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Hello. I am wondering about the Edgewater area in Northwest Denver. I have read some threads on here that describe it as "low income", "blue collar ethnic", "bad schools and people", etc. However, I have read other threads that describe it as "up and coming", "gentrification", etc. I am just wondering about how the area is itself. I am looking to move closer back into the city (Denver) and it seems Edgewater has a "Urban" type look for how the neighborhoods look in Northwest Denver, and I am wondering how the area is. I really am looking to move into this area and some things I hear point in favor of that, but some point in the negative direction for me as well.
Things that are good: I hear the area is being gnetrified in the northern/northeastern section of the area. I believe this is located by the Edgewater Inn, Historic 25th Ave, Edgewater Police Department, etc. I also hear that the price for homes is increasing as well. I think it was about 140,000 in 2000, and now its about 190,000? That seems to be pointing up as well. Thew newly built restuarants, grills, stores along Sheridan Blvd. It seems like the Edgewater area is trying to do what the adjacent North Denver neighborhoods of Sloan Lake, Highland, and Berkeley have done. Those all point up for me.
Things that make me wonder: The poverty rate since 2000 has climbed about 12% (from 11% to 23%). It seems to be low income. The average rent is only about $700 I believe. Most areas I have sen with average rent that low in Denver have been kind of sketch to say the least. I hear the schools are terrible. I have heard the free lunch rate is pretty much 100%, and thats alamring. I have also heard of violent crimes in the area. Just this year there was a murder on the news in the apartments on 26th ave and a shooting in the Rocky Mtn Hotel on Colfax ave. Graffiti has been alarming as well. I have driven through on 20th avenue a few times and noticed graffiti and covered up graffiti all over, atleast from what I saw.
Help! I am just wondering what anyone can tell me and help me out with.
Edgewater is pretty typical of the old suburbs on the periphery of Denver. It was mostly built in the post-WWII era up to the 60s or so. The original homebuyers are now long gone, for the most part. So, recently it's transitioned from an area that was mostly a lot of older people to one that is mostly young(ish) people. Some of those young people are people who want to be close to Downtown and to the Highlands area but can't afford to live any closer in. These people are your gentrification crowd, and they don't have kids. Another group is mostly lower income people from NW Denver who have been pushed out by rising rent (also due to gentrification), so they're moving into Edgewater. They do have kids. Sadly, the school rankings correlate very strongly to household income (of the families who have school age kids) -- so it's no surprise that school rankings are very low.
So, in reality it's both trends at once. It will probably be a LOOONG time before places like Edgewater are graffiti free and have high ranking schools. That's if it ever happens. But at the same time the hipster crowd is probably there to stay in Edgewater.
I just bought a townhome in the Southeast corner of Edgewater a few months ago. I believe it's one the best values in the city right now as it borders Highlands/Sloans Lake which have become unaffordable for the average person. It is so close to downtown it takes me 8 minutes by car. It's very quiet and close to shopping and future light rail. It has been on the upswing for the last 8-10 years and think that it will just continue to get better from here. Has a small town appeal but in the city as well. I don't think you can go wrong here. It does have a broad mix of working class/professional/hispanic/white/asian . My only complaint is the King Soopers on Sheridan is a bit trashy and not kept up very well but I don't do my regular shopping there only if I run out of something. I've never seen SO many empty shopping carts in a parking lot before.
Edgewater is pretty typical of the old suburbs on the periphery of Denver. It was mostly built in the post-WWII era up to the 60s or so. The original homebuyers are now long gone, for the most part. So, recently it's transitioned from an area that was mostly a lot of older people to one that is mostly young(ish) people. Some of those young people are people who want to be close to Downtown and to the Highlands area but can't afford to live any closer in. These people are your gentrification crowd, and they don't have kids. Another group is mostly lower income people from NW Denver who have been pushed out by rising rent (also due to gentrification), so they're moving into Edgewater. They do have kids. Sadly, the school rankings correlate very strongly to household income (of the families who have school age kids) -- so it's no surprise that school rankings are very low.
So, in reality it's both trends at once. It will probably be a LOOONG time before places like Edgewater are graffiti free and have high ranking schools. That's if it ever happens. But at the same time the hipster crowd is probably there to stay in Edgewater.
Thank you for the insight tfox! I don't know about moving into this area. I have been warned by just about everybody at the job and other people I have been in contact with, that the area of Edgewater down to 6th Avenue through Edgewater and Northeastern Lakewood has become like how the adjacent Denver neighborhoods wre before they gentrified those areas. It is nice to see the "gentrification crowd" have a presence in the area though. That definitely points up for me. What do you make of the poverty rate at 23.2%??? That seems really high to me. That is higher than Denver's poverty rate of 19.1% and on par with other cities across the country that are in big time economic struggles. I expect a higher poverty rate with the household income being about $42,000 I believe, but over 23% seems pretty high. Also, what are the teenagers/young adults like in this area? My reason for asking is for the possibility of children having friends, going to school, etc.
