Should You Visit Denver’s 16th Street Mall
It’s a slightly grey and cloudy day in March as I work on this podcast episode. Every couple of years or so, I reflect on whether or not people should visit Denver’s 16th Street Mall. It’s one of the iconic spaces that both Coloradans and tourists alike may find themselves. But with the linger effects of the COVID pandemic shutdowns, a multiple year construction project that tore up the street and killed businesses and concerns about safety has many people questioning if downtown Denver is worth visiting. I’m working on this podcast episode from downtown Denver and I have some thoughts. I do want to share some context, I grew up in Denver (and Boulder) and have experienced the 16th Street Mall since I was a small child. Continue listening and I hope this helps.
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2020-2023 The Hellscape
It’s safe to say that from 2020-2023 downtown Denver resembled and felt like a hellscape. COVID shutdowns had Denverites avoiding downtown Denver like the plague. Pun intended. As workers and other casual users of downtown stayed close to home, blight moved in. It was a rough 3 years. And anyone who visited when the lockdowns lifted really didn’t have the experience of Denver that we Denverites lived. We were dealing with challenging times.
Then there was the massive 16th Street Mall Construction project that began in 2022. It made an already tenuous and difficult situation around using public spaces, commerce and safety even more challenge. No one wants to make their way through torn up streets to visit empty storefronts.
Should You Visit the 16th Street Mall
Yes
The 16th Street Mall Construction project is almost done, we’re sort of out of the COVID pandemic. It’s now time to have a new conversation around downtown Denver. It’s now 2025 and things have changed quite a bit in the past couple of years. I thought I would share some of the challenges specific to the topic of the 16th Street Mall and should you visit it.
- Denverites are the biggest problem specific to how the Mall is being perceived-I feel like people went home during COVID and then returned to downtown in 2021, had a horrible experience and never returned again. Let’s be clear, it was like the Zombie Apocalypse from 2020-2023 no one can who lived here during that time can deny it. It was horrible. However, in the past couple of years-especially 2024 downtown has increasingly felt like a great place to visit. I work for myself so I’m able to work from wherever I would like. I more often than not will make my way downtown and work from one of the many coffee shops or even Union Station for the day. What I realize is that once people have a bad or problematic experience, it will take a lot of time, effort and marketing dollars to get those same people to reengage with a place or space again.
- Retail is still lagging-If you’re looking for a shopping forward experience, downtown isn’t the place. The Denver Pavillions is struggling-it’s also on one of the last blocks that will be completed for the construction project. Restaurant owners are also incredibly angry about how they perceive the Mayor and his team are handling the challenges happening in downtown. There are some surprising glimmers of hope that I’ve noticed recently. Larimer Square is finally, finally filling up. Tamayo, an anchor restaurant, has just completed a restaurant renovation and refresh. The Western half of the Mall from Californian going west feels like before but with fewer shopping spots.
- Safety-Many new Denverites don’t realize that for those of us who grew up here, Denver used to be so small. It’s now a city and it has city issues like crime. Do I feel unsafe in downtown Denver? No. Do I use the type of safety skills that I would in a city like Los Angeles, Miami or Dallas. Yes. This is new for me. I do think that Denver could be safer. But, I feel like that I have that expectation for every American city.
What About the Tourists?
I listened to a recent City Cast Denver podcast episode where the CEO of the company shared his experience of Denver. It wasn’t surprising to me that he disliked Denver during his first visit that happened during the problematic years that I mentioned. He visited this year and had a great time. I feel like this is an accurate depiction related to what I shared already in this episode. Things are changing. I also work a fun side-hustle that supports conference events that are hosted here in Denver. It’s a lot of fun and I get to speak with a lot of people from out-of-town.
They’re having a great time in town and on the 16th Street Mall.
Could they have more shopping? Yes. Do they enjoy walking up and down the Mall? Yes. Are they watching the Night Lights Denver display on the Clocktower? Yes. Enjoying people watching at Union Station? Yes. Visiting Meow Wolf and tripping out? Yes.
As we head into Spring and Summer months folks will be basing their vacations from Denver so that they can head to Red Rocks, going to baseball games at Coors Field, enjoying concerts at Empower Field and more. I love heading to Civic Center Park for The Outside Festival, Civic Center Eats and more.
I would ask that Denverites, in particular, to give downtown Denver another chance. One where you take the light rail down from your part of town (maybe you head to a park-in-ride) and make your way downtown. Then you intentionally explore downtown. Head to Union Station for cocktails/mocktails, enjoy a fantastic bowl of ramen at Dragonfly Noodle and then sip on a delicious milk tea drink at Milk Tea People. Take your out-of-town guests to the Dairy Block and McGregor Square for people watching and more. Head over to Confluence Park for a picnic or to enjoy a concert. Grab drinks and dinner on Larimer Square and people watch. By the way, Larimer Square is a great example of previously empty retail spaces finally filling up most of the block.
I recognize how important it is for me to patronize businesses downtown, to speak to the team members in different spots and to say “yes” to a yummy meal at one of the many restaurants downtown when I decide to treat myself on occasion. How are things supposed to improve if we refuse to give downtown a second or third chance?
As a person who’s actively boycotting a lot of problematic businesses and entities, it’s an easy decision for me to say “Yes” to downtown Denver and the many small local businesses that are still there despite everything. This week I interacted with a really cool pop up art experience called POP! It was really cool and meant to be experienced both during the day and evening. Check it out before April 6th.
A final thought, downtowns are a living entity. They grow and shrink given the economy, different policies and apparently global pandemics. I have really enjoyed experiencing downtown Denver throughout my life. I even remember when the Sheraton Hotel was a May D & F and had a ice skating rink (I was a little kid at the time).