On Wednesday, I met my wife for lunch and then an old friend for coffee, both in Aurora. We live on the opposite side of Denver, about thirty miles from the CU medical campus, which is close enough not to need to move but far enough that I don't know the area at all. Several of my future classmates have asked where the good places to live are, and I really can't tell them anything. The general buzz is that the area immediately around the campus is not the safest, but that as you move south the neighborhoods get better. So I thought I would travel back home by driving up Peoria, which forms the western boundary of the campus.
I started at Peoria and Parker Road, which is absolutely gorgeous. Heading north on Peoria, the houses are well-maintained, the fences are wooden, the cars parked on the street are newer models, and everything is pretty green. All the way up to Mississippi, things look pretty good. From Mississippi to Alameda, the houses are older and some of the lawns are overgrown. The cars aren't as nice, and some of the fences are crappy chain-links, but it had the feeling of an older neighborhood. I did see kids walking around, which is a good sign, and my thought is that it was still safe enough to live in, just on the bottom end of middle class instead of the top.
At 6th Avenue is beautiful Del Mar Park. It's huge, with a new playground and lots of people recreating. That seems to be the boundary between nice and sketchy. After that park - immediately - the older but still nice houses were replaced with abandoned businesses, empty lots, dilapidated housing, and a general vibe of unease for me. It doesn't get any better until Colfax....
....where the beautiful brick and glass edifice of University Hospital suddenly appears, set against the matching backdrop of all those medical campus building. The other three corners are still run down, and the businesses on the west side of Peoria still make me nervous, but the campus is just perfect. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it, and I still love it. There's also a slowly growing wave of gentrification surrounding the campus. To the north is the apartment complex 21 Fitzsimmons, which is new and literally across the street from the new pharmacy building. If you're looking for a place to live while you go to school, you can't go wrong there (it is expensive, though). I think in about five years all the areas immediately around the campus will be pretty nice.
Anyway, I love the campus, and I can't wait to make it my home away from home over the next three years.
Happy Mother's Day, too! Call your moms.
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