Perceptions on life in Denver's revitalized Cole Neighborhood, as written by a new-ish resident and homeowner. NOT AFFILIATED IN ANY WAY WITH THE COLE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
I guess I don't understand why you'd move to the Cole Neighborhood in the first place. If every neighborhood in the city is turned into Highlands or Wash Park what is the rest of the world supposed to do?
Where are working single mothers going to live? Where are people supposed to go to get back on their feet? We live in an Urban area and the beauty of it is the diversity of the people. The street carts, the Spanish speaking neighbors, the Downing Super!
I believe in revitalization, but I don't understand why you'd gripe at social outreach programs designed to help the very people we moved next door to.
As a proud home owner in 5 points I agree it's nice to see places like Blackberries, but it's nicer still to know that attempts are being made to solve the problems in our society.
Did you know that we have no consistent system in place for former inmates being released into society? Did you know that they are let out of the prison gates with at most $100 and expected to find housing and a job and report to probation officers regularly? It's a vicious cycle and without programs like the Matthews Center very few of these people would ever have a chance of improving their lives.
Thanks for your thoughts, but really? Come on. We're talking about one homeless shelter (of like 15 in the area) and you are afraid of the neighborhood turning into Wash Park or the Highlands? Are you serious?
Diversity is great, no doubt. But diversity implies a mix of cultures and economic levels, not continuing to dump social services over here so that the future of the neighborhood will be comprised of gang bangers and crack-heads. Not a whole lot of diversity in that.
Working mothers deserve a safe, clean neighborhood where their kids won't get preyed apon by drug dealers and gangs. Where they can go for walks at night without fearing for their safety. Where they have grocery stores and other services nearby, not just liquor and convenience stores (or the "Down and Out" which offers predominantly un-healthy food at exorbitant prices).
And no offense, but please save your essay on the failings of the criminal justice system--This isn't the forum for that topic. Nothing you say along those lines is remotely relevant to my original point--Again, that it's a matter of balance, and of density. Cole, Whittier, Five Points, Curtis Park, etc., have no balance right now, and an unacceptably high density of social services.
I don't know about "bigsprinter", but I move to Cole because I couldn't afford to buy in Highlands or Wash Park. I was looking for a neighborhood with all the inherent characteristics that have made those neighborhoods so desirable. I wanted to live in a neighborhood with some architectural character (not suburban hell--Cole-check) and I also like living with in a two mile radius of the city center (Cole-check).
Cole or 5 Points isn't a staging area for life...please take a moment to consider that mixed-use economic development is a part of the puzzle too. As bigsprinter suggested, we need to create balance. We are at a tipping point that could drastically affect progress in the neighborhood and the Matthews Center is at the epicenter of our collective neighborhoods, and could dictate the fate of our area. I know this sounds a little dramatic, but many neighbors feel this way.
What is so bad about wanting mix-use, mixed-income development that encourages a coffee shop or a new grocery store or new restaurants? These horrible awful things you seemed to be so opposed to would inject jobs into the community so single mothers can work in their neighborhood near their kid's schools and people who are trying to get back on their feet have new options for jobs (in their neighborhood).
As far as the Matthews Center goes, absolutely NO ONE is arguing they don't do good work, this isn't about that. But, it’s time for us to start looking at the bigger picture, as far as things like TOD, etc. Just plopping social outreach services down in the neighborhood haphazardly without a master plan will create just that: a haphazard neighborhood that no one will thrive in (including those these services aim to assist).
Yes, Highlands and Wash Park are exorbitantly priced and hardly a model in diversity. But that is basic supply and demand. Wouldn't it be great if we could be both a place people really want to live and the cultural center of the city? I believe this can be done, but only with careful planning. It is inevitable that this neighborhood will change, but how and when are the only two variables. And just so you know, they have street carts over in Highlands.
Taking the leap from Cole to Wash Park is quite a leap...and what would the *world* do?? I suspect it would just keep moving.
I bought for what Cole can be, not for what it is right now. To me if this neighborhood ended up half of what Highlands is that would be a good thing.
