Congress Park- a solid Denver Urban District located south of City Park

I included the small neighborhood between Colfax and City Park in the Congress Park neighborhood as this area is too small to evaluate on its own.

By the late 1880s, the air quality in Denver had pushed the population to the outskirts of town and cable car improvements made the eastern sections of the Capitol Hill neighborhood more accessible to the middle class. Congress Park was platted into more than ten subdivisions between 1887 and 1888 as part of this growth and incorporated into the City of Denver. While originally known as Capitol Heights, the Congress Park name has been used since the 1970s.

This is a solid district from an urban perspective with its 3 commercial districts along Colfax, Colorado Blvd. and the very mixed-use 12th Avenue. Congress Park also has solid public transit & bike access, good parks, great cultural and good retail amenities, and a good amount of affordable apartments and condos thanks to its numerous mid-century buildings.

Major deficiencies in Congress Park include a lack of racial and generational diversity, some autocentric gaps along Colfax & Colorado Blvd. and lacking a walkable public library.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great sidewalk and good ADA infrastructure although with a fair amount of outdated curb cuts.
* Wonderfully connected street network.
* Good economic diversity.
* Over a very safe community.
* Decent # of walkable schools here or nearby and well rated.
* Decent # of rentals and comparatively moderately expensive to other Denver neighborhoods. 1-beds lease anywhere in the 1ks, 2-beds low 1Ks to 3K, 3-beds in the high 2Ks to 4K.
* Hsg on the pricey but a good amount of moderately price condos. Studios & 1 beds sell anywhere btwn 200K-1M, 2-beds 300K-1M, 3 & 4 beds btwn 500-2M with condos being on the cheaper end.
* Good park amenities with City Park on the northern border, Chessman park on the western and Congress park filled with athletic courts and a pool.
* Great tree canopy.
* Great cultural amenities including many restaurants, cafes, & bars, a couple breweries and art galleries, a major cineplex & and an indie theater, and several music venues. Also good access to several museums in City Park and the Denver Botanical Gardens to the west.
* Good retail amenities too including a Trader’s Joe and a couple grocerias, a couple drug stores, several boutiques & creative stores a bookstore, a hardware store, a post office, and several dessert and gyms stores. There is also a major hospital here.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* No public library in Congress Park.
* So  racial and generational diversity.
* Generally good modern in-fill but still some autocentric development along Colorado Blvd. and Colfax.
* Good but not great public transit access. Same with bike infrastructure as there are a couple dedicated bike lanes and some bike shares available.