Stapleton, Denver Lake Nature Center, one of the nation's largest urban wildlife refuges. As of 2018, Stapleton has a population of around 75,000 residents living amongst 23,500 households. The Northfield section of the development (north of Interstate 70) still has significant residential and commercial development occurring today. The University of Colorado A-Line directly connecting Denver Union Station downtown to Denver International Airport started operating in 2016 and has one stop in Stapleton; the Central Park Station. Stapleton is served by the Central Park commuter rail and bus station, with direct connections to Union Station in downtown and the Denver International Airport via
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