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 (350 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." Many consider Pueblo to be the economic hub of south eastern colorado. Due to this some people call Pueblo "Colorado's second city" even though Pueblo is the state's ninth most populous city. It is now home to a number of electronics and aviation companies. The Historic Arkansas River Project (HARP) is a beautiful river walk that graces the historic Union Avenue district. It shows the history of the Pueblo Flood.
It is the hometown of Damon Runyon, who never returned after 1911 or so, but 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. At this stadium is where the oldest high school rivalry west of the Mississippi takes place, 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" (http://www.pueblo.org/homeofheroes/. 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 some 30 years, public service announcements have invited Americans to write for information at "Pueblo, Colorado, 81009" (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 (www.pueblo.gsa.gov).
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.
As of the census of 2000, there were 102,121 people, 40,307 households, and 26,118 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,265.5 people per square mile (874.6/km²). There were 43,121 housing units at an average density of 956.6/sq mi (369.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 76.21% White, 2.41% African American, 1.73% Native American, 0.67% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 15.20% from other races, and 3.71% from two or more races. Latinos made up 44.13% of the population. 10.1% were of German, 8.1% Italian, 6.0% American, 5.5% English and 5.4% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000.
According to the 2005 Census estimates, the city had grown to an estimated population of 103,495 and had become the ninth most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 242nd most populous city in the United States.
There were 40,307 households out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.5% were married couples living together, 15.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,650, and the median income for a family was $35,620. Males had a median income of $29,702 versus $22,197 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,026. About 13.9% of families and 17.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.3% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.