Reader: There's Nothing You Can Do to Fix It...That's Just the ’Fax

Ah, Colfax. The long stretch of road started life as an east-west corridor for travelers and was once lined with motels calling to weary travelers, but the stretch fell out of favor after Interstate 70 came along.

Developers have turned their attention to Colfax in recent years, trying to turn it into something of a cultural gateway. Denver City Council rep Mary Beth Susman is taking things a step further by helping to transform the property that held a strip club, PT's All Nude II (formerly Saturday's), into affordable housing units. And this month, two of the old motels changed hands.

Readers have plenty to say about the city's plans for the former PT's/Saturday's, as well as Colfax in general. Asks Scott: 

Tear down an eyesore and replace it with an eyesore?

Responds Lindsey: 

It’s not an eyesore! It’s Denver history being torn down in horrible gentrification style of this city now. And you can get a room for a night or more at Mon Chalet. Not just hourly.

Adds Kurt: 

It's so they can build brand new cracker boxes that'll be crack and whore houses in twenty years.

Comments Nick:

Just raise the rent, slap up more condos, and put in a Whole Foods so the whites can feel safe, and, hey, mission accomplished! Bye-bye, poor people, hello, gentrification, yay! Pathetic...????

Ben adds:

They build an ugly apartment building, discount one or two units, and call it "affordable."

Jame concludes:

There ain't nothing you can put there that's going to fix what Denver and Aurora have ignored for years. That's the Fax.

   
 Keep reading for more stories about Colfax.


"Signs of the Times: Motels Along East Colfax"

"The Colfax Museum Leaves Denver for New Digs in Lakewood"

"How a Shuttered Strip Club Can Help Denver's Most Embattled Neighborhood"

"East Colfax has the lowest income level, the lowest education level and the highest unemployment level of any neighborhood in the city," says Susman, who represents the area. "It's only four blocks from Lowry and five blocks from Stapleton, but it's kind of a forgotten place. So we're trying to put some attention there."

The neighborhood is currently "under study for an urban renewal area, to see if it can be eligible for financing for development," she adds. "So I think we're making some real progress on East Colfax."

Susman doesn't want the city's efforts to improve the lives of East Colfax residents to result in current residents being displaced. Low-income folks have gravitated to the neighborhood "because it has some of the most affordable housing in the city — and we want to protect that," she says. "As we restore Colfax to its main-street glory, we worry that it might push people out. But we want to assure that there will still be affordable housing in the area."

What do you think of East Colfax? Let us know in a comment or at [email protected].