South Park Hill, Denver

This is such a good neighborhood--it will be tough to do it justice. By the way, residents don't distinguish between South Park Hill and North Park Hill. We just call it all Park Hill. But I can see why they want to divide it up this way on the map, because it's a large and diverse area. Just don't expect locals to know what you're talking about if you try to make the distinction.

I grew up in the center of this neighborhood. Between us, my family has owned three houses here. I went to Park Hill Elementary, which was fantastic because all I had to do was to walk across the street. I went to dance classes and took piano lessons here. My sister bought her first house in this neighborhood. This area has been a formative part of my life experience.

Park Hill is full of wonderful brick homes that range from middle-class to high-end. I was not one of the children of the well-to-do on Montview, Monaco, and 17th Ave Parkway, but if you are looking to spend some money on a beautiful old mansion, this is a good neighborhood to choose. There are some delicious local businesses on Colfax Ave. as well as 23rd. These quiet, tree-lined streets have consistently been a haven for city families, and they maintain their appeal. The neighborhood itself is wonderful, and the surrounding neighborhoods offer City Park, restaurants, hospitals, shops, schools, and access to anything you could want out of this city.

This historic neighborhood east of downtown sees hundred-year-old homes rubbing elbows with a quirky stretch of Colfax Avenue. Residents love the neighborhood: safe, shady, and quiet, with good high schools, it’s in demand as a place to raise a family.

Montview Boulevard and 17th Avenue Parkway take you past rows of beautiful old mansions and several historic churches. Evening walks are popular, and for good reason. If you’re looking for a destination for your stroll, head up to 23rd Avenue, at either Dexter or Kearney. These two tucked-away nooks, each only a block or so long, have an impressive concentration of restaurants, markets, and boutiques. A few of them, such as Cake Crumbs bakery, Spinelli’s market, and Oblio’s pizza, have local fame that reaches beyond neighborhood boundaries. The stretch of Colfax on the neighborhood’s southern edge boasts a mouthwateringly high concentration of Ethiopian restaurants, and, in terms of safety and fun, is catching up with the redevelopment that’s been going on further west. At 17th and Quebec, you’ll also find the campus of Johnson and Wales University, a culinary school busily turning out chefs, restaurateurs, and food reviewers to serve the foodie population of Denver and the world.

This is not a rental neighborhood, and many of the homes here are expensive. Despite the still-sluggish national market, prices have remained stable and may be starting to rise, since demand for a neighborhood this nice never really went down.