Neighborhood Information

LoDo

Lower Downtown--or LoDo, as it is commonly referred to--is located in the area where Denver was founded in 1858 by General William Larimer.  Today LoDo is a vibrant 25-block urban neighborhood comprised of brick warehouses, industrial buildings and commercial structures that have been renovated into offices, lofts and retail space. 

Today, LoDo is a mixed-use neighborhood that is also a regional destination attraction for entertainment.  Art galleries, restaurants, brewpubs, jazz clubs, and specialty retail stores line the ground floors of historic buildings.  LoDo residents enjoy proximity to outdoor parks and amenities, including the Cherry Creek bikepath, the 16th Street Mall, and the recently completed 30-acre Commons Park in the Central Platte Valley.  Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, anchors the neighborhood's northwest corner at 20th & Blake Street. Wynkoop Street is home to historic Union Station, the Tattered Cover bookstore, and the Wynkoop Brewing Co., Denver's first brewpub (and the country's largest) that opened in 1988.

General boundaries:  Larimer Street, Speer Boulevard, Wewatta Street, 20th Street
Population:  2,180

Downtown

There is a common perception that the majority of Downtown Denver's housing growth during the 1990s has happened in Lower Downtown.  However, the rate of residential growth in the upper end of Downtown--in what is often referred to as the central business district--has been on par with Lower Downtown.  Both areas have populations of approximately 2,180 people. The upper end of Downtown now has approximately 1,550 rental units and 650 for-sale units.

A critical future project for Downtown residents will be the extension of the 16th Street Mall to Commons Park, linking Downtown with the Central Platte Valley.  The pedestrian mall will give Downtown residents (and workers) quick access to the 30-acre Commons Park, with a bridge carrying pedestrians over the valley's consolidated main line (CML) track. 

General boundaries (central business district): Broadway, Speer, Larimer Street, 20th Street.  Note:  the area between Speer Boulevard, 20th Street, Larimer Street and Wynkoop Street is Lower Downtown.
Population: 2,180

Central Platte Valley

The Central Platte Valley neighborhood is largely a blank slate at this time, a 120-acre expanse to the west of Downtown Denver that is home to about 360 residential units. However, after spending most of this century marked by railyards, warehouses, and viaducts, the Central Platte Valley area is on track to evolve into an exciting, mixed-use urban neighborhood with 2,000+ housing units, and more than 3 million s.f. of offices, shops, restaurants and hotels. Construction of the first housing units between Union Station and the South Platte River has begun.

Currently, the most prominent landmarks in this area are entertainment venues:   Pepsi Center arena, The Children's Museum, Six Flags Elitch Gardens amusement park, Colorado's Ocean Journey aquarium, and an under construction REI superstore (an outdoor goods retailer) in the former home of the Forney Museum, a railroad and transportation museum.  Another big shift in the neighborhood has been the addition of 90 acres of parks along the South Platte River (Gates-Crescent, Centennial, Fishback, Confluence, Cuernavaca and Commons parks).  These parks will be the anchors for the Central Platte Valley's residential community--"The Commons" neighborhood--that will be built over the next 20-30 years.  Commons Park, the 30-acre centerpiece of this park system, will be completed by the end of 1999.

General Boundaries: I-25, Wewatta Street, Auraria Parkway, 23rd Street
Residential Units:  360

Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle is in many ways a resurrected neighborhood.  Much of the old neighborhood's single family houses were removed during the during the fifties, sixties and seventies and replaced by service businesses, car repair lots and surface parking.  Now the residential population is back on the rise.

The Golden Triangle is bordered by Speer Boulevard, Colfax Avenue and Lincoln Street, just to the south of Downtown Denver. The neighborhood's current growth has been driven by several new construction developments with for-sale condominiums and lofts, as new residents are attracted by the neighborhood's central location and proximity to Downtown. The Golden Triangle's north side hosts some of Denver's most prominent cultural attractions in the Civic Center Cultural Complex:  Denver Art Museum, Denver Public Library, Colorado History Museum, Denver Mint, Byers-Evans House and Civic Center Park. 

General boundaries:  Speer Boulevard, Lincoln, Colfax Avenue
Population:  630

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.

General boundaries: Broadway, Colfax Avenue, 23rd Avenue, York Street
Population: 7,780

Highland

Standing on the west side of I-25 and overlooking Downtown Denver, Highland is a resurgent center city neighborhood with a rich ethnic history.  The community has been home to many waves of American immigrants--Italian, Irish, German and Mexican--who established the neighborhood's still-thriving churches, businesses, restaurants and cultural events. 

Housing types available in Highland are wide-ranging--row houses, duplexes, apartments above retail shops, grand Victorian and Queen Anne mansions, and post-WW II era single family detached houses.  The streets and the neighborhood's hilly topography are lined with trees. 

General boundaries: Federal Boulevard, 38th Avenue, I-25, 23rd Avenue
Population: 9,300

Capitol Hill

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 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.  The Colorado State Capitol building--dedicated in 1890--stands on the neighborhood's far west side at Colfax Avenue & Lincoln Street.

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 gained 4,000 residents in the past four years, and some estimates call for 3,000 more new residents in the next 3 years.

General boundaries:  Colfax Avenue, York Street, 7th Avenue, Lincoln
Population: 24,460