Cheesman Park (Denver, Boulder, Parker: condo, crime, house)

[CWG]

Does anyone live in the area close to Cheesman and Congress Park? Whats the area like and how safe is it.

[5280milehiguy]

I wouldn't worry about safety. It is a vibrant part of Denver and getting more so all the time.

If you have a specific concern, can you please elaborate? There are plenty of threads/photo tours of these areas here already if you would just search them out.

Hint: ^^See posting above as the sticky^^ Most Denver neighborhoods are well represented and in alpha order.

[Moonwalkr]

Seems like a nice area, but I've only visited someone there and he lives in a multi-million dollar house, so maybe I didn't get to see the seedier side?

[dhammertime]

It's really gay.

[NYSD1995]

Based on a brief stay in the area, I would stay south of say, 12th ave if possible. The further south you go the nicer it gets. Although it is mostly safe, up by Colfax and over by Colorado Boulevard, we saw a some typical urban sketchiness. Nothing too bad, but nothing I would want to live adjacent to.

[bogotrep]

There is no need to stay south of 12th at all. Actually 12th is a seemingly arbitrary number now that I think about it. The park itself goes another block north to 13th to begin with.

I lived in the area for a few years. What is safe? I remember there was a lady murdered down the street that had everyone scared for a while. Then again there was a triple homicide in Boulder yesterday and the last murder I can think of took place way down south near Parker.

Are you looking to not get shot, mugged, robbed or raped? I would say these things are no more likely than they are anywhere else in the metro area. Cheesman is a nice park if you can forgive all of the dead people still buried under it.

[chilicheesefries]

Originally Posted by bogotrep

Are you looking to not get shot, mugged, robbed or raped? I would say these things are no more likely than they are anywhere else in the metro area. Cheesman is a nice park if you can forgive all of the dead people still buried under it.

While certainly not a 'dangerous' area, you can't say that it is not more likely than anywhere else in the metro area. You look at the numbers, crime trends, etc. and you will see there are areas that have much less crime than Cheeseman park. It's just one of the trade-offs you get living in a bustling area where there is a lot of activity and people versus a sleepy bedroom neighborhood.

[bogotrep]

I'd say it is more likely than Eerie and less likely than Montbello, but really you have not lived in the area if you think you are any more likely or less likely to run into trouble, it's just, a normal neighborhood with a nice park.

I think people who live way outside of the city sometimes get this impression in their head that all people in the city are either robbing, stabbing, shooting or dealing drugs with one another. Denver simply is not like this.

[chilicheesefries]

Originally Posted by bogotrep

I'd say it is more likely than Eerie and less likely than Montbello, but really you have not lived in the area if you think you are any more likely or less likely to run into trouble, it's just, a normal neighborhood with a nice park.

I think people who live way outside of the city sometimes get this impression in their head that all people in the city are either robbing, stabbing, shooting or dealing drugs with one another. Denver simply is not like this.

I don't live in the city but have spent a good amount of time in it - it's not all about getting shot or robbed. Is it more likely to have something happen than other areas - yes but that's just to nature of being in the urban environment. When you do a ride-along with the police department and go to the trouble it's a little bit different than trouble coming to you but you get a good idea of what's going on 'behind the scenes'.

I'm not trying to say Denver is dangerous just wanted to comment on the use of the work 'any' rather than 'most'.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by dhammertime

It's really gay.

This guy may have been banned, but the truth is that a lot of gays do live around there and do hang out at the park. Mostly, this is no big deal, but cruising etc does go on there.

I lived south of "Little Cheesman" (the small park just south of "Big" Cheesman) for about 18 years. We were two blocks south of 6th Avenue. We raised our kids there.
I worked at 13th and Gilpin, walked my dogs at big and little Cheesman.
It was urban living. Stuff would occasionally happen. My sister in law, while jogging early one morning, had a guy grab her but she escaped. A jilted woman hanged herself at the park. There were break-ins, neighborhood assaults and murders that occurred south of 6th, but this is over the course of 18 years, and nothing of note ever happened personally to me.

The 1980 movie The Changeling is based on the bizarre experiences of a man who moved into the Henry Treat Rogers Mansion, a large house on 13th (the house has since been torn down, a condo is there now.)