little work.
“Nowhere is perfect, right. And probably definitely like up towards those apartment complexes up on Colfax, older parts of Aurora, you can definitely see where it’s a lot rougher around the edges,” Columna said.
But for all its faults, most people CBS Colorado spoke to on Friday said they like it in Aurora and will probably stick around.
“My experience is that it doesn’t feel disproportionate to like any other place that I’ve spent any significant amount of time on,” Columna said.