Opinion: Slumming on East Colfax Avenue

The closing of the decade-plus-long run of Natural Grocers at Colfax and Washington in Capitol Hill will leave an eroding void.

The past few months have brought irreversible crime to this beloved organic market. One unarmed guard patrols the door near the produce area, but there is some kind of law, and little they can do to prevent the stealing.

More recently, two armed guards additionally patrol the outside perimeter to give employees and customers peace of mind while picking up groceries.

In the past several months, and with the advent of Office Depot’s closure, the street corners, vacant businesses and sidewalks are favorite hangouts for addicts, pushers and people down on their luck.

This densely populated neighborhood houses and feeds an eclectic population, including working people and retirees, many of whom do not, or choose not, to own cars. The grocery store was a Mecca that slowly has become consumed by this new face of slum. Colfax is once again living up to its term of endearment reportedly coined by Playboy as the “longest, wickedest street in America.”

There are too many directions to point the finger — but looking back, predatory banks, developers  and politicians created a climate of new greed. One developer boasted to me years ago they were buying up thirty single-family homes...monthly.

Denver was the big national experiment, being the first in our country to legalize pot.

The economy, job loss due to AI, and a tsunami of newcomers has created a greater sense of competition, greed and poverty. The new rate of rent determines the kind of people who can move here [successfully], as one observant friend mentioned. There are good things about growth, but mostly, this once "Queen City" now dons a tarnished crown.

Denver, as a progressive town, has witnessed many analogous gold rushes. While there is a push to develop Upper Colfax, the Capitol Hill strip declines. Colorado is the renewed epicenter of consumption that is progressively and irreversibly eroding the cowtown charm, open space and nature. Uncontrolled growth, crime and disregard for the community and its surroundings is cutting deep at the very core of Colorado’s best, most sought-after qualities.

Some Natural Grocers employees have chosen to transfer to different store locations. Others have been offered a generous severance. But the neighborhood will become another food desert, and will miss the quality of produce and customer service this beloved store provides. And the crime will migrate to where the opportunity is.

Welcome to Denver, y'all: a new kind of slumming.

Kathryn Charles, M.A. (Art History, CU Boulder) is a fourth-generation Coloradan. Her focus is building community through public arts programming.

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