The Walk Down 17th Street

I decided to once again take the bus up University Boulevard to the Tattered Cover Bookstore - where I used to work as the bookkeeper - and from there walk downtown to Denver's Union Station and take the light rail train home. Ever since the coronavirus took hold, people have been saying that taking public transportation is a death sentence, which I found a bit off-putting. However, since I noticed that there are virtually no passengers anymore - I wonder why? - I decided to chance it. Since it has been 5 months since I last took this walk, there were a lot of changes. For one, a huge apartment building that has been under construction is now completed, and for the first time - possibly because of the new tenants there - I have seen customers actually sitting on the patio of Waffle Brothers, located right across the street. I also noticed a lot of other patios filled, too. The Millennials and Gen Xers are back in party mode!

People are even bringing their pets along again, as seen in the photograph on the right. For many years, 17th Street has been known as restaurant row, and virtually all of these places have patios where customers sit, eat, and people watch. Recently, the area has been gentrified - for better or worse - with hipsters moving into the neighborhood and new apartment buildings being built the entire length of the street. Ironically, just two blocks to the south, on Colfax, the streets are filled with homeless people. Each group sticks to their own street - their paths never seem to cross. What an amazing - and sad - contrast.