A City in Transormation
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10/16/2008
After eleven years of loyal citizenship in Denver i moved seeking a change of scenery, pace and whatever else i could taste that would be different than the Mile High City flavor, (i should mention however, that i had a great time, it is a great place to live.) So i decided on Chicago as the place of my relocation which, is another great city. When i moved back to Denver one year later in September of this year i was very impressed by the visual appearance of the city that had changed dramatically. Denver is becoming a big city, something that i have been waiting for always knowing that the Mile High City has a lot of potential to be better than what it is and knowing that it is on the brink of achieving big city status.
Today everywhere you look in the Denver metro area you will see 20 or more cranes hundreds of feet tall piecing together new skyscrapers of luxurious condos and big named hotels such as the Ritz Carlton and the Four Seasons, the existing skyscrapers now have exterior lighting where before there was none and that heightens the visual experience of the buildings. Some empty fields and parking lots are now replaced with modernized and luxurious high-rise condominiums. There is better landscaping in certain areas where it was clearly neglected before, the Denver Art Museum expanded and can now house an incredible quantity of art, it is very modern in style and looks crystalline in shape. The museum was constructed out of titanium and the abstract interior is dizzying to look at. It was designed by world renowned architect Daniel Liebeskind. The expanded Denver Art Museum is the first structure built in North America that was designed by Mr. Liebeskind. Behind Union Station is the River Front Park and Commons Park neighborhood where there are several newly constructed high rises, retail stores, pubs and trendy restaurants, the River Front Park neighborhood also harbors the newly constructed and super-modern Museum of Contemporary Art. Before all of this the area was a vacant railroad field with weeds dirt and grass. I should also mention that Colfax, (notorious for its degenerative qualities, high crime rate and homelessness) is under a revitalization project to clean it up and redevelop it, evidence of this is already apparent. Large urban infill projects are well under way in places such as Stapleton, Lowry and
Metropolitan Denver has become more liberal than I remember it and the night life has really transformed. More has changed within one year in Denver (proportionately) than in any other city I’ve lived. I was born and raised in Albuquerque and the surrounding area, spent a year in Chicago and I now live in Canon City Colorado.
Nick | Canon City, CO