Pimping Out Sunnyside

We could have moved to the suburbs. We could have found a nice large plot of land in Englewood for cheaper. We could have bought a large track house in Broomfield for pennies on the dollar. But Nooooooo, we had to stay in the urban edge, more specifically Sunnyside.

Sunnyside is what I like to refer to as “the poor Highlands”.

I heart this hood.

We currently live in a little bungalow nestled among other bungalows in the Van Hess section of Sunnyside. There are people that have lived here for forty or more years that still occupy slices of streets here. These people have seen this go from a traditionally Italian neighborhood to Hispanic gang ‘hood’ to what it is today- an imalgimation of all types- hippies to hoodlums, artists to aristocrats. It’s not quite yuppified or gentrified- although I’m sure it will be some day. All of that seems to fall on the peripherary- the Highlands, Lohi, or Potter Highlands house most of the urban yups.

Us Sunnysiders take pride in our humble position on the societal ladder.

Here are the benefits:

- We are one mile from the 1-70 corridor

- We are two miles from the 1-25 corridor (not that either of these really matter given that we don’t frequent getting on the expressway, but….)

- We are one mile + to the main trail arteries that traverse the city- what does that mean? It means downtown is walkable in ten minutes. It means we can bike to Cherry creek (which is on the east side of town) in thirty minutes. It means we can bike for hours on paths without negotiating dumbass drivers. It means it takes Terry seven minutes tops to scooter to work downtown.

- We have access to some of the best food (or booze) in the city- in my humble opinion. Duo, Root Down, Squeakie Bean, Lola, LaChugas, Taqueria Mexicana, Little Man Ice Cream, Billy’s Inn, Pho Fusion- just to name a few

- We have our own Sunnyside music festival, which I have never been to, but plan on attending next week. 

- We have our own cute little newsletter that’s printed on 11x17 and folded in half. That speaks to the council meetings, changes, growth, contests, jobs and such.

- Fire station is four blocks away

- Police Precinct One is a mile away (people like to think its not the safest hood around, but it would be interesting to note the amount of robberies here versus Washington Park- plus they probably have better shit to steal)

Here’s the thing. We could live in any of the wonderful neighborhoods that make Denver so darn charming.
But we like this one the best.
This feels like home.
And there’s something to be said about that.