Village East Neighborhood

Village East Neighborhood

A Community of Proud Neighbors

The established, cohesive Village East neighborhood is an island of single family homes located on the western edge of Aurora within a square mile area of tree-lined streets between East Mississippi and East Jewell Avenues and South Havana and South Peoria Streets. Only 30 minutes from downtown Denver and 30 minutes from Denver International Airport, the neighborhood was developed on a sandy farmland between the years of 1963 and 1977 by several builders using 23 different models of custom homes. Many of the houses are large and contain features far ahead of their time, such as large windows, vaulted ceilings, multiple fireplaces, sunrooms, 2 and 3 car garages, decks and patios, and even front porches. Many have four or more bedrooms and main-floor family rooms and studies. Streets curve and twist making lot sizes and shapes unusual and large. Swingsets and treehouses abound in shady back yards. Village East has maintained its family feel, its safety, and its community sense.

Village East is in the Cherry Creek School District and has Village East Community and Ponderosa elementary schools within its borders and Prairie Middle School and Overland High School across from its southeast corner. Both elementary schools are adjacent to small parks and the secondary schools share the facilities of Utah Park, with its indoor pool, ball fields, tennis and racquetball courts, playground, pond and picnic area, and walking and biking trails.

One of Aurora's finest neighborhoods, Village East is represented by a volunteer neighborhood organization known as Village East Neighborhood Association, or V.E.N.A. for short. VENA sponsors yearly events as well as acting as liaison between the community and the City of Aurora, keeping the neighbors up to date on city issues. Four newsletters are published prior to the events summarized below:

CLEAN-UP DAY, (usually in June) encourages all of us to keep our neighborhood beautiful. V.E.N.A. provides a roll-off dumpster at the Village East Community Elementary School for members of the association to dispose of items which might otherwise clutter their properties.

YARD OF THE MONTH, is selected by a group of neighbors looking for pride of ownership. The owners of the yards selected in June, July, August and September receive a gift certificate to a local garden shop. A sign designating the Yard of the Month is placed in each yard for recognition of neighborhood pride.

OCTOBER GENERAL MEETING, the third Tuesday of the month gives us a chance to catch up on the issues before the city and meet the political candidates wanting to represent us. At this meeting, we elect approximately half of the board to new two-year terms, encouraging new membership from those who are interested in keeping Village East a great place to live.

DECEMBER HOLIDAY LIGHTING CONTEST. All the beautiful lights add warmth and cheerfulness to our winter weather. Which will be judged the best?

MONTHLY ADOPT-A-STREET PROGRAM.  Neighborhood volunteers help keep Village East stay clean and attractive by picking up debris from the streets and sidewalks in the community.

Throughout the year we encourage all of our neighbors to participate in Neighborhood Watch, National Night Out block parties, and just generally getting to know each other and lend a helping hand, snowblower, hammer and saw, or friendly word.

Our Mission Statement is:   The Village East Neighborhood Association (VENA) will actively involve its members and the greater community toward the goal of continually promoting increasing property values and a high quality of life within and near its boundaries.  This will be accomplished through civic and governmental engagement, social interactions, and regular communication on issues of concern to the community.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - MEETING INFORMATION

The VENA Board of Directors meets on the third Thursday of January, April, July and September at 7:00 p.m. at Fire Station 11 (2291 S. Joliet St., just north of E. Iliff Ave.) These meetings are open to all residents of Village East and we strongly encourage you to attend and experience first hand what it is we do. We would very much appreciate your involvement in the Village East neighborhood.

We would like to thank those of you who take the time to learn about the issues and events that effect the Village East neighborhood and ask that you share what you read with your neighbors who may not know what VENA does for the community.

The Board of Directors spends a fair amount of its time reviewing and presenting our views to the City Planning Commissioners and City Council on “referrals” we receive from the City Planning Department. These are proposals for new and revised development within a one-mile radius of the Village East boundaries. Recent referrals include Wells Fargo Bank in the Gardens on Havana.

We have the four-year-old Xeriscape garden on Florida near Peoria to maintain. We hold a very successful and fun-filled Annual VENA Picnic in August and the Annual VENA General Meeting in October. We also publish our newsletters and special meeting notices and maintain our internet homepage. VENA's Adopt-A-Street program, which helps to keep the neighborhood clean, has greatly expanded. We always welcome your help.