As a Denver local, I'm always interested in getting thoughts from others on this forum about their perspective.
Denver's office collapse after covid was really something, and the local press keeps talking about it. I have my fingers crossed that
office conversions like this one will help make downtown feel vibrant again. I think the high office vacancy and trend toward residential conversions is what has stalled highrise construction downtown lately.
Denver has changed a lot for the better in my life. In the 90s, it was little more than a 9-5 business district. The opening of the baseball stadium and the cleanup and activation of the riverfront has been extremely transformative.
But Denver has always felt a little boom or bust to me. There are times, like when there are a lot of sports events going on or during the No King's rally, when downtown can get VERY crowded. Other days it can feel a bit empty and you wonder where all the people are. Again, I hope that more residential units downtown can help activate more retail and even out that cycle a bit.
I'm glad to hear you think the TODs are doing well. I live in one of the better ones, and I also have trouble explaining the lack of ridership, except for the fact that I still think we need like 5X the population in the TODs, and the connecting bus lines all seem to be shit. Colorado recently passed some legislation to force suburbs to accept more density and relax parking requirements near their train stations, but many cities are now exerting their "home rule," and it is unclear if the courts will take the state's side and force them to change their zoning.
Regarding mountain proximity, it's true that Denver proper does not really have access to the mountains for an after-work hike. That is pretty much reserved for the western suburbs and for Boulder. You can get to BIG hiking trails though in only about 1-2 hours, so while it is true you need the weekend to do that, this is still about the closest access to big mountains of just about any major city I can think of (except maybe Seattle).
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