Mingling With The Hipsters - Or Not

I recently took the bus to the corner of Josephine and Colfax, close to the Tattered Cover Bookstore (my old employer), and then walked the 3 miles to Denver's Union Station, just like I often did when I worked there. And trust me, it is a much more enjoyable walk when you don't have to put in an 8 hour day first.  I took my usual route down 17th Street - past all the hipster bars, shops, and apartments - until I reached Lower Downtown, which is hipster central.  I took the above photograph in the alley in the middle of The Dairy Block, Denver's newest hot spot.  The main attraction is the Denver Milk Market, still another in the long line of food halls that are starting to pop up all over town.  Just last week I passed by the Denver Central Market on Upper Larimer Street, another one of these hipster food halls.  The reason I look so hesitant in the photo above is that I was deciding whether or not to go inside.  The last time I went into one of these hipster havens was when I visited Avanti, a food hall located in the Lower Highlands neighborhood. The view of Denver from the rooftop is spectacular there, but the beer I ordered cost $7.00.  And just yesterday I read that the hippest happening last Christmas here in Denver - a "pop-up" bar called Miracle at Avanti - has opened up once again this year at that location, and people are already clamoring for reservations - to sit at a bar, no less.  Personally, I think the miracle will be if you can get out of there paying less than $10 for a beer (plus tip, of course).  But that's just me.