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Ok look five points, just west of downtown, has a big crime rate and a large black population.Much of westside Denver is gang territory of the 5 Point Crips. East of the muesem, just adjacent to downtown, is also bad, yet it is the supposive territory of the East Side Bloods. Around the muesem there have been a few brawls involving the Bloods and Crips. So yeah, Denver actually has ghetto areas, because I have been in this area, and believe me, you will not want to live in these areas
5 points is not bad at all. It's like a middle class area in California.
There are a few wierdos, crackheads, and there are a few gangsters but I think most of them look like people who just listened to too much gangsta rap, not real, hardcore gangsters.
Denver does not have a ghetto. I does have some ugly, industrial areas, with a little crime. But these areas aren't anything close to a ghetto.
Ok look five points, just west of downtown, has a big crime rate and a large black population.Much of westside Denver is gang territory of the 5 Point Crips. East of the muesem, just adjacent to downtown, is also bad, yet it is the supposive territory of the East Side Bloods. Around the muesem there have been a few brawls involving the Bloods and Crips. So yeah, Denver actually has ghetto areas, because I have been in this area, and believe me, you will not want to live in these areas
I really cannot let this comment pass because it is just wrong; an over exaggeration and filled with misconceptions.
Five Points is not west of Downtown but it is adjacent and north/northeast. It is a changing area and is not and never was such a big bad ghetto. I am ex New Yorker, lived and worked in NYC; I also lived in Harlem, during some of the worse times of the city and this is, and never approached any aspects of a crime ridden ghetto, like some of the eastern cities.
As for the area having a "large black population"--well, I have learned in 30 years in this area that the Denver Metro area has much better race and ethnic relations than any city that I have lived. I have been to five points, on foot and on a bus, many times, and have not had any problems. That is not to say that caution is not warranted in an inner city neighborhood but that is NOT, mainly, because it is Black---because Denver is much, much different. Most importantly, I am much changed in my perceptions and interactions by this great City; that is saying much for someone who grew up near a very bad area of Buffalo, NY and who had many bad experiences. Today, five points is a rapidly changing area and has many good attributes and for me---some great food.
The comments about the west side of Denver is very wrong--it is not all "gang territory". It has many fine neighborhoods from south to North Denver; from Harvey Park, to Sloan Lake, to Berkeley, to Highland.....
The area around the museums "East of the muesem"(sic) is not the "supposive"(sic) territory of any gang, whatever that means...This area of the Golden Triangle is attracting very wealthy people with lush expensive housing, and are we to suppose that they are all not aware of their environment.
Every area has good and bad aspects; good and bad people; but to put forth ill written misconceptions, with evidently little experience and knowledge of Denver, cannot be left without a challenge.
The truth is, a lot of Denver people do not know what a bad neighborhood is. And they do not know what gangsters are.
They will see a neighborhood that is a little bit rough and say "Oh my god this is the ghetto." But that is just because they do not know what a real ghetto is.
Or they will see someone who is dressed in a little bit of a hip-hop style, and they will think he is a "gang banger". I've seen Denver people do this.
And that is one great thing about Denver. There is no ghetto that you have to avoid. It's all pretty safe.
I don't know if its a ghetto or not, but Commerce City is pretty bad.
I would personally classify Commerce City as industrial, certainly not ghetto.In the 18 months I have lived in the NE quadrant of Denver and Aurora,I have not seen any areas I would classify as ghetto. There is no areaI have been to where I felt even remotely unsafe. There is an area I goto around Colfax and Quebec that is home to a lot of little businesseshoused in shabby looking buildings. This is Denver's idea of ghetto, I think.But I always feel safe there, and obviously it is not ghetto; just unattractive.
Location: Governor's Park/Capitol Hill, Denver, CO
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It feels like this topic comes up quarterly on CD and the title alone just makes me laugh. Should one want to look up the word, you would find that it means - "A ghetto is described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghetto The term 'ghetto' was originally used to refer to the Venetian Ghetto in Venice, Italy where Jews were forced to live. The word "ghetto" actually means "foundry" in Italian, used in this sense in a reference to a foundry located on the same island as the area of Jewish confinement. An alternative etymology is from Italian borghetto, diminutive of borgo ‘borough’.
As with any city, we have some poor areas but few that are actually run down and none that are abondoned. We have not had a mass exodus of the working class due to an industry collaspse like Philly, Detroit or Pittsburh. Drive Broad Street in Philly's north side and you will see what I am talking about. One time they were beautiful thriving neighborhoods but now you will find literally 120 blocks of abondonded homes that are falling apart. I commented to a coworker that one of the abondonded wearhouse districts was so vast and horrid that it reminded me of the movies, "Night of the Living Dead". He lives in Philly and laughed at me and said that this is where the movies are filmed.
Take the green 'L' line into south Chicago, visit 96th and Lexington in NYC, head east of HWY 59 in Houston, drive below the I-10 in south Phoenix, you will find nothing remotely like these areas in Denver. We are fortunate to have no slums or ghettos in Denver.
I agree with the previous posters in saying that Denver doesn't have a ghetto, and thanks Aztec on some back ground on the word itself,I usually learn something from your posts..I personally feel however that about thirty years ago as a child I witnessed a much more run down city--obviously Lodo was not a place where you wanted to casually take a walk at night..My question is for those people who remember Denver 30 or 40 years ago..Was it more dangerous then, and did a ghetto exist in the city at that time? I was too young to guage the city properly--it just seemed to me that parts of Denver were much more dangerous..
