Man, has it been a while! So much has changed in my life, and in the neighborhood in the five or so years since I last posted. Many of my old neihbors-- both ones I loved and some I didn't-- have left. The neighborhood drama has largely died down, only occasionally punctuated by staccato gunfire or a murder.
With the recent increase in affluence and density, the bigger concerns are burglaries and parking. Oh, and for some, gentrification, but I'll leave that for another post.
Tosh's Hacienda, which became Kiva, which became Blackberries, which became Swallows, which became Eden, which then became Downing Street Grill have been replaced by the Denver Wrangler. While I've heard their patronage has gone down since they moved into the neighborhood, they thus far have added a little stability in that property.
Jake's is gone, replaced by the swanky new Rino Beer Garden.
Hell, come to think of it, last time I posted here River North wasn't even a freaking neighborhood.
And just west of the neighborhood there now are all kinds of new establishments, including Chuburger, Fish-n-Beer and Hop Alley.
Blocks of warehouses are gone, replaced by offices, apartments and a shiny new light rail station.
Phil's Place is still there, more on that in another post.
And then there's the perpetually shitty Down-and-Out Super building. That's really the last bastion of the old Cole. Downright shocking.
I'm still here. Am I happy with the new neighborhood? Hell yes, unapologetically so. If you're looking for a resident that suffers from white guilt or loses sleep at night about gentrification, you're in the wrong place. Sorry. And more on that later.
Well, to those of you that have read and been offended by my posts previously, I'm baaaack.
And to those of you new neighbors that discover me now, you're in for a ride.
#NEWEASTSIDE