I just bought a townhome in the Southeast corner of Edgewater a few months ago. I believe it's one the best values in the city right now as it borders Highlands/Sloans Lake which have become unaffordable for the average person. It is so close to downtown it takes me 8 minutes by car. It's very quiet and close to shopping and future light rail. It has been on the upswing for the last 8-10 years and think that it will just continue to get better from here. Has a small town appeal but in the city as well. I don't think you can go wrong here. It does have a broad mix of working class/professional/hispanic/white/asian . My only complaint is the King Soopers on Sheridan is a bit trashy and not kept up very well but I don't do my regular shopping there only if I run out of something. I've never seen SO many empty shopping carts in a parking lot before.
I have been through the area a few times down 20th avenue and I have seen the large Latino presence and culture of the area, as well as white people too, but I have not seen the Asian presence that you were talking about? The only thing I saw that pointed toward that was the China Cafe, and I heard there's a US Thai restaurant in the "gentrification" part of the area. I have seen more African Americans in the times I have been through, than Asian people. I have asked many people at the job or otherwise about the small town appeal you listed, and they told me the only part of the area that has that is the gentrification part of the area by the police department and the new restaurants in the northeast part of Edgewater.
One of my co-workers use to live in the area on 20th avenue and Kendall st i believe. He told me of some stuff that happened in this area when he lived there from 2003-2010 i believe. These are some of his stories and other stories that I have from him. He told me of a shooting on 20th avenue and Otis st, where this guy shot some girl on 20th avenue and then turned around and shot another guy on Otis st with his sawed off shotgun. He told me of another shooting where some guy robbed a liquor store on 20th avenue and Lamar st, and the police had to shoot and kill him. He told me of an evacuation of these apartments across Jefferson high School, because there was a huge Meth Lab and drug bust going on in the apartments. He also told me of a man that beat his girlfriend and than took his two kids hostage, and a brief shootout with police happened, before the SWAT teams forced him to give up. He also told me the spokeman for the police said he had gang affiliations in CA & CO. He told me that is when he'd had enough and moved last October into these apartments in the upper scale parts of Lakewood. He also told me that 3 times he had heard multiple gun shots and called 9-11, and that police did not respond to one of them, and took 25 minutes to respond the other two. However, he said the other times he heard gun shots, the police responded normally and quickly. However, I want police that intend to respond all the time and deal with the stuff they need to.
From other people I have asked about the area, they have told me of some violent occurences as well. I heard a story of another man robbing a liquor store on Sheridan Blvd. and then he was shot by police on 17th and Sheridan by the Edgewater King Soopers. I also heard a story about a drug dealer being beaten to death by a homeless bum on Harlan st and 25th avenue. The police found the body dead in his home, and found this out. I also mainly heard 3 or 4 simple stories of how the teenagers, kids, and young adults in the area have gangs and gang tattoo's. I only say this because I do not want my kids going to schools and living in an area with this happening. Those are a few stories I heard from asking other people about the area.
I have ben thinking of moving to the area for about 4-5 months now, and I have also heard and seen some violent crimes happen in the area in that short amount of time. I heard of a man shooting another man on 10th and Sheridan by the El Torito bar and grill back in January. I also heard of a a woman being stabbed and murdered in the Terra Village apartments on 26th avenue and Kendall. Also, I heard a story of a man shooting a woman in the Rocky Mtn. Hotel on Colfax ave in the area, and then fleeing the state. I also heard on the news about two weeks ago of reported multiple gun shots in the 22nd and Marshall area I believe.
The big thing now that is making me wonder is what just happened again in the area night ago. I am sure everyone else heard of it as well. That man that shot off over 100 rounds at police and into the neighborhood, after trying to shoot someone else over a small dispute and fight. Thank god the police were not shot. The stories said that people in the area described the event as a war zone, and windows, cars, buoldings were being shot out.
Maybe I am being a little negative, but this all sounds like too much to be happening in an area of about 10,000-15,000 people in this neighborhood. It seems that this area has a lot of crime for an area if that many people. Also, can anyone tell me why when police shoot and kill someone, its not counted as a homicide??? I never understood that. Citydata.com alsol ists the crime rate/index as 734, 588, 480, 500, 461, 440, 452, and 530, and the US average as 319. That seems alaraming to me with this area of 10,000-15,000 having those crime rates.
Can anyone add any insight at all to what I have heard?
I personally would give it a chance, it kind of reminds me of where I grew up in CA.
The guy I was talking about above always complained about it and how he dreamed of the greener pastures of Arvada.
What did he complain about? And where did you live in California? Just wondering, because I have been around just about everywhere in CA, and would like to hear the comparison? I have not made my mind up, but this area seems to be a more rough neighborhood, lower income, graffiti, and crime than what i may be looking for.
Wow - sounds like you've heard a recount of every major crime in that neighborhood in the last few years! I guess I shouldn't tell you the story that was in the news a few nights ago when someone pinned down cops with "hundreds" of gunshots a few blocks behind Target. (Oops I just did)
I live in Sloan's Lake, which is not as expensive of a neighborhood in general as the Highlands for what that's worth, and really like it. Edgewater seems to me like a good place if you're looking for something close to downtown, not as expensive, and with more upside. I know other young people who have moved there recently, so I do anticipate it will become more and more gentrified, and the new transit will help as well. As for the crime, it's a little scary to see things like that in the news, but in the two years I've been here we haven't had anything worse than some graffiti.
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Edgewater resident
