Denver Neighborhoods
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Denver, Colorado, deemed the "Mile High City' because its elevation is exactly 5280 feet above sea level, is a world class city that promises to only get better as time goes on. Located at the base of the Majestic Rocky Mountains and just 346 miles west of the geographic center of the continental United States, makes it an ideal setting for world commerce. To position itself as a world class city, Denver opened a new airport in early 1995 which in area is one of the world's largest. Metro Denver has one of the most diverse economies in the country according to the Corporation for Enterprise Development. This may be due in part to the fact that Denver boasts one of the most highly educated populations of any major city in the country. This highly skilled and productive labor force is a draw to companies potentially coming to the metro area.
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Ballpark
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Belcaro ●
Bonnie Brae ● Capitol
Hill ● Cherry Creek ●
Cheesman Park ●
Congress Park ● Country Club
● Curtis Park ●
Highland ● Lower
Downtown
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Observatory Park
● Park Hill
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Riverfront Park
● Uptown
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Washington Park
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Denver Neighborhoods The Ballpark neighborhood lies to the north of Lower Downtown and Downtown Denver's central business district. The southern end of the neighborhood (around 20th Street) is anchored by Coors Field, which opened in 1995. Ballpark also stretches almost 20 blocks to the north from 20th Street, into a section of Downtown that is still very much a functioning warehouse and light industry district. An increasing number of those warehouses are being renovated into loft projects. This part of Downtown was established early in Denver's history, growing alongside the railroad tracks that carried goods and raw materials into Denver's industrial market. Waves of immigrants--Italian, Irish, Japanese, Chinese and, more recently, Mexican--have left their own unique stamp on the area. An important commercial corridor in the Ballpark neighborhood is North Larimer Street. From 20th Street all the way to the northern edge of stretches of Downtown (37th-38th Avenue), Larimer Street offers a unique mix of buildings and tenants--pawn shops, jazz clubs, bars, antique shops, art framers, galleries, brewpubs, authentic Mexican restaurants, small ad companies and more. Most of these buildings reflect the area's predominant architecture, which is 2-3 story brick buildings and warehouses. The neighborhood is zoned for industrial use, so a good number of the buildings still have train and truck loading docks on their street frontages, as many of them are active warehouses and light industrial buildings. Not every building frontage has a sidewalk, and street trees are as not prevalent as they are in older, more traditional center city neighborhoods such as Curtis Park or Capitol Hill. In 2002, a the Ballpark Historic District was formed for much of the Ballpark area to preserve many of the historic warehouses and buildings that define the neighborhood's historical uses. A major change in the Ballpark neighborhood's landscape was the demolition of the Broadway viaduct in 2000, which carried auto traffic from Broadway, over the adjacent Central Platte Valley train tracks, and north along Brighton Boulevard to I-70 for several decades. The viaduct's bridge structure sliced through the middle of the neighborhood, but is now replaced by a four-lane underpass; two sets of train tracks cross overhead, much like the 15th Street underpass that was completed earlier this decade. This enhances the Ballpark's pedestrian environment and improves its visual and pedestrian connection to Downtown Denver. It has also spurred new opportunities along Brighton Boulevard, which is a direct link from I-70 to Downtown Denver. The Ballpark neighborhood is host of the Ballpark Market, an eclectic community flea market that happens several weekends each summer. The AT&T LoDo Music Festival also moved into the Ballpark neighborhood in 2000 after several years in the Lower Downtown area.