Much of gentrification, which is what you're referring to Kristy, is urban myth perpetuated by so-called "activist" groups intent on maintaining an adversarial relationship between the economic groups and races. There have been numerous studies suggesting displacement when a neighborhood improves is only marginally higher than normal attrition--Meaning whether a neighborhood improves or not, people come and go.
Hey! This doesn't have to do with the Mattews Center, but I wanted to let you and any Cole neighborhood readers know that we have a neighborhood burglar. My boyfriend got home just before 4 p.m. the other day to find a burglar in our house. He chased the guy, who ran (I think) toward Lafayette north of Bruce Randolph. He got away, but thankfully not with much (our tv was in the yard and he left a bag filled with other electronic stuff) but the bastard got some of my jewelry and totally ransacked the house and broke a window. He didn't seem to have a car or accomplice anywhere that we could tell, so my guess is that he lives in the neighborhood, because I can't imagine he'd want to walk far with a tv and a very girly bag full of electronics.
I checked the Denver Police crime statistics page, and noticed that there have been a few burglaries in the 3-5 p.m. range. I wonder if it's the same dude.
Anyway, just want to get the word out. This past year has been rough for us crime-wise -- we've also had a car break in and a broken window from neighbors who were fighting with each other and threw a bottle. Is the neighborhood getting worse before it gets better? The first two years we were here, we didn't have any problems at all.
Thanks TR--You bring up an interesting point about the neighborhood "getting worse before it gets better".
It speaks to something I bring up all the time with friends who think we're crazy for living in the barrio--Crime happens everywhere. You'll find Meth labs all over Denver and the surrounding metro communities. Highest burglary rate? Haven't looked in a while, but used to be Wash Park, for example.
I don't think there is any doubt things are getting better over here, at least on blocks where residents are engaged and active in cleaning things up. Things have definitely gotten better on my block since 2005 when we moved in.
But I do think, that as more houses are fixed up, and more affluent neigbors are introduced to the mix, burglaries likely will increase, ala Wash Park. Where would you go if you were a burglar? To a neighborhod where no one has any belongings worth stealing, or where more affluent residents live, where you can steal an expensive bike, a computer, etc.? I wouldn't be surprised if the burglary rate goes up for several years over here, because bottom line is, there is an increasing inventory of burglary-worthy possessions over here...
6 comments:
I guess I don't understand why you'd move to the Cole Neighborhood in the first place. If every neighborhood in the city is turned into Highlands or Wash Park what is the rest of the world supposed to do?
Where are working single mothers going to live? Where are people supposed to go to get back on their feet? We live in an Urban area and the beauty of it is the diversity of the people. The street carts, the Spanish speaking neighbors, the Downing Super!
I believe in revitalization, but I don't understand why you'd gripe at social outreach programs designed to help the very people we moved next door to.
As a proud home owner in 5 points I agree it's nice to see places like Blackberries, but it's nicer still to know that attempts are being made to solve the problems in our society.
Did you know that we have no consistent system in place for former inmates being released into society? Did you know that they are let out of the prison gates with at most $100 and expected to find housing and a job and report to probation officers regularly? It's a vicious cycle and without programs like the Matthews Center very few of these people would ever have a chance of improving their lives.
Kristy,
Thanks for your thoughts, but really? Come on. We're talking about one homeless shelter (of like 15 in the area) and you are afraid of the neighborhood turning into Wash Park or the Highlands? Are you serious?
Diversity is great, no doubt. But diversity implies a mix of cultures and economic levels, not continuing to dump social services over here so that the future of the neighborhood will be comprised of gang bangers and crack-heads. Not a whole lot of diversity in that.
Working mothers deserve a safe, clean neighborhood where their kids won't get preyed apon by drug dealers and gangs. Where they can go for walks at night without fearing for their safety. Where they have grocery stores and other services nearby, not just liquor and convenience stores (or the "Down and Out" which offers predominantly un-healthy food at exorbitant prices).
And no offense, but please save your essay on the failings of the criminal justice system--This isn't the forum for that topic. Nothing you say along those lines is remotely relevant to my original point--Again, that it's a matter of balance, and of density. Cole, Whittier, Five Points, Curtis Park, etc., have no balance right now, and an unacceptably high density of social services.
