Arkins Promenade Is Open!

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock presided over the opening of Arkins Promenade last week - part of a new, mile-long pedestrian and bike path and green-space along the South Platte River. The promenade itself is a 400 foot long steel walkway that reaches 28 feet at its highest point. I read an article about it in the Denver Post and decided to check it out the other day. This linear park is located in the River North (RINO) neighborhood, which is a former industrial district that has become one of Denver's hottest neighborhoods. One of the criticisms of this area is the lack of park-space, and Arkins Promenade is a good first step toward rectifying this situation.

RINO is also known as the River North Arts District. After Lower Downtown (LoDo) became an entertainment hot spot, art galleries began moving north to RINO to take advantage of the cheap rents. However, developers soon began building apartment buildings there, and brew pubs and breweries began opening on every other block. Of course, the art galleries are almost all gone now. The neighborhood is divided into two sections by railroad tracks, the west side by the river originally all industrial, and the east side, especially along Upper Larimer Street, featuring 19th century structures among the warehouses and industrial sites. Frankly, it is a damn ugly neighborhood, but with all those expensive high-rise apartments with great views and brew pubs everywhere, it is a natural draw for hipsters. And the place seems like one big construction zone. It took me a long time to figure out how to get to Arkins Promenade, since virtually every street was blocked off due to even more apartment buildings under construction, some of which can be seen in the photograph on the right that I took when I finally arrived there. If you decide you want to live there, remember that all those places are totally unaffordable, and so you better find plenty of roommates to share the rent. Otherwise, forget about those brew pubs.