Burning Homes

So, here I am living in Boulder, which I never even visited, and I have lived in Colorado essentially my entire life. There is a certain attitude surrounding Boulder, and I have never seen such a culture in any other neighborhood I’ve inhabited. The days are sunny, people recycle as if their lives depend on it, and try to be, in a sense, sustainable. Everyone seems to love getting some sun and taking in the fresh new day. It’s revitalizing, yet nowhere near the same experiences as the majority of Colorado. 

I lived in the city of Aurora for a big chunk of my life here. My dad and I apartment-hopped quite frequently around the town. I remember it being far from school, and we’d often drive into the DTC area around sunrise. It was a good time, and we lived in a one-bedroom apartment when I was in elementary school. He’d drive me to gymnastics, or pick me up from my mom’s, or my grandmother’s. All of these moments blurred together; I lived a repetitive life in Aurora. Go to school, come back, walk to the top of the stairs, smell the Asian food from the third floor, ask my dad what he thought it was, do homework, eat a whole frozen pizza for dinner, and go to bed before my dad. 

It must seem like I’m making my life out to be poor and less fortunate. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth, life in Aurora was one of the best times of my life. It was a fun life for an 8-year-old. Then, there was a vivid interruption in my routine that I’d never forget. We moved to a two-bedroom by this time, and we were driving back home late at night. Miraculously, as if Zeus struck it down, an apartment complex across the street from us caught on fire. I saw distressed residents rushing into the building, and some debating whether or not to run in. I hadn’t known what happened after that; it was late. And truthfully, as I tried to find news on it, I couldn’t find any reports among the hundreds in Aurora about a burning apartment complex years later. 

I moved to Lakewood in high school but worked in Aurora. And like clockwork, another apartment complex across the street exploded. I began to question the reality that I lived in, and thought maybe I had a naive outlook on my childhood neighborhood. As a kid, I didn’t see the environmental injustices permeating every corner of Aurora. 

Aurora is the most diverse city in Colorado, housing many immigrant and refugee families. Yet, multiple studies show that diverse cities and groups are most affected by a lack of resources to recover from environmental hardship. It also has an extreme deficit in canopy cover, with only 15.2% of the city being shaded. This has led to concerning increases in hot weather. Consequently, Aurora continues to experience moderate to severe drought, leaving the community with water insecurity. Plus, citizens of Aurora are exposed to higher levels of air pollution and toxic waste, and face an increased risk of blood cancer due to proximity to industrial centers, landfills, and oil wells.

Further injustices in Aurora have been recognized by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which will award around $900,000 toward research efforts. These research efforts, in turn, will help decision-makers make better and more equitable decisions for the city of Aurora.  

Still, it doesn’t seem like enough. Research only goes so far until it is up to the people to decide who and what is implemented within their community. Aurora is getting hotter, burning houses leave behind what were once homes. I’ve lived in a utopic bubble while in Boulder, feeling wrong if I tan on Farrand Field, knowing people an hour and a half away cannot access water or shade on the hotter April days. I can’t help but mourn the waste of my meal swipes when Aurora is one of Colorado’s top cities experiencing food insecurity. Therefore, I am choosing to be more active in my home community over the summer. I’ve previously volunteered for the Food Bank of the Rockies to help address food insecurity. I connected with families in need, and it was a wonderful experience, I believe everyone should engage in. Now, I will be dedicating some of my break to continue volunteering in Aurora for the environment. If not to directly solve these problems, then at the very minimum, to relieve the community of stressors stemming from these environmental issues. It is imperative that we recognize our privileges, even environmental ones, and use them to support Colorado communities. 

• #community
• #environment