Exercise #1
My eyes start to glaze over as I approach another cute little community that has popped up in Denver for that young thirty-something who drives a Volkswagen Jetta toting their yellow lab in the back seat. But I’m quickly surprised when I drive through Lowry Town Center and discover the quaint neighborhood nestled just outside of the downtown hustle and bustle. There’s only one Starbuck’s, which is located inside the Albertson’s grocery store, and the only other commercialized businesses I find are Q-doba, Peaberry, Cost Cutters, the Delectable Egg and Pei Wei. The other 31 shops located along the four-block “Main Street” are small, independent businesses that cater to the some 10,000 residents that live within a one-mile radius.
In all the charm of this pedestrian friendly layout, the locals seem to take advantage of a lazy Sunday morning and stroll from shop to shop with a folded Sunday paper under their arm accompanied by a Peaberry coffee cup in one hand and restraining their dog with the other. This quiet community makes me feel like I have just been transformed into the 1950s where Sunday’s were reserved for meeting with family and friends to catch up on the latest gossip and sit on the front porch and watch the world go by. Some people wave to each other from across the street while others gather on the sidewalk to discuss world news and “the kids”. I feel like an outsider not knowing anyone’s names or being able to recognize the children running into Timbuk Toys.
I’m waiting for some pack of teenagers to speed through the 20 mph zone with their stereo screeching and hysterical laughter bursting from inside the car to disrupt this peaceful morning on this seemingly perfect community, but I am disappointed. Not only do the residents here have everything they need at Lowry Town Center, they also have the perfect playground for their trendy dinner dates, stroller walks with their children and coffee breaks at a table for two big enough for their laptop, newspaper and favorite book.
I interrupt one java guzzling local on the street to question her if my visit to this small city escape is real. She assures me it is with a quick smile and deep breath.
“It’s like a little town,” Karla Schultz, 29, said. “It’s like living in a vacation land. It’s so economically friendly and I don’t have to drive to get all my necessities.”
She tells me that this is her favorite place to live in Denver after a few years of renting apartments and houses in Capital Hill and Washington Park. Since she spends her week working full time downtown, she welcomes this neighborhood with open arms and sighs of relief. She has lived here for three years in the Grand Lowry Lofts, which are conveniently one block away from the heart of “Main Street.”
After my stroll along the street making mental notes of all the shops here, I begin to think of excuses to come back. “Should I bring my bike to Pedal Pushers Cyclery for that much needed fix-up? Are there any upcoming baby showers that would give me a good reason to shop in studio bini? I wonder if the margaritas at Salty Rita's are worth driving across town for on a hot summer night.”
I find my way back to my car and I realize I’m a little hesitant to leave. I don’t want to fight for a parking spot downtown, not to mention all the traffic. I leave wondering when I will be one of those young thirty-something’s driving a Volkswagen Jetta with a yellow lab in the back seat who has just found the easy going life located just far enough outside the city, but not quite in the suburbs. After all, driving a Jetta with a dog in the back is far better than a mini van with three screaming kids in the back seat, toting them to soccer practice.
posted by erin @ 5:46 PM
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