How safe is Downtown Denver?

January 10, 2007 3:56 PM

How safe is downtown Denver?

I'll be leaving my job and going back to finish my PhD full-time at UC Denver in May. I've got a wife, a baby, and a pre-schooler, and we're looking for a place to rent that's affordable, easy to get to from the Auraria campus (around the 16th St. Mall), and of course safe. I will not be driving to campus, but will have a bus/train pass. We've so far restricted our search to Englewood, Littleton, and Cherry Creek. There are some good rental deals to be had, but we've found some affordable lofts right at the end of the 16th St. Mall. I can't overstate our attraction to being able to walk to school, the mall, and most likely whatever job my wife can get. Is this a bad idea? We know our way around the city, having lived in Boulder in the past, but not much about actually living in it. If anyone can recommend some other areas to search I'd appreciate it.

posted by monkeymadness to work & money (11 comments total)

Try Southeast Denver (East of Cherry Creek). You can also look anywhere along Sante Fe or I-25 South of Auraria since they recently started running the new lightrails.

As far as safety, there's nothing wrong with downtown where you are looking. I know many intelligent single 20 something women who love it down there.
posted by Octoparrot at 4:04 PM on January 10, 2007

That area's pretty darn safe. I used to go to Auraria campus by light rail, leaving my car at the 5 Points PnR. Never got harassed, never even thought about it.

Also, watch out for those lofts: a friend in Ballpark Lofts reports that property owners are giving out crazy go nuts deals because the loft market's getting soft. There's some new buildings up on the east side of auraria that look pretty attractive, but I already own a house, so I haven't looked into them.
posted by boo_radley at 4:14 PM on January 10, 2007

I agree with very safe. I live out west in Golden, but do head in to Denver and usually take the bus to avoid parking woes. The 16L goes down Colfax, which is not the nicer part of town, but I've never had any issues there. If I worked in downtown I'd definitely live there.
posted by Eekacat at 5:05 PM on January 10, 2007

I've been there a few times (lived with host family) and Denver's one of the safest, nicest, and most polite places I've ever been in. People actually open the door for you and say "thank you"! It's amazing.

I'm not being sarcastic...where I lived, such niceness and politeness is almost unheard of.
posted by divabat at 5:13 PM on January 10, 2007

Ask Darrent Williams.
posted by nathancaswell at 6:42 PM on January 10, 2007

I think it's pretty safe, however: one thing you may want to consider if you don't have a car is proximity to a grocery store. I don't think either end of the mall is very close to a grocery store. You're probably not going to want to do your food shopping at Walgreen's or Rite Aid. One thing I used to do when I was carless was get to the grocery store by public transport, and then get a cab back. (it was worth the $5 to not have to lug a bunch of groceries on the bus-- however, I had to walk a looooong way from the bus stop, so YMMV.) However, in most places you can't just flag down a cab, you have to call, and you may have to wait for quite a while.
posted by Shoeburyness at 10:36 PM on January 10, 2007

I've lived in Denver most of my life and can say that I've almost always felt completely safe downtown, even alone at night. It's also a fun place to live and has good access to public transportation, so if the price is right, I would definitely go for a 16th St. loft.

Also, there's a King's Soopers not to far away at Speer and 13th Ave.

Darrent Williams is an unique case, don't use it to scare people.
posted by purplevelvet at 12:08 AM on January 11, 2007

As a young woman I used to work on the 16th street mall, and lived alone very nearby. I echo others who've stated it's very safe. I was never bothered, day or night. There are some strange 'preachers' who hang on the street, and homeless teenagers near, but they aren't a problem.
posted by LadyBonita at 7:54 AM on January 11, 2007

Yay! Denver! I live in Glendale (east of Cherry Creek). I highly recommend Cherry Creek area or Wash Park if raising a family and want to be close to downtown. I have lived in Cherry Creek and if you can find a good place (its generally expensive). Although you're not going to be in walking distance to downtown or the auraria campus, there is public transportation from there and you also have the cherry creek bike trail to take in the late spring to early fall. The neighborhood is nice and the cherry creek outdoor mall is similar to the pearl street mall in Boulder. They have outdoor movies in the summer and an ice skating rink in the winter as well.

I do not recommend living in Ballpark lofts if with family. There are a lot of single twenty somethings who party a lot at night. I have friends who live there. Besides they're small and not very kid friendly. Try to stay away from LoDo if you can. That's the 'bar strip' area. The area around Bash (18th and Blake) attracts some rough characters at closing time on the weekends and its generally going to be noisy.

If you are planning on living close to downtown there are several new developments getting put up soon (20th and Welton) as well as some nice stuff down by confluence park (which is where I think you're looking) and the highlands.

Which lofts are you looking at at the end of the 16th street mall? If you have specific addresses I could give you a more specific description.
posted by kookywon at 8:18 AM on January 11, 2007

Yippee! Denver. Downtown = safe. But, I second kookywon, that it isn't the most intuitive place for a family. Personally, I'd live outside of downtown a little but near a lightrail station and hop on the train.

It is great to see Denver me-fites! (Has there ever been a Denver meetup?)
posted by fieldtrip at 9:25 PM on January 11, 2007

As if anyone is looking back this far, here's a followup.
We found a place in Cherry Creek for more than we planned to pay in rent, but in a great location. It's a floor of a three story older (100 years) house. 3 bedrooms, so I'll have my office. Walking distance to everything. We're absolutely giddy about it. Thanks, all.
posted by monkeymadness at 8:21 AM on February 26, 2007