Recap: City Transformed Tour – Denver’s Lower Downtown District

About the tour: This two-hour walking tour on Sunday, July 7, 2019, explored Denver’s historic Lower Downtown District from an urban planning and development perspective. We learned about LoDo as the city’s birthplace near the confluence of the Platte River and Cherry Creek and the development of its streets, blocks, and buildings; the area’s transformation into a warehouse district with the addition of Denver Union Station in 1881; the district’s decline in the post-WWII era into the city’s skid-row; LoDo’s remarkable revitalization through historic preservation and adaptive reuse into the thriving mixed-use district of today; and what the future holds as new developments replace surface parking lots.

About the guide: Ken Schroeppel is an Assistant Professor CTT in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program at CU Denver where he lectures on the historical growth and development of Denver among other topics. Ken is very active in Denver’s planning and development communities. He is a member of the Denver Architectural Foundation board of directors, where he helps organize the popular Doors Open Denver and Box City programs, and is involved with other professional and advocacy organizations such as the Downtown Denver Partnership, Urban Land Institute, American Planning Association, Union Station Advocates, and YIMBY Denver. Ken is possibly best known as the founder and chief editor of the popular DenverInfill and DenverUrbanism blogs, which offer news, ideas, and commentary on infill development and other aspects of sustainable urbanism in the Mile High City.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Dravitz Photography.