Population: 1,200 Just south of Cherry Creek, the
lovely Belcaro neighborhood is bordered by Exposition Avenue,
Colorado Boulevard, Tennessee Avenue and Steele Street. Denver's Bonnie Brae neighborhood offers us a few rare glimpses of the 1930s Art Moderne architectural style. Homes built in this style used classical elements in a streamlined manner and gloried in curved corners, bands and panels of glass blocks, and horizontal bands of highly polished materials such as aluminum, stainless steel, opaque color glass, and glazed terra cotta. The International style of modern architecture can also be found in this neighborhood, with its asymmetrical composition, smooth continuous wall surfaces, and avoidance of applied decoration. Bonnie Brae is another of Denver's highly desirable neighborhoods, thanks to its proximity to Washington Park and Cherry Creek, as well as its own small district of quaint shops, ice cream parlors and restaurants. Capitol Hill is one of Denver's most historic and diverse neighborhoods. Its longstanding popularity has made it the center city's most densely populated neighborhood, due in large part to its proximity to outstanding transportation infrastructure, parks, unique retail and entertainment opportunities. The neighborhood also offers perhaps the city's widest range in housing types and price ranges--everything from modern high rise apartments to single-family homes, apartments in historic mansions to lofts in renovated commercial buildings. Capitol Hill was founded in the 1880s as a new residential suburb for Denver's wealthiest families, who built extravagant Victorian, Tudor and Greek revival mansions using sandstone, granite and other materials native to Colorado. Among the most prominent residents was legendary Titanic survivor, Molly Brown, whose house still stands on Pennsylvania Street and is a popular museum. The Colorado State Capitol building--dedicated in 1890--stands on the neighborhood's far west side at Colfax Avenue & Lincoln Street. In Capitol Hill south of Colfax Avenue, there are nine designated historic districts. (See links to historic district profiles at the bottom of this page.) Today, many of those mansions still stand, but the neighborhood has evolved into a mixed-use community with a majority of apartments and condominiums. After serious population declines in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Capitol Hill has enjoyed population increases during the past five years, and some estimates call for 3,000 more new residents in the next 3 years. On its north edge, the resurgent Colfax Avenue is continuing its remarkable recovery after years of neglect and high crime rates. As crime rates on Colfax and throughout the Capitol Hill neighborhood have dropped dramatically in recent years, new retail, entertainment venues, office users and even condominium developments have followed. In recent years, dilapidated apartment buildings have been rehabilitated throughout Capitol Hill; commercial buildings (such as Penn Garage Lofts at 14th & Pennsylvania Street) have been transformed into mixed-use housing projects; and vacant lots have given rise to new construction housing developments. There have been 22 development projects on Colfax Avenue alone in the last three years, adding up to $34 million in investment that includes three residential projects. Capitol Hill also features several small commercial and retail districts that are pedestrian friendly. One of the city's most compact and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, Capitol Hill residents walk to coffee shops, hardware stores, grocery stores, restaurants and other gathering places at 9th & Corona Street, 11th & Ogden Street, and along the 14th Avenue corridor. Capitol Hill's landmark park is Cheesman Park, and Downtown's Civic Center Park is also close by. Capitol Hill also home to some of Denver's best cultural and entertainment venues. In addition to the Molly Brown House, the Vance Kirkland Museum (13th & Pearl Street) celebrates Denver's internationally renowned abstract painter. On Colfax Avenue & Clarkson Street, Mammoth Gardens has been refurbished into the Fillmore Auditorium, and a few blocks away is the Ogden Theater. Both are popular small venues for music. Population: 24,460 Just 10 minutes from downtown Denver,
Cherry Creek is one of the city's most attractive and vibrant
neighborhoods. Charming bungalows, restored Victorians, elegant
townhomes, and luxury high-rise condominium buildings have made it a
thriving urban residential area.
Cheesman Park Congress Park started as Denver's
first city nursery in 1903. Reinhard Schuetze, Denver's first
landscape architect, imported a variety of tree saplings and started
the nursery to care for them. When Congress Park was renamed
Cheesman Park in 1907, the city nursery area was dubbed Congress
Park. Today, the park offers playgrounds, tennis courts and an
outdoor swimming pool. Today's Country Club Historic District begins north of the Denver Country Club at 1st Avenue and extends to 4th Avenue, to 6th Avenue along Circle Drive, and from University Boulevard to Downing Street. Situated within minutes of both downtown Denver and Cherry Creek, Country Club is considered one of Denver's most desirable neighborhoods. Curtis Park was developed in the 1860s and 1870s as a fashionable residential suburb north of Downtown Denver. Today, Curtis Park remains one of the center city's most accessible center city neighborhoods for Downtown workers, characterized by its tree-lined streets, its broad range of housing types, and its social, economic and ethnic diversity. Curtis Park's housing mix is wide ranging: single story duplexes stand next door to recently renovated grand Victorian mansions; flat-roofed rowhouses next to classic, two-story Denver Square brick houses; Queen