10 Things that I Love About Downtown Denver

[00:00:00] I'll never forget the time when I went to Downtown Denver after the COVID shutdowns were eased up and how shocking the experience was. It felt like I was an extra in a zombie apocalypse film.

[00:00:13] Storefronts were empty, there was human poo in places where there shouldn't be, and spaces that had felt safe before didn't. In fact, the emergence of people from their homes forced us to confront some of the issues that we had been ignoring for quite a while in the city.

[00:00:30] Issues such as wearing the head are our unhoused neighbors supposed to rest when they are literally told to move on and what happens when that place ends up happening to be Union Station. Since no one was really using this station, it wasn't an issue until it became one.

[00:00:46] Where are people supposed to go to the restroom? When there are no public restrooms anymore? What happens when a major construction project is underway and impacts a major part of the Downtown experience?

[00:00:58] And finally, what happens when people around the state come to town for their once a year visit and freak the fuck out when they discover that Denver currently has and will continue to have some big city realities.

[00:01:12] Luckily, things have begun to turn the corner with downtown crime reportedly declining by almost 20% and I absolutely believe that's the case. I can feel a difference. I am currently loving the Downtown Denver experience. It could be better, but I am actually really enjoying it.

[00:01:30] And I think that you will too and that it's time to give downtown Denver a second chance. Love Colorado as much as I do want to experience it and learn about it from a different perspective. Make sure you go to squarespace.co.com and check out the website.

[00:01:46] There's a lot of different guides and just information on the city and unique experiences that you might not get in other publications. So definitely, again, go to squarespace.co.com, check it out and also sign up for Cal Town Denver, the newsletter that is part of this project.

[00:02:22] What is Downtown Denver Light? I think to better answer this question is to ask the following what is downtown Denver like right now. Because the experience is always changing. In the current moment that we're in now, I have some opinions.

[00:02:38] So I've spent time in Downtown Denver since I was a kid. I've seen more than one economic downturn that has impacted the citizen and tourist experience in the Denver City Center. I've actually really begun to enjoy downtown Denver again and I thought it would be a good

[00:02:54] idea to share some of my favorite things about the current Downtown Denver experience. The Civic Center Park. There was a moment there when Civic Center Park was not doing okay, it went left. The team has clearly, clearly worked hard to turn it around and I've really enjoyed it

[00:03:12] every time I've hung out there this summer from celebrating the Denver Nuggets in VH Championship to E.D. Delicious Food at Civic Center Eats and making my way down Broadway during E.B. the streets Denver experience. The Civic Center Park is definitely that it's clean.

[00:03:29] It feels safe again and people are using it. This is the important part. My only complaint actually is that I really miss the Civic Center moves classes and I just really loved working out at the park outside and just seeing all the people.

[00:03:47] Also don't forget to check out the different art and cultural displays at the McMickle's building. I really love that building and what they do with the different interactions and art experiences there. I specifically really enjoyed the black and baseball exhibit that they had there.

[00:04:03] I feel like a year or two ago so anyway definitely check out the McMickle's building. Sound Walk Denver. I feel like not enough people know about this but it's that audio art experience that's on the east side of the federal reserve building on 15th and Curtis.

[00:04:19] I love taking my out of town guests to walk over those greats and experience that art. Base camp Denver. This is where market street station used to be located and specifically the party on the Passeo event. This event so far has been held twice this summer.

[00:04:38] It includes music and food and it was raising funds for a nonprofit that takes kids on outdoor experiences that they would otherwise not have due to a variety of factors I enjoyed a fabulous cocktail and was given a free yummy meal because I was one of the first

[00:04:53] attendees to arrive. I plan on keeping an eye on this space for other unique events as time moves on but I really like the space and what they've been doing with it. It also is home to a number of different outdoor equipment and apparel shops such as

[00:05:09] Topo designs and the only US-based full store. Nightlights Denver. Again, I wish people knew about it. It's like they don't know about this. I'm a huge art lover. It's weird to me that so few people know about or talk about this really cool interactive

[00:05:25] display on the clock tower. Each month there's different art projected onto the clock tower for about a 20 to 30 minute display that lasts about five hours a night. I think that's what it is. But it's just a cool free experience as you're walking up and down.

[00:05:44] The mall this was happening before they started the 16th Street Mall renovation so I also noticed that not enough people knew about this prior to the renovation so don't email me and say well they're renovating the mall. No, this was an issue before that. Union Station.

[00:06:01] Yes, Union Station. One of my favorite things to do is to take the train and love taking the train. Maybe that's why I enjoy the light rail so much. But anyway, Union Station continues to be one of my favorite spaces downtown from the water

[00:06:15] fountain in front of it with people playing in it, people watching the bands are back and as the origination point for all of the tours in town. So if you are looking to take a tour up to Rocky Mountain National Park to Red Rocks, there's

[00:06:31] a really cool tour that lets you go with going adventure photographer. So that's the place where most of these tours meet up with people. So anyway, I love it, love it, love it and I also am excited to see that the farmer's market is back as well.

