A Tale of Two Cities
Responsible development amidst Denver’s economic boom
In 2017 Denver was ranked the No. 2 place to live according to the U.S News and World Report. For natives, that’s no surprise. People flock to Denver from all over the world for its enticing combination of mountains and city life. The booming cultural and economic industry encourages those flocking to nest. This recent influx of population has caused development to skyrocket, which certainly has its downsides. Neighborhoods that once belonged to minorities and lower-income families have transformed into high priced condos above bougie boutiques and restaurants. “RiNo, the draw, and the attraction of it is this artistic, raw neighborhood and it developed that from its original resident population. Which were artists living on not a lot of money. It wasn’t a choice. Now it’s being built with a similar façade but with 800,000 dollar condos or townhomes,” said the Denver Housing Authority’s Development program manager Isabelle Wolfe. Wolfe and many others have taken on a project that they hope will break this cycle of redevelopment. In hopes that Denver can one day become a city where certain communities aren’t pushed out or marginalized, but rather become an integral aspect of Denver’s culture.
Sun Valley is nestled in the shadow of Sports Authority Field. The small, low-density neighborhood has the highest rate of poverty in all of Denver, as most residents inhabit the block of public housing between 10th and 11th avenue. Disconnected to the rest of the city, this neighborhood has seen few effects of the population increase that others have seen. The recent 30 million dollar HUD grant that Sun Valley has been awarded intends to keep it that way. “In Sun Valley the top priority is to maintain the culture, and the culture is the people. It’s the 33 languages spoken, it’s all the immigrant and refugee populations. I think that’s our top priority in maintaining the diversity and culture,” Wolfe stated. The Sun Valley EcoDistrict is a non-profit organization that is partnering with the Denver Housing Authority in order to revitalize and bring prosperity into this neighborhood. They’ve taken on a project to not just improve the area for potential real estate buyers but to revitalize a community for the population that is already there. “I think if anything it is a very different model of development when the master developer is a nonprofit for a community-led masterplan. It’s pretty unique.” Wolfe stated, she says that because of this and the “community buy-in” that SVED has worked to establish with the residents that this project will not become “a traditional gentrification case study. We will not let that happen.”
This project is starkly contrasted by another development project just over six miles away. The I-70 expansion project in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood of northern Denver would leave nearly 30 homes demolished. With many local businesses taking a hit as well. Just to the north of RiNo, Elyria Swansea is also one of the poorest neighborhoods in Denver, with a majority of the population being Latina. In many ways, the neighborhood is similar to Sun Valley. However, the way these two projects are being treated couldn’t be more different. With the I-70 expansion project, there has been little to no community input in planning or implementation. Due to this, the residents are unhappy and aggravated. “We’re suing the E.P.A. We filed a civil rights complaint saying that this project disproportionately affects communities of color,” Said Sylvie Lerner, Equity and Justice Director of project Voyce. Project Voyce is an organization that is highly involved in the “ditch the ditch” effort protesting the I-70 expansion. “It’s easy for people to say ‘we’ve done x amount of community forums, community town halls. But if you go to town halls, they limit the number of questions that can be taken. They do a presentation and hold little room for comments. They say ‘This is the plan, let us know how you want the park to look. But they’re not asking about the project in general.” Lerner continued. This park is to be a one-block cap over the highway, dubbed a ‘cut and cover’ project. Lerner said, “They have all these cool drawings and photos, but we haven’t done that [in Colorado], and you don’t do it when people live right next door. I looked at other cut and covers, it’s always in industrial areas, businesses are around. There’s never a home next to it.”
Elyria Swansea is a prototype of how Denver's development has gone in recent history. Many communities will be displaced, shoved out of what they’ve called home for years. With things being built that serve the incoming communities rather than the ones that are already there. Sun Valley could be the example that Denver needs to stop displacing and homogenizing and start being more responsible when it comes to development. The key seems to be the community involvement in the process, making sure what is built serves the existing community’s needs. Also allowing that community to be a cohesive part of the final project. Sun Valley has started off on the right foot in this sense. Though the project is in its beginning phases, there is hope toward the future of Sun Valley as a neighborhood and Denver as a whole.
Written March 2017