Is Downtown Denver a Hellscape?
The other day I was on Twitter and saw a tweet sharing video of a section of downtown Denver. The poster, who mentioned that they’ve lived in Denver since around 2014 rightfully asked what was going on with downtown. They pointed out empty store fronts and just a general change to that section of the 16th Street Mall. But, I found myself getting irritated, once again, with how the conversation around downtown Denver was being framed. We need to be careful of what we’re saying about what’s truly happening in the city and are forgetting that our real and fake outrage may be costing us. Is downtown Denver a hellscape? Listen on.
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Is Downtown Denver a Hellscape?
The short answer is “no” but I think that it’s important to share more context about what’s going on in the city and have a more candid conversation about what’s actually upsetting many residents.
Before I get into this conversation I have a few questions for you.
- How often pre-COVID did you go downtown?
- Did you walk up and down 16th Street Mall
- Did you just go to a show at the Denver Center for Performing Arts
- Or, did you go to a small business, coffee shop or restaurant on a regular basis? Were you a regular anywhere downtown?
- Did you work from downtown?
I ask these questions to help listeners establish an actual baseline of how you were experiencing downtown pre-COVID.
When we talk about downtown it’s crazy to me that we don’t talk about how cities across the world literally experienced a hard stop and reboot situation. Where businesses were closed, events weren’t happening and how citizens moved around the towns they were from completely changed.
Foot Traffic Data
I will never forget when Mayor Hancock’s team shared some data after the city opened up again about who was actually in downtown. I think that the data showed that 70% of the foot traffic was from out-of-town visitors.
It also freaked people out that the city was able to collect this type of data in the way that they did. Cell phones and big brother am I right?
So, with all of your outrage I ask where were you? Most likely how you move around the City has changed since 2020. It’s now 2023 as I record this episode and I feel like I’m just getting back to my pre-COVID habits.
It took years.
In fact, I willing spend 2-3 days a week in downtown Denver. I love it. I’m amazed by all of the new businesses opening up, the energy and I feel like it’s beginning to emerge from the cloud that has been over it for the past 5 or 6 years. Yes, before COVID.
However, downtown Denver’s revitalization is very interesting to watch because it’s almost like a tale of two different cities, or in this case, two different parts of the mall.
From the Clocktower going west, there are so many new businesses hiring and opening up. I love going to Milk Tea People located in a cosy nook of the Basecamp development where Market Street Station used to be. I enjoy eating in Mile Post Zero or watching a free movie at McGregor Square, sitting in front of Union Station while watching the fountains.
There’s nothing better than picking up one of my many friends visiting town and showing them around. They’ve all left having had a fantastic time and wanting to come back. I’m also excited to see how the facelift to the mall eventually turns out.
From The Clocktower Going East
We need to have a conversation. There are 7 blocks of downtown Denver’s 16th Street Mall that just aren’t recovering as quickly as the other part of the mall. There are empty store fronts and a general air of a lack of cohesiveness to the mall and the experience you’re used to having and should be having. It feels empty and a little dead. While it’s disconcerting and worrisome I think it’s time for some perspective and to ask a few questions.
- The COVID downturn is not downtown Denver’s first downturn. It is one of a number of downturns that have happened to the 16th Street Mall business corridor. In fact, Denver and the state of Colorado was for a very long-time considered a boom bust city because we didn’t have as many industries as we do now. There has been a lot of work done to build out the many industries in the state that we now benefit from and balance our economy out with. Here are examples of previous moments when downtown went to shit.
- The Oil and Gas Bust
- The fallout from Enron
- The Dotcom Bust
- 9/11 and the tourism and international student contraction across the US
- The Great Recession
- COVID
We have very real problems in downtown like every major metropolitan city across the world. I think what has caught many of us off-guard is that we’re now really seeing visible poverty and some drug use that we haven’t really seen before to the extent that we’re experiencing it.
This is new for Denver.
I do want to also point out that in my view the fact that so many of these faces are white also is upsetting a lot of locals. I even recorded an episode on my other podcast called “Experiencing White Homelessness as a Black Person in a White Town” about what I was seeing and hearing around town. Because people talk. I really encourage you to give that episode a listen and have included a link in the show notes.
