16th Street Mall, Central Platt Valley, LoDo, Riverfront, Commons, Confluence Park -- PHOTO TOUR (Denver: fit in, loft)

[DenverAztec]

Cloudy with some hints of sun, but 68 degrees a few weeks ago was cause to go for a long walk. Pictured randomly are the 16th Street Mall, Central Platt Valley, LoDo, Riverfront, Commons and Confluence Park.









Commons Park is a new park located in the Central Platt Valley. Though we have had a mild winter, we really could use some snow in the city.



Denver has the largest amount of Victorian era warehouses still erect in the U.S. Though we lost 120 blocks of them via Urban Renewal, what was left is a prized possession to the city, and especially to the loft, bar and restaurant owners. To its credit, Urban Renewal did save much of what we do have through rehabilitation.






















For those who don't live here, Elitche’s Six Flags is also in the Central Platt Valley.









Riverfront Town Homes.



What Valentine’s Day can do to the heart of a single person. Neon outside the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art.





Boys being boys and tossing in whatever they could into the Cherry Creek/Platt Rivers.



Girls being girls - shopping.







The Spire Residences rising in the background, 41 floors.













Rare to see an open chess table but constantly quite.





Daniels and Fisher tower, circa 1910, currently burlesque and drag shows in the basement.





Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences rising in the back, 43 floors, ½ penthouse sold for 10 million – the 1/2 for 9 million.







Spire rising in the background, anticipated opening March 11th.













I swear this robot dude has been down on the mall for at least the past 15 years.










































I.M. Pei is know for fantastic buildings but he is know in Denver for a few buildings and for being the architect behind our 16th Street pedestrian mall.





Millennium pedestrian bridge crosses over interstate 25.



Glass House



John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” comes to mind.





United Bank originally but now Wells Fargo, resembles a cash register.















1900 16th Street, office building under construction, 18 Floors.



Denver Center for the Performing Arts in the distance.







Confluence Park, the convergence of the Cherry Creek River and the Platt River.









This is what I recall LoDo looking like when I was a kid, the entire area. Now only a handful of these vacant building exist, most have been converted to residences, business or both.















Traditional loft living still happening, most of the area is gentrified now.









Still cleaning up some of the old gems.







A few pics of the Potter Highlands area, a tour for another day.












Love this Art Deco entry.







Hate these windows on this old gem.
















































This use to be the best punk club in the 80s, "Rock Island", and the entry was under a viaduct. The viaduct was razed and the building had the black paint stripped off by the current architect firm resident.



MCA























“National Velvet”, part of the Denver Public Art Program, $53,000, and lights up internally. Not sure what I think of it yet, still feeling ambiguous. Heard one kid say, “It looks like a pile of boobs”, I guess it is doing what art is supposed to do, cause discussion and controversy.













Time to head back home to Capitol Hill.



Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Denver Aztec

[steeljaw]

Amazing shots!!

[iknowftbll]

Wow, that was something else! Makes me miss home profoundly! I live in San Diego right now. If I can't live in Denver, San Diego is as good an alternative as you're going to find, but still, I'd move back to Denver in a heartbeat if presented with the opportunity.

[denverian]

Great pics Aztec! I love how the old an new mix together in Denver. We probably have a lot more "new" than most cities.

[DenverAztec]

Thank you for the comments! I love the mix of the old and new as well Denverian. We do have a central business district with significant development going on, residential development. We are one of the few cities that is seeing a demand with downtown living and it is great to have some space to still build. Affordability is another story. Historic structure wise, sans Lowry and Stapleton, Denver neighborhoods are older and most cherish the old homes. However, modernization has put a strangle hold on areas like Hill Top and University Park, but some have fought back like Sloan's Lake and the west Highlands. A happy medium is found downtown with the modern structures attempting to fit in with their surroundings, now if we can get housing developers to do the same then many Denver neighborhoods would not look so awkward. I hate seeing several Vitorian homes in a row followed by a big fat cheaply built McMansion. So glad there are areas that have maintained their architectual integrity like Baker, the Country Club and Governor's Park heading east on 7th.

However, I still would like to see a super tall (80 to 90 floors) downtown. One that gives us a memorable skyline verses the 1980s glass boxes we currently have. Spire and Four Seasons will be wonderful additions, but need the cherry on the cake!

[iknowftbll]

I agree with you on a supertall. It will likely be a while before that happens though, so I'm just glad that the Spire and 4 Seasons are going up for now. And Tabor 2 should be materializing soon as well. Those will all be welcome additions to downtowns profile.

[McGowdog]

Denver! It takes me a couple cups of coffee and at least two sittings to finish one of your photo tours!

Girls, doing what girls do... shopping? Yeah! And thinking of boys.

Oh, and

Originally Posted by the Brilliant DenverAztec

John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” comes to mind.

Could be, but I'm thinkin' they're just Regis students with a day to kick around downtown.

Add: Nice train shot! Your timing is impeccable. So Cherry Creek runs down Speer to the south? I know the Platte runs down Speer East of my old College, but I can't think of where exactly that Confluence Park is. Interesting.

Add: Crazy shot of that dog! Were you close or zoomed in? If so, you've got some megapix there.

[zenkonami]

Wow. I mean, just wow. I would live and work there happily if I could. Even if this city wasn't so close to the mountains, these photos show off just how much character Denver has.

Haven't lived even in the metro area since I was little kid, so is it saying I'm a little obsessed with the city when I could identify on a map where most of these were taken?

Amazing pics. I mean, wow. I want to move right now.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by DenverAztec

Thank you for the comments! I love the mix of the old and new as well Denverian. We do have a central business district with significant development going on, residential development. We are one of the few cities that is seeing a demand with downtown living and it is great to have some space to still build. Affordability is another story. Historic structure wise, sans Lowry and Stapleton, Denver neighborhoods are older and most cherish the old homes. However, modernization has put a strangle hold on areas like Hill Top and University Park, but some have fought back like Sloan's Lake and the west Highlands. A happy medium is found downtown with the modern structures attempting to fit in with their surroundings, now if we can get housing developers to do the same then many Denver neighborhoods would not look so awkward. I hate seeing several Vitorian homes in a row followed by a big fat cheaply built McMansion. So glad there are areas that have maintained their architectual integrity like Baker, the Country Club and Governor's Park heading east on 7th.

However, I still would like to see a super tall (80 to 90 floors) downtown. One that gives us a memorable skyline verses the 1980s glass boxes we currently have. Spire and Four Seasons will be wonderful additions, but need the cherry on the cake!

Hopefully Four Seasons, with its spire, will look different from all the boxy buildings. I think we have a great skyline, but agree that one taller building that isn't a box would make it more memorable.

Here's one I took last week - forgot if I posted it on CD or not, but from this antle, 4S will really have a nice impact on the skyline:

[cementglow]

Nice photo shoot as allways.