[00:06:47] McGregor Square, it's home to a great drag brunch at the original restaurant and a whole bunch of cool events for locals and visitors alike including a free yoga class, free movie nights and even an ice skating rink during the winter.

[00:07:03] If you're a baseball fan, McGregor Square is directly across from course field and has a food haul with really good food. I am a huge fan of the ramen. I forget the name of the Bikiyask delicious delicious delicious.

[00:07:17] There's also a branch of the Tattered Cover bookstore which is a local company here in town. Under study this tiny interactive art space has left a giant sized impression on me. I love love love, love under study. It's located directly where the convention center light rail stop is.

[00:07:37] It's a free art space that displays new art almost on a monthly basis. It feels like every three to four weeks they have a new exhibit inside there. I love to just pop in and check things out before I hop out and catch my next train.

[00:07:52] I'm in a regular habit of doing that and what I love about under study is that it's accessible to people. Free they have fun events. It's just a really cool space and I think it's great for not only the citizens and tourists

[00:08:07] alike but also for the artists it's a great space for artists to share what they're working on. This next one is so painful because it closed. So as I was working on this episode, I found out after I worked on it that the following

[00:08:23] place closed and I'm still going to share it because it's so frustrating because it was such a great place. Sophia's Roman pizza. When I was in college, one of my part-time jobs was making pizza like I made pizza for years

[00:08:37] and when I tell you that I burnt out epically on pizza and really kind of lost my love of pizza for many years, like years. I'm very serious. I very rarely eat pizza. It has to be freaking good.

[00:08:51] So when I discovered what I decided to give Sophia a chance and when I tell you it was phenomenal, phenomenal. I cannot believe this place closed without notice apparently. So it's really frustrating.

[00:09:06] I hope that the employees were aware that this was going to happen but I was obsessed with it. I was shouting it out. I know that other people were really excited about it. There were people during lunch hours for sure eating there because I would notice this

[00:09:21] and it really sucks that this space, this restaurant closed. Dragon fly noodle. I thought my obsession with Dragonfly noodle was potentially a little extreme. The delicious, smoky, pork belly broth that is rich and has many layers of flavor and those freshly made ramen noodles.

[00:09:41] Then I discovered that the owner of Dragonfly noodle was nominated for a James beard award in 2022. Very well deserved. I love Dragonfly noodle. I cannot, like I needed to cool down a little bit or just to go there in the evenings.

[00:09:58] And I probably could eat a bowl of ramen from there every single night. That's how much I love it. Milk tea people. Now one tip I would give is don't visit milk tea people if you're in a rush. Like enjoy your time.

[00:10:12] It's a leisurely experience and just enjoy the different milk tea lattes, cream drinks. My personal favorite is the Ube Jasmine sweet cream and all of the delicious Japanese desserts, such as the matcha waf cheese which I am sure is not a real word. The dairy block.

[00:10:32] I have loved this development every since I discovered it, every since it went live. I can't express how much I love this place but from enjoying a drink at run the roses which is a speakeasy, the fun markets that are held within the alley walkway just

[00:10:48] a beautifully built out space, pastry shop, winery, whiskey bars, food. It's just I love it. You gotta check it out. Summer sessions and river front park. I could have sworn actually that this park was called Confluence Park but what do I know?

[00:11:06] I'm talking about that park that you have to walk over the little bridge adjacent to the Union Station Light Rail stop when you're facing west and you have to walk over that bridge. There's that park.

[00:11:15] It's super cute and they have a once a month event with music, food and fun. And actually I forgot to add this to the show notes I will in a second. The Museum of Contemporary Art Downtown.

[00:11:28] The one with the heart with the daggers in it with a little drop of blood. You know what I'm talking about? That is such a phenomenal museum. They have incredible interactive events. There is an R&B music dance party like hello. I just love everything about this space.

[00:11:48] So definitely check it out. Vibre Coffee and Wine. It's an open and airy space that's always busy, the team. They're so nice. Whether it's college students working on their projects, digital workers or conference attendees, someone's always there but my favorite thing about this space besides the people in

[00:12:07] the coffee is the fireplace fixture. There's nothing better than soaking up on beyonds during most of the year on a chilly day while getting some work done and watching the fire flicker in the fireplace. I love it. Then there's the Dico collection. It's a permanent art collection.

[00:12:25] How's in what feels like a very random spot about half a block off of 16 street mall? It's close to Target. That little baby Target downtown. If you're an art lover, it is a wonderful experience. It's free. You do have to reserve your time.

