Pueblo, Colorado

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Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was estimated to be 104,951 in 2008, making it the 245th most populous city in the United States. Pueblo is situated at the confluence of the Arkansas River and Fountain Creek 103 miles (166 km) south of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. The area is considered to be semi-arid with approximately 14 inches (355.60 mm) of precipitation annually; however with its location in the "banana belt," Pueblo tends to get less snow than the other major cities in Colorado. Pueblo is the heart of the Pueblo Metropolitan Statistical Area and an important part of the Front Range Urban Corridor. Pueblo is one of the largest steel-producing cities in the United States; because of this Pueblo is referred to as the "Steel City. " Until 1960 Pueblo was the second largest city in Colorado, and earned the title of "Second City. " Many consider Pueblo to be the economic hub of southeastern Colorado. The Historic Arkansas River Project (HARP) is a beautiful river walk that graces the historic Union Avenue district, and shows the history of the Pueblo Flood. Pueblo is the hometown of Damon Runyon, who mentioned Pueblo in many of his newspaper columns (notably his "Our Old Man" pieces). Pueblo is also the home of Dutch Clark, the first man from Colorado in the NFL hall of fame. Pueblo's largest football stadium is named after him. The oldest high school rivalry west of the Mississippi takes place at this stadium, The Bell Game, which is played by The Pueblo Central Wildcats and the Pueblo Centennial Bulldogs. Pueblo is the hometown of four Medal of Honor recipients - Drew D. Dix, Raymond G. Murphy, William J. Crawford, and Carl L. Sitter. President Dwight D. Eisenhower upon presenting Raymond G. "Jerry" Murphy with his Medal in 1953 commented, "What is it... something in the water out there in Pueblo? All you guys turn out to be heroes!" In 1993, the City Council adopted the tagline "Home of Heroes" because it can claim more recipients per capita than any other city in the United States. On July 1, 1993, the Congressional Record recognized Pueblo as the "Home of Heroes. " There is a memorial to the recipients of the medal at the Pueblo Convention Center. Central High School is known as the "School of Heroes," as it is the alma mater of two recipients, Sitter and Crawford, more than any other high school in the country. Pueblo is the home to Colorado's largest single event, the Colorado State Fair, held annually in the late summer, and the largest parade, the state fair parade, as well as an annual Chili Festival. The National Street Rod Association's Rocky Mountain Street Rod Nationals have been held in Pueblo for 23 years, and this is the region's largest and premier street rod event. Pueblo's newest event is the Wild West Fest sponsored by the Professional Bull Riders. It will be held in Pueblo during the spring and the main event will be a PBR rodeo held at the state fair events center and shown all over the world. Also, Pueblo is home to the PBR team finals held at the state fair events center during the Colorado state fair and shown all over the world. In 2008 the PBR moved their corporate headquarters to Pueblo. The highways U.S. Highway 50 and Interstate 25 cross each other at Pueblo, possibly making it the second most important intersection in the state, after I-70 and I-25 in Denver. The local airport, Pueblo Memorial Airport, lies to the east of the city. It is home to the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum (named for Fred Weisbrod, late city manager), reflecting the airport's beginnings as an Army Air Corps base in 1943. Pueblo Transit provides bus service six days a week throughout the city. Due to the growth of the Pueblo Metro Area they are considering forming a regional transportation district so they can serve some of Pueblo's fastest growing suburbs. Pueblo may be best known as the home of the Federal Citizen Information Center, operated by the General Services Administration, and its Consumer Information Catalog. For over 35 years, public service announcements have invited Americans to write for information at "Pueblo, Colorado, 81004" (though the official address is Post Office Box 100). In recent times GSA has incorporated Pueblo into FCIC's toll-free telephone number (1-888-8 PUEBLO) and web address. The Pueblo city council is in the process of annexing over 24,000 acres (97 km) north of Pueblo, owned by a Las Vegas development company, to be called the Pueblo Springs Ranch. This development has the potential of being one of the largest planned communities in the country, and will nearly double Pueblo's land area. According to the Pueblo Chieftain, the development will include residential area as well as a major tech park. Pueblo is becoming the region's renewable energy capital. Vestas just announced that it would build the largest plant in the world which manufactures the towers for wind turbines at Pueblo's industrial park at close to 700,000 square feet. Also, a number of scientific studies now list Pueblo as the state's best place for solar energy and a good place for solar companies locate. Because of this a number of solar companies are looking to move to Pueblo at the old Pueblo Army Depot, one such company possibly the largest in the world.