I agree with the previous posters in saying that Denver doesn't have a ghetto, and thanks Aztec on some back ground on the word itself,I usually learn something from your posts..I personally feel however that about thirty years ago as a child I witnessed a much more run down city--obviously Lodo was not a place where you wanted to casually take a walk at night..My question is for those people who remember Denver 30 or 40 years ago..Was it more dangerous then, and did a ghetto exist in the city at that time? I was too young to guage the city properly--it just seemed to me that parts of Denver were much more dangerous..
I moved to Denver area over 30 years ago from Dallas/Ft. Worth, originally I am from New York. I was very interested to see all the areas and to discover if there were bad areas, slums or ghettos as I experienced in the east.
I can easily say that there were no bad areas that were equivalent to eastern slums. However, some areas were more dangerous; some areas were more in a state of disrepair.
I remember flying in for a visit, a year before I moved, to look around and I parked under the D&F tower, which was boarded up and the area was surrounded by some decayed buildings. When I moved, Lower Larimer was renovated but upper Larimer, Blake and Market where still very much a commercial warehouse district with some unsavory type people. That has all changed because of the redevelopment and also because the overheard viaducts were replaced with ground level roads which opened the whole area up to the light. I was frequently down in the area because of my business and I still never felt it as bad as some areas of NYC.
I did get to five points and to area east, near the airport, near Lowry, on east Colfax--they were all somewhat tarnished but I would not say, again, they were slums. I thought the worse metro areas were Aurora on Colfax, up on Monaco, Havana, Montview, Peoria near Delmar Park on 6th. Today I think that area is still the worse in the Metro area but is better today--not much, but a little better in spots---but never a ghetto or a slum to my definition. I think the best improvement is around Fitzimmons because of the new Medical Campus and this should start a big change in the rest of the area.
Another area of concern back then was the west side of Denver--along Federal and near North Denver, Potter (Highland), west Colfax---bad at times--but again no slum or ghettos All these areas, Highland, and along West 38th are all a big improvement today.
My experience in larger cities in the east was of delimited neighborhoods where you knew block by block who lived where, and where you should not walk alone. Denver never had such specific boundaries between ethnic which is one of the big indications of a ghetto.
I was a big walker back then; walked all around Lodo, under the viaducts; been at Denargo Street Market, many times at 4 am for business; walked from Downtown all the way to Aurora on Colfax; walked all the way south on Broadway; walked from Downtown through West Colfax; Walked Down Colorado to the Glendale, walked through North Denver from Downtown to Arvada...etc. many many urban walks....and when you are one foot or one a bus that is the way to experience a city and really know it.
Believe me, I know what a slum looks like; and Denver has no slums--even back then. All areas in all parts of this city have gotten much better to my mind, in terms of safety and building improvement. There may be pockets of very bad areas, but I have never seen them and I think I have been through most areas, at all hours, over the years.
Of course, this is from my prospective as a New York male who has high tolerance for differences because I have seen much before I moved to Denver. I have never been a victim of a crime in Denver and I never felt terribly afraid in any situation even though years ago, I was out and about at all hours to many venues--enjoying life and chasing girls. Today now, I am older and have physical problems but I do not feel threatened but I do not go out late at night in areas which attract youthful drinking.
I remember being very impressed how well each ethnic group got along with each other--much better than what I saw in other cities, like Dallas, DC, Baltimore, Philly, NYC, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit Los Angeles etc. I could feel it walking down the street; I could sense the vibes on the buses; I could feel it in the conversations with blacks, Hispanics, Asians and even some hard scrabbled whites. I had better relationships with these different people that I worked with and/or supervised. It was just more pleasant.
I was to many cities, had many living arrangements, was in the army and what I saw in Denver, 30 years ago, was a nice city albeit a little crusty in places, on the verge of positive change. That future is now my present, and I was right--Denver is much better and improved.
Livecontent
Last edited by livecontent; 01-04-2009 at 07:34 PM..
Take the green 'L' line into south Chicago, visit 96th and Lexington in NYC, head east of HWY 59 in Houston, drive below the I-10 in south Phoenix, you will find nothing remotely like these areas in Denver. We are fortunate to have no slums or ghettos in Denver.
Sorry, but I have to comment on this statement. A good friend of mine lives on E. 99th, 3 blocks from the subway station at 96th & Lexington, and that particular part of East Harlem isn't bad at all, in fact it's pretty gentrified (CVS, Starbucks).
Chicago has more people in its city-proper than Denver-Aurora have in their entire metropolitan area, the South Side of Chicago is home to over 1 million people. Classifying the entire South Side of Chicago as "ghetto" is very irresponsible. The South Side is home to neighborhoods like Hyde Park and Woodlawn as well as the University of Chicago and The Museum of Science and Industry.
Location: Governor's Park/Capitol Hill, Denver, CO
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Good to hear that area of NYC has been cleaned up. Wasn't that way just a few years back, it was very ghetto at 96th and Lex, Spanish Harlem is how it was known then.
Taking the green line to the Museum of Science and Industry you will absolutely see ghetto on the way to some great areas. Nobody said the entire south side was ghetto and for you to infer that I did is "irresponsible" jjacobeclark. Taking the green 'L' into south Chicago is a perfect example of what we don't have here in Denver.
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