[00:12:41] So do make sure to do that. Don't do it at the last minute, but you do have to make a reservation. And then there's the updated seating experience. Super Colorado vibes on 17th and California adjacent to Bank of the West.

[00:12:56] They did a beautiful job of reimagining that area that space to rest in and sit during lunch hour. Now for some things, slightly off downtown. If you take the airline light rail one stop and hop off at 38th and Blake station, there is that cool building.

[00:13:15] It's a residential building. I thought they were going to be doing something else with this building but right now it's at the tail end stages of being built out. I think it should be finished in about six months from the time of recording this episode.

[00:13:29] There's going to be a hiking trail in this place. Like what? This is incredible anyway, but it is a residential building that they're building out. But I think everyone's going to want to just look at it, take photos, have a friend who lives there.

[00:13:43] When you're in that area, you could go to the Zephone station, which personally I don't understand why it doesn't get more press. It's such a cool space. Great food, great drinks, cool vibes. It's just really a love Zephone station. It does not get enough shout outs.

[00:14:01] And finally, go relax at Rino Art Park. Rino Art Park is just two blocks from Zephone station as well as 38 Denver, which is a really cool bar experience but it's basically all open. I don't know how else to describe it.

[00:14:19] You need to just go there and check it out. I have some final thoughts about Denver's downtown. You'll notice that I actually didn't mention a couple of significant areas in downtown Denver. The first will surprise you. It is Lairmer Square.

[00:14:34] I actually truly love this space, but right now with ongoing construction and just for me a large number of stored in front that are empty, it's hard to make a compelling reason to visit Lairmer Square.

[00:14:48] I think that will change, but right now it just feels like it's not cohesive anymore as the new owners of that space, the new managers I guess, of that block, try to finish some of the work that they're doing on these historic buildings.

[00:15:04] But it's been hard to kind of see the shops go away and just there's no sense of what this space is going to be. I do think it should be permanently car-free, similar to downtown boulders, Pearl Street Mall.

[00:15:19] I think they need to brick that road so it feels more cohesive. I think that's part of the problem right now. They still have the cement blocks there, but instead I think it should just be thoughtfully built out so that it's actually car-free.

[00:15:34] Tarr up the road, put bricks down, put a whole bunch of beautiful planters to block off the north and south parts of the road and create a true experience versus what's going on right now.

[00:15:48] The second part of downtown dimmer that I didn't mention was basically anything east of the clock tower. I've talked about this in another episode called is downtown dimmer a health skate, which it is not.

[00:16:01] With all of the storefronts that are empty on the eastern side of the mall and the weird issue with dimmer pavilion being just empty in my view, I'm begun to wonder, are they preparing to sell that property or change hands to another property manager?

[00:16:18] I just, it's like what's there to do over there? I am excited to experience the end vision of the 16th Street Mall once the construction project is completed. I think it's going to be really nice. I think it's going to feel very welcoming, but right now it's hard.

[00:16:36] Like anytime there's construction and things are changing that middle point is difficult to experience. It's like the dimmer airport project. That's painful too. But with that said, I've seen so many people heading downtown to coarse field to watch baseball game, heading to parade or just enjoying themselves downtown.

[00:16:59] I can see a big difference. What I will say is that the statistics that are coming out talking about the foot traffic downtown being down, that is still very much accurate. But it's definitely increased since the last couple years since 2021 and 2022. So it does feel safer.

[00:17:20] I haven't seen poo any time recently. Thank God. The bus depot area is definitely safer. Like it's night and day compared to a last couple of years. They have done a phenomenal job of managing some of the issues that we're coming up in that space.

[00:17:39] So I do feel like the teams are working really hard to make downtown dimbers safe and welcoming and just a place to go and enjoy. But the reality is as long as these store fronts are empty and foot traffic is down,

[00:17:55] it's going to be hard for people to believe that, which is part of the reason why I've recorded this episode. The other thing I would say is this, shopping is different. We can't sit there and look at these empty store fronts and decide to just think,

[00:18:09] oh, it's like do shopping experiences. It's clear that we have to completely rethink what that 16-street mall experience will be. Will it be all local stores and just making a point of that being the case?

[00:18:24] And maybe the city subsidizes some of the stores so that they can afford to be downtown. I don't know what the solution is, but what I will say is I definitely feel a difference. I'm willingly downtown. I've definitely enjoyed it. It is not perfect.

[00:18:42] Let's be clear, but it's a hell of lot better than before and we need to support these local businesses. Definitely check out Dragonfly noodle and melt-deep people and just please come back to downtown dimmer.

[00:18:56] It is still a wonderful space, but it's changed as one would expect when you shut down a city for a significant period of time and then also change the capacity of the spaces that we were in. Anyway, let me know what you think.

[00:19:14] I'm curious and I hope we have a great day.