Michael Scanlon’s Top 10 Things I Love About Commerce City
10 Los Tamales – Ah, the mighty tamale! So simple, so natural, just the right size. And if you go to Los Tamales in Commerce City, you can get the best tamales in the area. Trust me. I try them all. Regularly. 🙂
9 The Commerce City Chamber – But I guess I’m biased…
8 Reunion Coffee House – Now also in core city as Greyhound Grounds.
7 Our cool little museum. Yes Commerce City, you have a museum just for you! Like the city itself, it’s a little dated, underfunded and a bit cramped. That said, the place is definitely worth a 15-60 minute visit to learn about the city’s origin. And you can check out their interesting assortment of old – I mean historical – technology!
6 Adelente! For years, the Hispanic community in Colorado has been underrepsented politically, and when I say years, I mean, you know, pretty much all 100 and 50 of ’em. Politics being what it is, what ever gains or wins this minority community has achieved have come by demanding them. In the most respectful manner, of course.
Enter Adelente. Founded and led by the indefatigable Maria Gonzalez, Adelente is exactly what Commerce City (and Adams County) (and Colorado) needs. A bold and proud Hispanic-led grass roots org standing up for the Hispanic population, demanding justice and equal economic opportunity. Which, for the record, is 30% of Adams County, and roughly half of Commerce City. Adelente! (Forward!)
5 The STEAD School. A charter high school located in the Reunion neighborhood on Commerce City’s north range, STEAD graduated their first class in 2025. STEAD stands for Science Technology Engineering Agriculture and Design. With a 100% project based learning circulum, students are engaged and challenged regularly throughout the day.
The reviews are in, and parents and students love STEAD. Full Disclosure: My son attends STEAD, and if you can’t tell, we love it.
4 Humble, public servant leadership. Commerce City is blessed right now in 2025. From state Senator Dafna Michaelson Jenet to Representative Manny Rutinel and including every member of city council, Commerce City is blessed with humble elected officials with good hearts in it for the right reasons.
Say what you will about their politics – that’s one of the great things about America! What’s great about these leaders is that everyone of them is willing to listen to you and hear a different perspective. And that, my friends, is great leadership.
3 Adams 14 School District. You didn’t see this one coming, huh? Often lambasted, always overlooked and ignored, Adams 14 is one of the smaller of Adams County’s 8 school districts. It’s one of the poorest school districts in the state. It has very little middle class in it’s geographical mix. Adams 14 represents little more than Commerce City’s core city.
The Adams 14 SD faces additional challenges besides the lack of a good tax base. With a population of predominantly Spanish speaking households, their students tend to struggle with standardized tests in English. This leads to poor test scores, which leads to more lambasting. The history, the lawsuits, it’s all there to research if you care.
Things are looking up for Adams 14. They have a Superintendent on their 3rd year for the first time in a decade or more. Dr. Loria has shown an impressive turnaround given all the challenges. We all win when our public schools win. If you like rooting for underdogs, pull for Adams 14. You can help by donating to the Adams 14 Education Foundation.
2 Derby. What a ‘hood Derby is! Remember how, back in the day (think 100 years ago) every neighborhood had a small market and a hardware store and a barber and a bank? Well, Derby has a local market – the HiLo Market AND a barber shop – Dan’s Barbershop AND a local hardware store – Younger Bros Hardware AND a local bank – Community Choice Credit Union.
To top it all off, Derby has a local donut shop. Be sure to visit early – they make a certain number of donuts everyday. When they’re sold out, they lock up and go home!
And the Number 1 Thing I Love About Commerce City!
1 It’s a huge part of Adams County. Colorado is the greatest state in the greatest country on Earth. Colorado is divided into 65 counties, and they ain’t all the same. Adams County is the real deal. The people are real, the costs are reasonable (or at least they used to be), and the people are just the down home kind of folks you want to have a beer with!
Adams County has a chunk of some great municipalities, like Westminster and Arvada (shared with Jeff Co), Aurora (shared wtih Arapahoe County) and Brighton (shared with Weld County). Only Thornton is bigger, as Adams County’s largest city.
Commerce City is the industrial heart of the Front Range of Colorado, and it only makes sense that this vital, if sometimes less than perfect looking, area be in Adams County. Commerce City is Adams County in more than just words or geography. You could argue that as goes Commerce City, so goes Adams County.
I live in the greatest city – Commerce City – in the greatest county – Adams County – in the greatest state – Colorado – in the greatest nation – USA – on the best planet – Earth.
How lucky am I!
With an Honorable Mention to Ted’z Place and Pourtap House, two watering holes I visit occasionally. And Los Dos Americas when you need fresh tortillas.