Southmoor Park, Denver

This is one of the neighborhoods that I have loathed will all my heart since it was built. That is actually a good recommendation if you like suburbs, postmodern office spaces, and new, CCR-controlled, committe-approved, inoffensively-colored panelled housing. This is a suburban family area, with business parks, residential communities, schools, and designated open spaces. I would not live here if you paid me, but many families call this place home.

The areas around the Tech Center have had strong growth for the last three decades. It has wide streets with big signs, company offices, and suburban families. If you like the Tech Center, then you might find this the ideal place for you. Just one warning, you should not live here unless you never tire of brown and beige.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm highly predjudiced agains things suburban. No, I'm far from anti-corporate and I have nothing against the American dream. I just can't take the acres of mediocrity that seems enshrined in the typical suburb. I want inspiration and originality. But if you just want an office with a neighborhood prepackaged to provide parks, schools, and chain stores, then Southmoor might hold your dream home. It's a clean, safe, neighborhood.

This new neighborhood is nestled alongside I-25, and is a hop, skip, and jump from the Tech Center. Like Hampden South, construction here really took off after the Tech Center was built, but Southmoor Park is newer and feels exclusively custom-built for tech center workers. Given its small size and narrow, boomerang shape, it’s dense. Imposing and trendy condo complexes line either side of South Monaco street, seeming to go on forever. Convenience is the catchword here: your or your landlord’s HOA will take care of the maintenance, keep the lawns and flowers picture perfect, there’s probably a fitness center in your complex, and, if you work in the Tech Center, your commute is mercifully short. Dining and retail is either up on Hampden Avenue, where a shopping plaza offers a grocery store, a Starbucks, and a bar, or across I-25 in the Tech Center area.

The Belleview light rail stop offers an easy, car-free escape from all the custom-built convenience for residents who want to go downtown for a day trip or a night on the town. This means that Southmoor draws a slightly younger crowd than Hampden or Hampden South. Housing, predictably, is on the pricy side, but most of the white-collar tech center workers who are drawn to this area can afford it. If you’re one of those workers, Southmoor Park is handy, safe, and has some very nice homes. The possible drawback is that after a while this neighborhood may begin to feel homogenous and a little too neat and tidy.