Walkabout
By Dixie Darr
One of the pleasures of living in North Denver is walking around the neighborhood. I’ve been rediscovering the joys of walking after an injury kept me off my feet for almost two years. These days I walk with orthotics in my shoes and an inhaler in my pocket, but neither dims my delight in heading out in the cool early morning to see what’s happening in Highland neighborhood today.
My favorite route leads me south through Scottish Village, where the curved streets, called Fife, Argyle, Caithness and Dunkeld, are unknown to anyone outside the neighborhood. Here the houses stand close together and close to the street. Like in the rest of Highland, bounded by Federal, 38th Avenue, Speer Blvd. and I-25, several newly remodeled houses are on the market. One boasts a for sale sign offering “good feng shui.” A man whose feng shui seems to have deserted him is walking up the street lugging a brown vinyl suitcase and a black backpack, both stuffed full. He looks away as I approach.
Heading east on Caithness, I pass Highland Zuni Plaza, where the recently opened Daily Wag Doggie Day Care Center joins the typical mix of Mexican restaurant, pizza place, barber shop, hair salon, import store, laundromat and market. I cross Zuni and continue east on 30th Avenue, passing an architect’s studio and an art gallery, plus a small old commercial building now converted into two residences. It’s this eclectic mix of commercial, residential and retail, old and new, that keeps the neighborhood endlessly fascinating.
Suddenly, a long-eared brown and white dog starts barking and running toward me. I turn to cross the street, hoping it will stop when I am out of it’s territory, when I hear a woman calling, “Nellie, stop that!” Nellie? I’m being attacked by a vicious beast named Nellie? Her owner grabs the dog’s collar and apologizes. “She’s really very friendly.” Nellie and I make peace and I walk on. In front of me is the historic Asbury Methodist Church, whose tower dominates our neighborhood skyline from downtown. When I first returned to North Denver in 1978, the church had a Korean congregation. They moved out and left it empty for several years until someone bought it with the intention of converting it into a luxurious private residence complete with an indoor swimming pool. Now it’s a church again.
I turn left and head uphill to 32nd Avenue. For years, I’ve longed for the business district on the east side of Federal to acquire some of the charm and bustling quality of the Highlands Square area at 32nd and Lowell, without losing the flavor of the businesses catering to our Mexican immigrant population. Now a few storefronts are empty and I eagerly watch for what’s to come. Already we have a tiny used bookstore on Tejon, and next door, a sign and window display announces a soon-to-open boutique and gallery. Between these shops and an established live-work loft building, construction continues on a gutted brick apartment building which, I’m sure, will soon sport a sign offering loft-style living to more new North Denver residents. Across the street is RosaLinda’s Mexican cafe and Lucia’s Casa de Café, considered by many to be the heart of Highland. A brown paper bag sits by Lucia’s door, and I laugh as a squirrel rips a hole in the bag and scores a bagel. The staff will probably not be so amused when they arrive to open the café.
Below Tejon, newly constructed loft apartments and condos have replaced several blocks of small single family houses. So far, they don’t threaten to obliterate the neighborhood the way townhouses did in Cherry Creek, and the young professionals who live there bring another spice to the stew of Northwest Denver. At 34th, I turn east again to walk past my favorite new construction, a single family house and a duplex near the corner of 34th and Quivas. Both are modern stucco interpretations of adobe casas that somehow fit right in. Note to Walter Keller: Get some of these new houses and lofts on our next house tour, okay?
My route takes me past three community gardens, where neighbors gather every summer to grow flowers and vegetables. Now that people are replacing lawn with flowers, the front yard gardens are a special delight. Roses bloom everywhere, along with daisies, pinks, and some lingering iris.
As I head home, I pass the old Mount Carmel convent, now the Saint Francis of Assisi Friary. It’s nice to live in a neighborhood with monks. Just a few more blocks now and I’m home. The experts say my morning constitutional gives me physical, spiritual, psychological and intellectual benefits. I just know it makes me happy. Walk on.
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10:23:44 AM 
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