We Need Some Context
Is Downtown Denver a hellscape? No, in fact a significant part of downtown is thriving and far exceeding my personal expectations after the devastation left post-COVID. I drove through town last Sunday night and kept asking myself where in the hell are all of these people going and what are they doing?
- Going to dinner
- Watching plays at the Denver Center for Performing Arts
- Enjoying a cocktail at Union Station
- Watching painful baseball games at Coors Field
- Zipping around on those annoying scooters
- Or, visiting for the first time and most people looked like they were enjoying themselves.
Then the next evening (on a Monday) I attended a fantastic cocktails and charcuterie event hosted by Better Together Denver at The Wild, a cute coffee shop directly across from Union Station. Have you gone there yet? The Wild made my top 21 coffee shops of Denver 2023 list.
Downtown is not where we want it to be, but what I do want to share is some more context. After every single economic bust downtown there was a boom. We are at the beginning stages of leveraging a huge opportunity to turn the city around. It drives me crazy when the candidates for Mayor form the conversation around downtown in a way as if we as a city and the officials running it aren’t invested in its long-term success.
Let’s be clear-Downtown Denver being successful is the only option. That’s always been the approach and to act like it isn’t is disingenuous.
On a personal note
Before the COVID pandemic (for years prior to 2020) I noticed that my habits had changed. I wasn’t shopping at malls and wandering around in shops like I did when I was younger.
I often think about how COVID has disrupted so many parts of our life and accelerated changes that were coming. I bring this up to say that as we work on turning around downtown Denver, in particular those 7 blocks to the East of the clocktower, that are languishing, we need to ask some serious questions:
- How do we help and support unhoused citizens in our town? I don’t want to see someone doing heroin again at 2:00 pm when I’m getting on the train. Interestingly, when I described the person my mom knew who it was. We’re seeing the same people struggling. How can we balance helping people and the needs of commerce? We can figure this out.
- What does business look like when consumer’s habits have changed? I just mentioned that I order things vs. going to stores. I’m not the only one out there whose habits have changed. What does this mean when we’re trying to attract businesses to the city?
- How can we work with landlords to rent at affordable rates to entrepreneurs? Should the City subsidize some of this? Maybe they are already and I’m unaware of it. Also, apply and support the Pop Up Denver program.
- What is a compelling enough reason to come downtown and hang out? Because, real talk, shopping is now a hard sell. We need to create engaging and exciting experiences that bring us downtown while maintaining our safety and caring for others.
- Are we actually equipped to have a thoughtful conversation about downtown when a lot of you are only visiting once a year?
- How bold are we willing to be to reimagine Denver moving forward. In fact, I recorded a podcast episode entitled ” A Letter to Denver’s Mayoral Candidates” and one of the issues that I bring up is that I want bold vision for the city and innovation. I want Dubai levels of innovation without the laws.
- How can we create a cohesive vision of our city that isn’t entrepreneurs vs. everyone else? Or, citizens vs. entrepreneurs. Cities are made up of a lot of different types of people. It’s an eco-system. We need happy citizens, employees, entrepreneurs and tourists. While we may be experiencing the town differently ultimately the end result is the same. We have to work together.
Some Additional Perspective
I’ve visited 45 states prior to COVID and post COVID I’ve noticed some things about American cities. I’m sure this is the case across the world. Cities that shut down for COVID via mitigation practices are coming out of COVID slower. Denver is no different. I’ve also visited some cities since the pandemic and I can say that those towns have changed. Here are a few examples:
- Los Angeles
- Philadelphia
- San Diego
- San Francisco
Nashville was the one town that I visited that felt like COVID didn’t happen there because they basically didn’t shut down during COVID.
Are You a Part of the Problem?
My final question is this…are you a part of the problem with downtown? I started this conversation by asking some questions. Here are some final questions:
- Are YOU a part of the problem?
- Are YOU spending money downtown?
- Are YOU spending actual time downtown outside of walking up and down the 16h Street Mall and bitching?
- Have you visited or patronized any of the new venues, spaces or events? Do you even know what I’m talking about?