Aloha Beach Community (Denver: movies, places, fun)

[reed303]

Originally Posted by Mrenajo

It dies appear Aloha Beach is an oddity since no one seemed to know much about it. It was one of the homes on Redfin. I like the home itself, don't really care about having access to boating as mush as I liked the view. The downside, from what I've read here, is the surrounding neighborhood is junk. I wondered if it the area was undergoing gentrification.

I checked out a home in Evergreen and it looks as though it is in the mountains. Is that the case?

At 7220 ft elevation, most would say it is in the Foothills. Some drawbacks can be winter time access, cost of electric heating, and would be more than an hour to DEN.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen%2C_Colorado

"In the Mountains" might apply more to a town like Leadville at 10,152 feet

[Mrenajo]

Originally Posted by JrzDefector

Honestly, the thing to do right now, imo, is to look for nice homes in junk neighborhoods. Gentrification is spreading out from Denver. Even if we go through an economic downturn, when it swings up again the gentrification is likely to pick right back up. One of the reasons I bought my house when I did was because I spoke with a well-known economist and he advised me to buy back in 2013 based on the fact that during the last real estate bust, Denver homes held their value better than in other parts of the country. The city is very desirable based on its location in the center of the country and its proximity to things like the mountains.

Evergreen is nice, but I'd compare the bang for the buck and how close you are to the conveniences of Denver. I prefer rural, but I am not about to leave Edgewater given that I can walk to everything that I need. Still, Evergreen isn't that far away from everything, unless there's snow.

When we originally purchased our home in Seattle in an area called Central District (CD) we were able to purchase it for little of nothing. Then the area began undergoing gentrification and sold it for 5x more than what we purchased it for. Of course we had to go through the housing bust that would have taken a blow to the selling price. Had it on the market for 2 years after the Housing crashed. Took it off and put it back on two years later and got a great price. So yes it's a great thing to purchase when the area is in the process of gentrification.

[Mrenajo]

Originally Posted by reed303

At 7220 ft elevation, most would say it is in the Foothills. Some drawbacks can be winter time access, cost of electric heating, and would be more than an hour to DEN.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen%2C_Colorado

"In the Mountains" might apply more to a town like Leadville at 10,152 feet

Foothills.....only if it is a second home. I'm finding the cost of housing in the DEN area is very expensive compared to here in House and other areas of the country. So unless the housing market holds it value through the upside and downs of the economy I don't want to pay an arm and leg and then worry about the other arm and leg to heat it and drive into the city. But thanks for the information.

[Mrenajo]

Originally Posted by emm74

Depends on whether or not kids are involved. Even as property values go up, it can take a long time for a crappy school in a junk neighborhood to improve. That's why people like me are willing to pay premium prices for the Stapletons of the world. When that's not a concern, it can still be a gamble, but I agree that in the Denver market, it's a pretty good bet these days!

Kids or schools aren't something I have to worry about, as all three of mine are adults with one grandchild, which I love dearly but hope not to have to raise unless through an unforeseen disaster. Then I'll be looking at private schools for her. Where and what are the Stapletons?

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by SC123

Never heard of it.

Then why waste your breath?

Originally Posted by JrzDefector

I think it's kinda ballsy that any place in Colorado calls itself "Aloha Beach" - misleading nomenclature, for sure!

Back in the day, maybe mid 70s, there was a very naughty place called Aloha Beach in north Denver near hwy 76 and Federal.

Ha, when I google it, I'm the only one who made mention of it or seems to remember it.

Originally Posted by McGowdog

My older brother told me there was a place on north Federal called Aloha Beach. It would have made Pecos Junction look tame from what I'd heard about it.

We used to go to Northwoods Inn when it was across from ACC (Arapahoe Community College?). They served an awesome fillet, about 8 to 10 oz and it would come out on a smoking hot plate. I'd get it a bit rare, cut off a piece and sear it onto the still hot plate! Yum. They had an awesome split-pea soup on Thursday nights.

Has anyone ever heard of or been to the Yum Yum Tree?

Someone mentioned North Glenn Mall, but what about the mall at 84th and just east of I-25? North Valley Mall? How about The Party Place? That's a 3.2 bar I frequented. Some of those places were more 80's nostalgia.

I was too young to have ever been there myself.

Oh, I gjess I did get a few responses...

suzco

Quote:
Most people who grew up in north Denver will remember Aloha Beach, but, for those not from the area or who do not remember, in its day, Aloha Beach was about the coolest way to spend an afternoon of summer vacation for any youth living in the northwest Denver area. . . do not remember the exact address, but I know it was on north Federal around 60 th Avenue on the west side of the road and not too far from the "Scotchman" and "Rocky Mountain Fireworks".
Aloha Beach is a housing development now, of course.

