The 16th Street Mall Project Is Almost Complete! At Last!

Denver's vibrant downtown has been undergoing hard times since the start of Covid restrictions in March of 2020. Even after those restrictions were lifted, many people did not return to the office, preferring to work from home, and as a result, office buildings stood practically empty and downtown Denver remained a ghost town. Even now, the vacancy rate is still a very scary 35.3%. Still worse, in 2022 the city began renovations on the 16th Street Mall, the heart and soul of downtown Denver, making it almost impossible to transverse. Needless to say, many retail shops, restaurants, and bars closed down, further depressing the downtown area. But just this week, Denver's Mayor Mike Johnson announced that the project is now 90% complete, and will be completed finished by the fall, with wider sidewalks, 20 new restaurant patios, lots of trees and many new businesses. And instead of the 16th Street Mall, it will once again be plain old 16th Street, but still restricted only to pedestrians and shuttle busses. Yesterday afternoon I took a walk down 16th, where I took the photograph on the left, and I must say, not only did it look good, but I actually saw people sitting on patios and walking along the sidewalks. On a weekday!

Not only did the 16th Street Mall begin renovations in 2022, but new owners also began renovations to 18 buildings at Larimer Square, another historic Denver hotspot and seen in the photograph on the right. This resulted in many of the shops and restaurants that had been there for years either going out of business or moving to new locations. That project is also now nearing completion, and I am happy to report that most of the previously vacant spaces are also now filled with new businesses. When I was there yesterday afternoon, there were actually people having lunch and drinks on the patios, and heading into the shops, a much different scene than last summer. It looks like downtown Denver is once again a great spot to bike to, and I definitely intend to do just that much more often this year. You should too.