LOWER DOWNTOWN (LoDo)

LoDo, which stands for Lower Downtown, has been many things during its many lives. Starting as a frontier town, you’d likely run into such characters as Buffalo Bill Cody and Calamity Jane causing trouble along the famed Larimer Street amidst a bustle of cowboys, gunfighters, madams, and gold miners.

 

It is still the central hub of downtown Denver with many coffee shops, businesses, bars, restaurants, and galleries, as well as the new Whole Foods Lodo. The neighborhood houses Auraria campus and the University of Colorado, Community College of Denver, and Metropolitan State University. The architecture downtown varies from converted warehouses to modern condos, industrial buildings renovated into offices, lofts, townhomes, and high-rise buildings offering incredible views.

 

Union Station is the main bus and light rail station in Denver. The A Line provides commuter rail service to Denver International Airport, it's served by three light rail lines that can whisk you away to different parts of the city, and it even has an Amtrak stop with service to Chicago & Los Angeles. The area around Union Station will continue to develop with more residential units, hotels, and office space being built in the coming years.

 

Confluence Park, the site of Denver's first settlements, is frequented by kayakers and floaters in the South Platte River from dawn till dusk, while skateboarders shred the local bowls of the Denver Skate Park. On summer evenings, eager locals gather on the grassy knoll above the river for free concerts and movies.