Originally Posted by Sockeye

THAT Aloha Beach on north Federal Blvd. I remember! Let's just say it made Shotgun Willie's, aka The Glendale Ballet Club, look like a day care center. The Northwoods Inn was great. So was The Hungry Farmer in Boulder. Some fun local folk bands used to play in the bar there. As Jazz noted, the southeastern portion of Lower Downtown (I despise the expression, coined recently by developers LoDo, which happens to rhyme with an extinct bird) was once Denver's China Town.

[quote=Airstreamer;4438803]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

My older brother told me there was a place on north Federal called Aloha Beach. It would have made Pecos Junction look tame from what I'd heard about it.

Has anyone ever heard of or been to the Yum Yum Tree?


McGowdog,

Been to both these places back in the early 70's.

A friend and I used to ride our one speed, banana seated stingray bikes 4 miles to the Aloha Beach during the summers. It was located off 64th and Federal. We were kids at the time and we would sneak into the beach area to go swimming. Looking back, it was like a scene from Wonder Years. The lake was man made, had a high dive and I remember an area were you could ski without the boat. Had a cable above you that pulled you through the water. I also remember a bar and motel rooms. I'm pretty sure they rented them by the hour.

The Yum Yum Tree was located on Colorado Blvd and Alameda Ave. My family loved this place growing up. It was cheap, If I remember it had 8 different ethnic food stations. We were not wealthy (not poor) so this was like going to Epcot Center to us.

Does anyone remember;

Lakeside Speedway, Sunday night racing.

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Yup, I forgotten about that place.

One thing I remember about good ol' Denver that they still do is when they put the Grand Champion steer from the National Western Stock Show in a pen in the lobby of the Brown Palace Hotel. Now, that's "class."

That was Longmire posting there.

[emm74]

Originally Posted by Mrenajo

Kids or schools aren't something I have to worry about, as all three of mine are adults with one grandchild, which I love dearly but hope not to have to raise unless through an unforeseen disaster. Then I'll be looking at private schools for her. Where and what are the Stapletons?

Stapleton is a "new urban community" - a planned community on the site of the former airport here. It's designed to try to mimic the feeling of a residential neighborhood in a city rather than being suburban. It's a bit more upscale and expensive and the generally well educated and well to do families that move there are the type to demand great schools, and they also volunteer and fund raise to help make that happen. For parents who prioritize strong public schools with very close access to city amenities, these types of developments are in high demand. Stapleton is one example but there are others, in the Denver area and in other parts of the country, hence the plural.

[Jimer1]

I remember that the Aloha Beach had been a resort sometime ago and when I was growing up, it had declined into an "infamous" strip club in an era when Adams county had a reputation for having more strip joints, massage parlors, adult book stores, and other "adult" related businesses per square mile than any other place in the country. Elections brought new a Sheriff and other officials to clean up the county, though I'm not sure what actually brought the demise of the club. I know it sat vacant for years and a huge mount of dirt sat across the former entrance to the facility.

I admit to visiting the club on several occasions and they were pretty lax in a lot of things including age verification at the door - I was only 19 at the time and rarely got carded. I think I was in my early 20's when they closed. I just remember you tried not to touch anything when you were in there, esp. in the bathroom.

I worked in the area around 64th and Federal and from where we were, we could watch the prostitutes flag down cars along the road. There was one time I had gone to the Taco Bell up the street and had some entertainment during my lunch. A cop had stopped two girls right there, checking ID's, going through their purses, etc. as I sat there and watched and ate my burrito.

It is now a gated community surrounded, as others have said, by an industrial area. There has been an effort lately to revitalize the Federal strip with the coming of a light-rail station at the bottom of the hill, with center medians, new street lights, and traffic controls. To me, I still see the same old businesses there along the road, including several adult book stores. The Aloha Beach community just seems like an anomaly.

['M']

I've not heard of Aloha Beach, either. Putting it in my book so I can check it out, just for the fun of it. Interesting about the Tiki Bars in this area. There is a good BBQ place up that way, too - Smokin' Dave's - which I will visit on my day off.

[emm74]

Originally Posted by 'M'

I've not heard of Aloha Beach, either. Putting it in my book so I can check it out, just for the fun of it. Interesting about the Tiki Bars in this area. There is a good BBQ place up that way, too - Smokin' Dave's - which I will visit on my day off.

I've been to Smokin' Daves in Estes Park and in Longmont, I didn't realize there was one in Denver. Thanks for the info!

[Darde001]

There was a family beach on the lake with lots of sand, we went there a lot when I was young. There was a slide in the water on one side of the beach, and, a dock on the other side that you could dive off of - we loved it!!! I even worked at the snack bar one summer, and my brother was a lifeguard. I think that's why it was called Aloha beach... a sandy beach on a lake. The strange thing was that there was a strip club in the building there. The dancers used the same bathroom as the girls from the beach. They entered from an inside door. I remember thinking it was scandalous at the time... but hey, I was only 11 years old when we started going there. We have a lot of great memories on that beach.