Anne-style houses with second floor porches are also numerous. There are three designated historic districts in the Curtis Park neighborhood: Clements, San Rafael and Glenarm Place. Since its founding, Curtis Park has always been a mixed-income neighborhood. Interspersed among the neighborhood's turn of the century mansions are smaller houses built by waves of immigrants who came to Denver to join the workforce during the city's early years. Throughout the neighborhood's history, many of Curtis Park's residents have worked in Downtown Denver, which is only a 15-minute walk or a quick ride on RTD's light rail--or, in past decades, on streetcars--from Downtown's businesses and office buildings. Curtis Park is also a remarkably diverse neighborhood. Approximately 30% of the residents are African-American, 30% are Latino, and 40% are white. A current effort that is changing the landscape of Curtis Park is the rebuilding of the neighborhood's housing projects through a $26 million federal HOPE VI grant. Four blocks of two-story apartment buildings that were built for public housing in the 1950s were demolished in 2000. The area is being rebuilt to accommodate market-rate apartments and condominiums alongside affordable and low income units, creating a more economically diverse community. Construction of the new housing is underway, remarkably transforming the neighborhood. Curtis Park's landmarks include the Denver Enterprise Center (3003 Arapahoe Street), an innovative small-business incubator that utilizes the labor force from the surrounding neighborhood; the Women's Bean Project (3201 Curtis Street), an entrepreneurial business and job skills program for low-income women that is housed in a renovated firehouse; and Sacred Heart (2760 Larimer Street), Denver's oldest Catholic parish whose church recently completed significant renovations. The neighborhood's namesake open space--Mestizo-Curtis Park--lies in the center of the neighborhood, and was created in 1868 as Denver's first public park. Population: 9,100 The Highlands neighborhood extends
from Federal Boulevard to I-25 and from 38th Avenue to Speer
Boulevard, although the Potter-Highlands Historic District
encompasses only the area from Federal to Zuni and West 32nd to West
38th Avenues.
Lower
Downtown (LoDo) Observatory Park, located between Evans and Iliff Avenues and Milwaukee and Fillmore Streets, is a favorite gathering place for social outings and student events. Astronomy buffs are particular fans of this park, since it is named for the 1890 Chamberlin Observatory, donated to the University of Denver by Humphrey Baker Chamberlin and designed by Denver architect Robert S. Roeschlaub. |
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Park
Hill Denver's Park Hill neighborhood begins just east of City Park, for which it was named. City Park originated in 1878 and featured an outdoor bandstand for evening concerts and a small zoo with bears and buffalo. Between the 1890s and 1920s, City Park was transformed into Denver's urban showcase with the Denver Zoological Gardens and the Denver Museum of Natural History (later renamed the Denver Museum of Nature and Science). Riverfront Park is one of the most
interesting and innovative neighborhoods in Denver.and the entire
country. With the new 25-acre Commons Park as a front yard, LoDo as
a backyard, and all of downtown Denver as a playground, there are
endless options for activity, entertainment and relaxation. |
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Uptown The Uptown neighborhood lies to the immediate east of Downtown Denver, and offers an eclectic mix of elements: restaurants, retail, historic mansions, new construction loft and condominium projects, hospital campuses, small office buildings, entertainment venues and neighborhood gathering places. It is quickly becoming one of the most popular neighborhoods in the city, due in large part to its ease of accessibility to Downtown's core. The architectural styles and housing options in Uptown cross the spectrum from Denver Squares, Victorians, apartment complexes, bungalows, Queen Anne-style houses with second-story porches and much more. A majority of the neighborhood is single family detached houses, with tree-lined boulevards that separate sidewalks from the street. A longtime anchor in the Uptown neighborhood has been a complex of hospitals in the neighborhood's core. St. Joseph's, The Children's Hospital, Presbyterian/St. Luke's, and Kaiser Permanente are major presences and employers in the neighborhood, and many hospital supply, doctor's offices and related businesses are located in nearby buildings. The hospitals employ nearly 10,000 workers. (The Children's Hospital announced plans to move to the Fitzsimons area in Aurora in the next five years, along with the University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center.) Uptown's southern boundary is Colfax Avenue, Denver's traditional retail and services corridor that is undergoing a remarkable recovery. New retail, housing and office development is changing Colfax's landscape, and the refurbished Fillmore Auditorium and Ogden Theater draw music fans for live performances. The numerous restaurants on 17th Street have resulted in a "Restaurant Row" destination attraction. Population: 7,780 Beautiful Washington Park, located between East Virginia and East Louisiana Avenues and between South Downing and South Franklin Streets, is a local recreational haven. Built in 1899, "Wash Park" (as it is affectionately called) lures visitors from throughout the city to its 162 acres where they can swim, lift weights or take classes at the recreation center; jog or walk along the crushed-granite outer trail; play tennis, volleyball or soccer; bike or rollerblade on the paved inner pathway; and catch fish in Smith and Grasmere Lakes. |