Reader: I Feel Safer on Gritty Colfax Than on Pretty 16th Street

This weekend, Downtown Denver is again hosting Meet in the Street, a celebration of the 16th Street Mall filled with music performances, expanded patio seating and this round, luche libre wrestlers and theBigWonderful. What you won't see? Mall buses. But one reader is worried about something else you don't normally...

By Westword Staff

July 9, 2016

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This weekend, Downtown Denver is again hosting Meet in the Street, a celebration of the 16th Street Mall filled with music performances, expanded patio seating and, this round, luche libre wrestlers and theBigWonderful. What you won't see? Mall buses. But one reader is worried about something else you don't normally see on the mall. Says Erich:

As a Denver native, I feel safer on gritty Colfax than I do on pretty 16th Street. This is because I have seen so many people on Colfax "step up." Everything from "hoodlums" stopping to help an old woman pick up spilled groceries, to a crowd of strangers that unanimously rose to escort a violent passenger off the bus. On 16th Street, however, none of the beautiful downtown people ever have the courage to help or step up. Ever. No one on 16th Street ever stops to help an old woman, no one on 16th Street ever crowds to push away an aggressive transient. Yet I have seen so many remarkable acts of help and kindness on Colfax. Says a lot about the different society downtown, doesn't it? Just think about that.

What do you think of Erich's comment? Are people more helpful on Colfax than on the mall? What would you like to see happen on 16th Street? And will you be at Meet in the Street?

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