South Broadway Tour

By Sarah Harvey
Photos by Giles Clasen

A century ago this little stretch of Broadway was called the Miracle Mile; more recently it’s been renamed SoBo. South Broadway is home to dive bars, trendy new restaurants, and some of Denver’s most eclectic local shopping (you can find everything from vintage ball gowns to bondage gear here).

Colfax Tour

By Sarah Ford, with Abby Templeton-Greene and Nache Greene
Photos by Kacey Coffenberry

Colfax Avenue is the spine of Denver, home to much of the city’s history as well as some of its newest and hippest locations. With diversity in businesses, restaurants, and bars, Colfax reflects each of Denver’s unique personalities. 

Capitol Hill Tour

By Abby Templeton-Greene and Nache Greene
Photos by Chase Doelling

Denver’s most densely populated neighborhood has seen one hundred fifty years of boom and bust cycles. Former residents include both Molly Brown and Allen Ginsberg. A diverse cast of characters still inhabits the area today.

By Chris Krovatin

Denver residents and downtown businesses should prepare for a busy summer as Meet in the Street returns to the 16th Street Mall this month. 

The outdoor event series, which is run by the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP) and based off of similar happenings like New York Summer Streets and Ciclovia in Bogotá, includes small business participation and street performances, and will take place over five Sundays this year—June 28, July 5, July 19, August 2, and August 9. On those dates, the Free Mall Ride will be detoured to 15th and 17th Streets for the entire day.

Launched as a way to get locals to go outside, walk, bike, and enjoy the outdoor beauty of downtown Denver, Meet in the Street has become a chance for local eateries and performers to interact with large groups of people who may not consider the center of a busy city as a place to spend a day outside. 

By Sarah Harvey  |  Photos by Giles Clasen

Although Kenneth Cooley is one of the newest Denver VOICE vendors, he’s quickly become one the top vendors in sales. 

New vendors often struggle when they first venture out to sell the VOICE. There’s a lot to learn: how to deal with rejection, where the best sales turfs are. But within his first month, Kenneth sold over 300 papers.

 

At the end of next month, the Denver VOICE will lose its home. After almost six years at our distribution office at Park Avenue and Champa, we’ve got to move on. The building has been sold. The neighborhood is changing.

By Matthew Van Deventer  |  Photo by Giles Clasen

Initially, Denver’s public toilet talk was a part of a greater look into mitigating conflict between the homeless and a growing city. Demands for these facilities, however, are now being voiced not only by the homeless but the community at large. 

 

By Sarah Ford  |  Photo by Kristin Pazulski

The gym of the Union Baptist Church, just off of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, hasn’t seen a lot of activity in the past few years. But tonight, the walls echo with repeated shouts of “knuckleheads” and the squeaking of gym shoes over worn wood. 

 

By Gina Tron  |  Photo by Giles Clasen

Marcus Weaver’s work with organizations like Denver’s New Genesis helped him heal after surviving the 2012 shooting at Aurora’s Fox Theater.

It seemed like everything was on the right track for Marcus Weaver after he graduated radiology school. He was the top student in his class and even won a national award. Despite that, he admits, “you can always find ways to self destruct.” He was going on crime sprees, stealing mp3 players and computer products and trading them in for thousands, and dealing and taking drugs. At his lowest point, he engaged in a high-speed chase with the police, which resulted in him being briefly hospitalized.

By Matthew Van Deventer | Photos by Mike Bohner and Giles Clasen

Denver-based hip-hop group the Flobots want to change the outcome of the sometimes-unorganized nature of protests. Their experiential art piece, No Enemies, takes their music off the stage and back to the streets. 

Once a month the Flobots hold a call and response, inviting people to share movement songs and get involved.

This issue of the Denver VOICE includes a special section on volunteer opportunities throughout Metro Denver. This is the third year the VOICE has partnered with Metro Volunteers to publish their Volunteer Guide, an excellent resource on volunteer opportunities in the area. National Volunteer Week is April 12-18. Make sure you check out the guide for ideas on how you can give back to your community that week—and all year long!

The City of Denver is revitalizing its composting program in order to accommodate residents’ desire to go green.

In 2008 Denver Solid Waste Management (DSWM), a division of the Department of Public Works, performed a waste composition sampling funded by a state grant. Before the analysis, the assumption was that Colorado’s garbage was 25–30 percent organic material that could be compostable, which would have been in line with the national average.

I woke up this morning, so dark and bleak, unable to continue my laborious routine.

My spirit trudges on, yet the body has grown weak

By Sarah Harvey, Editor

Last month I tried selling the Denver VOICE. It was part of our Big Sell event, during which we challenged people to team up with vendors for an hour and learn how to sell the paper. I paired up with Michael Burkley—if you’ve been reading recent issues, he was our featured vendor for January. 

In one hour at least a hundred people walked past me. I sold five papers. One sale was to a former colleague—he came down to my corner to buy a paper because he knew I was taking part in the event. Another sale was to a woman I knew in high school. We hadn’t talked before the event, but she recognized me and stopped. Really then, of the hundred or so people who walked past me in that hour, I only managed to convince three to stop.

 

Last month the Denver VOICE challenged staff, board members, and community supporters to team up with vendors for an hour and learn how to sell the VOICE. Though no one expected it to be an easy job, all who took part in the event found selling the paper more difficult than they anticipated. Below, a few guest vendors sound off on the experience of being a VOICE vendor for one hour.

Hunger Relief Center Opening
By Gina Tron

Metro CareRing will open a new Hunger Relief Center this month. “We believe that it’s really a travesty that one out of every four children in Denver, approximately, is suffering from food insecurity or going hungry,” Lynne Butler, executive director of Metro CareRing said.  That is one reason for the opening of the hunger prevention center, which Metro CareRing hopes can make a difference.