| The Ballpark neighborhood
lies to the north of Lower Downtown and Downtown Denver's central business district. The
southern end of the neighborhood (around 20th Street) is anchored by Coors Field, which
opened in 1995. Ballpark also stretches almost 20 blocks to the north from 20th Street,
into a section of Downtown that is still very much a functioning warehouse and light
industry district. An increasing number of those warehouses are being renovated into loft
projects. This part of Downtown was
established early in Denver's history, growing alongside the railroad tracks that carried
goods and raw materials into Denver's industrial market. Waves of immigrants--Italian,
Irish, Japanese, Chinese and, more recently, Mexican--have left their own unique stamp on
the area.
An important commercial corridor in the
Ballpark neighborhood is North Larimer Street. From 20th Street all the way to the
northern edge of stretches of Downtown (37th-38th Avenue), Larimer Street offers a unique
mix of buildings and tenants--pawn shops, jazz clubs, bars, antique shops, art framers,
galleries, brewpubs, authentic Mexican restaurants, small ad companies and more. Most of
these buildings reflect the area's predominant architecture, which is 2-3 story brick
buildings and warehouses. The neighborhood is zoned for industrial use, so a good number
of the buildings still have train and truck loading docks on their street frontages, as
many of them are active warehouses and light industrial buildings. Not every building
frontage has a sidewalk, and street trees are not as prevalent as they are in older, more
traditional center city neighborhoods such as Curtis Park or Capitol Hill. In 2002,
the Ballpark Historic District was formed for much of the Ballpark area to preserve many
of the historic warehouses and buildings that define the neighborhood's historical
uses.
A major change in the Ballpark
neighborhood's landscape was the demolition of the Broadway viaduct in 2000, which carried
auto traffic from Broadway, over the adjacent Central Platte Valley train tracks, and
north along Brighton Boulevard to I-70 for several decades. The viaduct's bridge structure
sliced through the middle of the neighborhood, but is now replaced by a four-lane
underpass; two sets of train tracks cross overhead, much like the 15th Street underpass
that was completed earlier this decade. This enhances the Ballpark's pedestrian
environment and improves its visual and pedestrian connection to Downtown Denver. It has
also spurred new opportunities along Brighton Boulevard, which is a direct link from I-70
to Downtown Denver.
The Ballpark neighborhood is host of the
Ballpark Market, an eclectic community flea market that happens several weekends each
summer. It also hosts the Larimer Street Market, an open-air market
where up to 140 merchants offer countless items: farm-fresh produce, fresh flowers, baked
goods, ready-to-eat food and refreshing drinks, jewelry, arts, crafts,
one-of-a-kind-finds, antiques, live music, entertainment, and special events. The
AT&T LoDo Music Festival also moved into the Ballpark neighborhood in 2000 after
several years in the Lower Downtown area.
FACTS:
General boundaries: 18th
Street, Broadway, Blake Street, Central Platte Valley rail yards. Note: The Ballpark
neighborhood is also often incorporated as within the boundaries of the greater Curtis
Park neighborhood.
Population: 1,200
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