Denver Colorado Lodo District

A decade ago, this was an area of abandoned turn-of-the-century warehouses and buildings. Today, it is one of the most fashionable addresses in Denver. LoDo (short for Lower Downtown consists of 25 square blocks north of Larimer Street between 14th and 22nd. There are 125 designated historic buildings in the area, making it one of the largest concentrations of Victorian and turn-of-the-century architecture in the nation.

Since the opening of 50,000-seat Coors Field in 1995, the neighborhood has undergone a transformation. Many of the 12,000 new housing units in downtown Denver are located in this area and offer a mixture of eclectic new buildings and restored warehouse loft projects.

There are 90 brewpubs, sports bars, restaurants and coffee houses in the neighborhood, many of them located in old buildings with exposed brick walls. Several restaurants, such as the LoDo Grille, have rooftop cafes offering a great place to view a Rocky Mountain sunset. Old favorites of the neighborhood include the Wynkoop Brewing Company, the first brewpub in Colorado founded by Denver's current mayor, John Hickenlooper, and El Chapultepec, ranked by Esquire Magazine as one of the best bars and jazz clubs in the nation. New restaurants such as Vesta Dipping Grille and Rioja have received national recognition.

Shopping in this area includes a selection of art galleries, the famous Tattered Cover Bookstore and Rockmount Ranch Wear, the company that invented the snap button Western shirt. At 106 years old, Rockmount founder "Papa Jack" Weil is a popular fixture in the neighborhood and comes to work in the store every weekday, making him the oldest working CEO in America.

Larimer Square (the 1400 block of Larimer) opened in 1969 as the first revitalization of a historic neighborhood in America. This elegant, charming and completely irresistible package of dining, shopping and nightlife defines hip urban revitalization. Today, Larimer thrives and is keeping its brand as the trendiest street in downtown Denver. From the Comedy Works, where such national comics as Rosanne Barr and Josh Blue got their start, to restaurants Tamayo and the Samba Room, Larimer has always been on the cutting edge of the dining and entertainment scene. The 18 shops carry more than 200 discerning fashion lines for men and women from the runways of New York, London, Paris and Milan. From jewelry to art to even cowgirl chic at the eclectic Crybaby Ranch, Larimer Square offers unique items for individualized style.

Riverfront is another district of LoDo, a neighborhood literally on the other side of tracks behind Union Station and along the east of the South Platte River. Bike paths follow the twisting river for more than 40 miles, while kayak and rafting chutes have been placed in the stream at Confluence Park. The new Commons Park along the riverbank was the largest addition to Denver's park system in the 20th Century. The neighborhood has several thousand new housing units, which have been built as lofts into old industrial sites and warehouses or as new freestanding units that keep the character of the area. At the southern end, Elitch Gardens hugs one bank of the river, while the Children's Museum and Downtown Aquarium are on the other. A bright yellow historic trolley runs along the river in the summer. Dining at Riverfront includes the stylish new Zengo.

Nearby, the Museum of Contemporary Art will open in late spring 2007. Designed by London architect David Adjaye, the 27,000-square-foot facility will feature a lighted glass and polypropylene curtain wall system that will become an architectural icon for Denver. There will be five intimate gallery spaces, three educational spaces, a museum shop, a garden pavilion and other spaces for people to engage with art.

LoDo is also a transportation center for Denver. AMTRAK, the Ski Train, Light Rail and the free 16th Street Mall shuttle bus all come together at LoDo's Union Station, which will also be the hub for Denver's new $4 billion, 120-mile Light Rail network, set to be completed in 2018.

One hundred years ago, LoDo was home to Bat Masterson, Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane, Soapy Smith, and other frontier icons, all out and about on the dusty streets teeming with cattle barons, gunfighters, wagon trains, salon keepers, madams, miscreants, and gold miners.

Today, a different breed roams this robust heart of Denver, where the streets bustle night and day with shoppers, nightclub hoppers, sports fans, business people, and tourists. The landscaped paths along the South Platte and Cherry Creek provide walkers, joggers, and cyclists with safe, picturesque access to one of the most extensive urban trail systems in the nation, while skate boarders cavort in the sculpted bowls of LoDo's Denver Skate Park. On summer evenings, eager locals gather on the grassy knoll above the river for free concerts and movies.