Kristy,
I don't know about "bigsprinter", but I move to Cole because I couldn't afford to buy in Highlands or Wash Park. I was looking for a neighborhood with all the inherent characteristics that have made those neighborhoods so desirable. I wanted to live in a neighborhood with some architectural character (not suburban hell--Cole-check) and I also like living with in a two mile radius of the city center (Cole-check).
Cole or 5 Points isn't a staging area for life...please take a moment to consider that mixed-use economic development is a part of the puzzle too. As bigsprinter suggested, we need to create balance. We are at a tipping point that could drastically affect progress in the neighborhood and the Matthews Center is at the epicenter of our collective neighborhoods, and could dictate the fate of our area. I know this sounds a little dramatic, but many neighbors feel this way.
What is so bad about wanting mix-use, mixed-income development that encourages a coffee shop or a new grocery store or new restaurants? These horrible awful things you seemed to be so opposed to would inject jobs into the community so single mothers can work in their neighborhood near their kid's schools and people who are trying to get back on their feet have new options for jobs (in their neighborhood).
As far as the Matthews Center goes, absolutely NO ONE is arguing they don't do good work, this isn't about that. But, it’s time for us to start looking at the bigger picture, as far as things like TOD, etc. Just plopping social outreach services down in the neighborhood haphazardly without a master plan will create just that: a haphazard neighborhood that no one will thrive in (including those these services aim to assist).
Yes, Highlands and Wash Park are exorbitantly priced and hardly a model in diversity. But that is basic supply and demand. Wouldn't it be great if we could be both a place people really want to live and the cultural center of the city? I believe this can be done, but only with careful planning. It is inevitable that this neighborhood will change, but how and when are the only two variables. And just so you know, they have street carts over in Highlands.
Taking the leap from Cole to Wash Park is quite a leap...and what would the *world* do?? I suspect it would just keep moving.
I bought for what Cole can be, not for what it is right now. To me if this neighborhood ended up half of what Highlands is that would be a good thing.
Much of gentrification, which is what you're referring to Kristy, is urban myth perpetuated by so-called "activist" groups intent on maintaining an adversarial relationship between the economic groups and races. There have been numerous studies suggesting displacement when a neighborhood improves is only marginally higher than normal attrition--Meaning whether a neighborhood improves or not, people come and go.
Hey! This doesn't have to do with the Mattews Center, but I wanted to let you and any Cole neighborhood readers know that we have a neighborhood burglar. My boyfriend got home just before 4 p.m. the other day to find a burglar in our house. He chased the guy, who ran (I think) toward Lafayette north of Bruce Randolph. He got away, but thankfully not with much (our tv was in the yard and he left a bag filled with other electronic stuff) but the bastard got some of my jewelry and totally ransacked the house and broke a window. He didn't seem to have a car or accomplice anywhere that we could tell, so my guess is that he lives in the neighborhood, because I can't imagine he'd want to walk far with a tv and a very girly bag full of electronics.
I checked the Denver Police crime statistics page, and noticed that there have been a few burglaries in the 3-5 p.m. range. I wonder if it's the same dude.
Anyway, just want to get the word out. This past year has been rough for us crime-wise -- we've also had a car break in and a broken window from neighbors who were fighting with each other and threw a bottle. Is the neighborhood getting worse before it gets better? The first two years we were here, we didn't have any problems at all.
Thanks TR--You bring up an interesting point about the neighborhood "getting worse before it gets better".
It speaks to something I bring up all the time with friends who think we're crazy for living in the barrio--Crime happens everywhere. You'll find Meth labs all over Denver and the surrounding metro communities. Highest burglary rate? Haven't looked in a while, but used to be Wash Park, for example.
I don't think there is any doubt things are getting better over here, at least on blocks where residents are engaged and active in cleaning things up. Things have definitely gotten better on my block since 2005 when we moved in.
But I do think, that as more houses are fixed up, and more affluent neigbors are introduced to the mix, burglaries likely will increase, ala Wash Park. Where would you go if you were a burglar? To a neighborhod where no one has any belongings worth stealing, or where more affluent residents live, where you can steal an expensive bike, a computer, etc.? I wouldn't be surprised if the burglary rate goes up for several years over here, because bottom line is, there is an increasing inventory of burglary-worthy possessions over here...
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