I am a real estate investor and currently live in Denver’s Uptown neighborhood. I consider this one of the very best neighborhoods in metro Denver.
Here’s why:
In the past 3 months, I have:
- Visited the Colorado Symphony to listen to concerts on numerous occasions
- Gone to the Museum of Contemporary Arts
- Seen special exhibits at the Denver’s Museum of Science and Industry
- Explored the Santa Fe Arts Districts, with thousands of other art aficionado’s, visiting an eclectic collection of art galleries
- Gone to the Denver Zoo
- Spent hours at the Denver Botanic Gardens taking reprieve in their tropical exhibits, while the outdoor temperature hoovers around 3 degrees
- Spent time strolling the 16TH Street mall, shopping for books and going to movie theaters
- Relaxed with massage and steams at a local old-fashioned “spa”
- Ridden my bicycle on designated street bicycle trails (we have one of the largest and most extensive system of trails in the country)
- Swam at 1 of 5 of the City of Denver Recreation Centers
- Eaten at perhaps 20 local restaurants and visited 2 clubs
The best part:
Every single of these activities took less than 10 minutes to get to from my front door – Many of them are within walking distance! Additionally…
There are so many summer festivals in downtown’s Civic Center Park as well as weekly FREE jazz concerts in City Park during warmer months.
Uptown is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the entire 7 state Rocky Mountain region and is really of very fine urban existence here in the Rockies. For decades, City planners have recognized the importance of sustainability and “green” land use forms – and it shows. It is convenient, stable, and desirable – The Europeans have understood this for centuries.
I am an urban animal, as are my dogs, squirrels, fish, the coyotes in my alley, the huge flock of geese in the parks, the pigeons, seagulls, robins and of course the feral alley cats.
I am a student of the Urban Experience, and currently Denver is in a renaissance of construction, despite the recession. I love to drive the one way streets and watch the all the new construction going on which changes the Denver scape by the month. It is truly fascinating.
My alley is pedestrian-oriented and anchored by a 7-11 store on the south entrance and the Starbucks on the north end. This creates a constantly entertaining parade of pedestrians who I can watch from my home office, which faces the alley.
However, all is not rosy in the City. My cars have been broken into more times than I can count. I am contending with graffiti “artists” who use my alley as their gallery on a routine basis. Oh - and,of course it can be quite noisy with the flow of commercial traffic. But – so what? This is what it means to live urban.
Guest Blogger – Kerry B., Property Investor
