Summary Report Details Community Investment Impact on West Denver Neighborhoods
This is the summary of a report written by Jordan Hallman, ULC’s Community Connector. The summary’s goal is to help readers better understand the neighborhoods that the Urban Land Conservancy works with along Denver’s W Line Rail Corridor.
ULC’s interest in this corridor stems from the five community investments along the W Line that total $19 million. They include:
Social Enterprise Foundry in Sun Valley,
Mile High Vista in West Colfax,
11th Ave TOD in West Colfax,
Jody Apartments in Villa Park, and
Sheridan II in West Colfax
The W Line Light Rail, part of the region’s FasTracks development, was completed along the Lakewood Gulch in the spring of 2013, and connects Golden, Lakewood and Denver. Denver has four light rail stations along the Gulch. Westward, there is the Decatur-Federal station, Knox Ct. and Perry St., in the West Colfax and Villa Park neighborhoods and Sheridan station, which is shared by the Villa Park neighborhood and the City of Lakewood.
Current development within West Corridor includes the St. Anthony’s redevelopment project and SLOANS, which is comprised of 20 acres along 17th Ave. This project fuses the south side of Sloan’s Lake and the north side of West Colfax. The Decatur-Federal station in Sun Valley is seen as a precursor to an imminent large scale redevelopment planned for the community’s future, the Decatur-Federal Station Area Plan, and the Denver Housing Authority’s plans for a neighborhood overhaul and reinvestment.
The three neighborhoods highlighted in this report are all small parts of the larger W Rail Corridor. The W Line plays a major role here, as does the city’s push for a more connected Denver. The City of Denver has pursued collaborative efforts in the development of the W Line Rail corridor with the Denver Livability Partnership (DLP). Created in 2011, DLP was a collaborative partnership with ULC, to apply for the HUD Community Challenge Grant and a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. After receiving the $2.9 million grant, DLP fostered partnerships and opportunities along the W Line Rail corridor, which focused on livable, transit- oriented neighborhoods with multi modal connections.
In trying to understand the many factors that contribute to the dynamics of change in neighborhood and community settings, this report is only a scratch on the surface. In entering the study, there was an assumption that development in these neighborhoods would affect all those surrounding.
From a development perspective, the idea of a domino effect within these neighborhoods is very much a reality. However in interviewing residents, they felt that what happened in West Colfax did not truly affect Sun Valley or Villa Park, and vice versa. Each neighborhood is worried about what they believe are their own, non-mutual realities.
As it is the closest market rate neighborhood to Downtown Denver, West Colfax has the most urgent reality of change. With a mixture of single family homes, apartment buildings, affordable senior living complexes and pop up town homes, the neighborhood has a wide range of housing options. Once known as one of the most affordable neighborhoods in Denver, the past two decades have shown waves of new homebuyers changing both the face and socio-economic status of the neighborhood. This new wave of residents desires amenities such as coffee shops, restaurants and bars lining Colfax Avenue. Others simply hope that it will one day be safe enough to walk across the avenue. Longtime residents just hope to be able to afford to stay.
Villa Park has the lowest percentage of renters among the three neighborhoods. According to residents interviewed, the population has remained relatively unchanged. There is a very large population of homeowners, therefore there is little to no turnover or influx of new residents. However with the addition of the W Line, comes the perceived threat of transit oriented development (TOD). In the eyes of the Villa Park residents interviewed as part of this study, TOD means tall buildings and high density. These are things that they do not want. They want to create more opportunities for homeownership. In their minds, TOD is not a future. It creates more renters and disrupts the sentiments of neighborliness that are important to the fabric of the neighborhood.
Sun Valley is in a very different situation. Very few living in Sun Valley own their home. The majority of the neighborhood’s population is residents of the Denver Housing Authority’s Sun Valley Homes. The Sun Valley Neighborhood is isolated in many ways, and residents there are worried that TOD will change their entire way of life. The addition of Mile High or Decatur-Federal station not only brings Broncos fans to the area, but developers as well.
In the report, constructs of space are discussed for each neighborhood. How each neighborhood situates itself in relation to the other has very little to do with the city’s delegated boundaries. For example in terms of development, the fear of development is closely related to the North. Residents in West Colfax fear that the affluence and development of the Highlands will continue to migrate south and finally “hop” the lake. Within West Colfax, those who live south of Colfax are worried that the affluence north of Colfax will eventually move south and price them out.
This pattern continues in both Villa Park and Sun Valley. Villa Park is weary of the development in West Colfax leading to a different aesthetic in their neighborhood both visually and interpersonally. With Sports Authority Field to the north, Sun Valley residents know it will not be long before their neighborhood is considered a Broncos destination.
The report concludes with observations and recommendations regarding schools in the area, food access and possible steps moving forward. The study was conducted over a period of two and a half months, and the report looks at the neighborhoods from an outsider perspective. The recommendations and conclusions are only the beginning in understanding the complex relationships between the neighborhoods, development and growth we have here in Denver. As a city, we have much to learn.
You can read the full report here.