Lincoln Park Townhouses? (Denver, Golden: luxury, for sale, apartments)

[Samwise158]

Hello,

I may be moving to Denver this Fall to start Grad School at the Auroria Campus. I was looking at townhouses for sale in the Lincoln Park area, and noticed a few things. First of all, they seem remarkably inexpensive and close to downtown. I've done a bit of research and it seems that the neighborhood has something of a bad rap because of the two large public housing developments and the ethnic character of the neighborhood.

I am interested in the proximity of the area to the campus and the many attractions that seem to be nearby. From what I've read the neighborhood has lots of character and is a good place to live.

My main questions are whether the neighborhood is a good place for a homeowner that will likely be in Denver for about five years, and if the neighborhood is safe. I'd love to go and check it out in person, but I really can't spare the time right now.

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts and any other neighborhood suggestions that might also be feasable. Thanks.

[tfox]

That neighborhood has several things going for it. First, the light rail station at 10th & Osage is one of the few stations that both the SE and SW light rail lines stop at -- so that makes the neighborhood very accessible to transit. (Plus, there's nothing stopping you from taking the shuttle-van from the Parkway development to downtown anytime you want). Second, the arts district on Santa Fe Drive has really bloomed and the area has about the highest concentration of artists anywhere in the metro. Third, across Speer in the Golden Triangle neighborhood is rapidly changing from a checkerboard of seedy parking-lots of yesteryear to lots of luxury high-rises spurred by the art museum expansion and several new musuems planned.

Prices around there are cheap and there's a lot of rentals. The huge Parkway development is practically a college dorm: TONS of students and is also mostly rentals. This is one reason why things are fairly cheap. As you mentioned there's also some public housing in the area, which, while not "ghetto" doesn't lend the area with the pride-of-ownership you get with homeowners. This rental-oriented factor is the main thing holding the neighborhood back.

Crime in that area is not too bad, but there is the typical public intoxication type crimes that you would expect given the situation. There's lots of the inane drunken shouting at 3am in the morning in many of the rental apartments there as well. Still, it's not the kind of thing that makes you worried about being shot in the back of the head or anything.

Hickenlooper has done some investment in loft development in the neighborhood, so apparently he thinks it's going in the right direction. I think you have to take a long-term view here: the neighborhood is going in the right direction, but I think it will be years before it changes over from mostly rentals to owner-occupied.