Denver's Cherry Creek Neighborhood - Still Booming After All These Years

My sister Susan - seen in the photograph on the left - and I decided to have dinner this past Thursday night at the Cherry Cricket in Denver's Cherry Creek North neighborhood. The place was packed, and although we didn't get to sit in the main dining room, which was very lively indeed, the room they put us in was pleasant enough, and decorated for the holidays. The Cherry Cricket has been around since 1945 and calls itself Denver's Burger Dive. To say the neighborhood has changed since then is a tremendous understatement. Virtually all the shops and restaurants in this neighborhood are very upscale, but the Cherry Cricket is still here, functioning as a sports bar, neighborhood gathering spot, and destination for anyone looking for a good, reasonably priced hamburger.

Cherry Creek North is all decorated for the holidays, as you can see from the photograph on the right. And the neighborhood itself is booming, with new construction going on everywhere. And work will soon begin on Cherry Creek West, a 13-acre mixed-use development with seven buildings, 800 residences, and lots of open space. In addition to that, directly across the street from the Cherry Cricket, construction has already started on Cherry Lane, which will feature 379 residences, 59,000 square feet of office space, and a variety of shops and restaurants at street level. In the rest of the Denver area, office buildings are experiencing record high vacancy rates, and the sharp decrease in people moving to the metro area from other states has put many planned apartment projects on hold. But Cherry Creek has been unaffected by all this and continues to grow. But thank God, you can still get an affordable meal at the Cherry Cricket. Be sure to check it out.