Stapleton, Denver Stapleton, Denver Stapleton is a neighborhood in Denver, Colorado. Located northeast of downtown Denver, the development is on the site of the decommissioned Stapleton International Airport, which closed in 1995. Now referred to as the "Stapleton Community," it contains nine neighborhoods, nine schools public/private, 50 parks, several shopping and business districts, and a visitor center. Since April 2016, Stapleton has been connected to the Denver metro area by RTD's A line, a recently opened commuter rail service. While Denver International Airport was being constructed, planners considered how the Stapleton site would be redeveloped. A private group of Denver civic leaders,
Denver International Airport away than Stapleton International Airport, the airport it replaced. The distant location was chosen to avoid aircraft noise affecting developed areas, to accommodate a generous runway layout that would not be compromised by blizzards, and to allow for future expansion. The 52.4 square miles (136 km) of land occupied by the airport is more than one and a half times the size of Manhattan (33.6 sq mi or 87 km2). At 33,531 acres (136 km), DIA is by far the largest land area commercial airport in the United States. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is a distant second at 70 km