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180 in the Highlands

180 in the Highlands

In 1973, Lynn Pender was nearly kidnapped. Twelve at the time, Pender was walking through her neighborhood when gang members grabbed her from behind and wrapped a rope around her neck. For the next week, Pender and her parents had to stare at the brutal reminder that the neighborhood they once lived in had changed for the worse.

Not long after the attempted kidnapping, the family’s home, located on 34th Avenue and Lowell, was broken into, which only furthered the concern for their safety.

These two incidents pushed the Pender family to leave Denver, moving out of their house like bandits in the dead of night.

Today, Lynn works at one of the top-producing real estate firms in the city, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Real Estate of the Rockies, which is located two blocks from her childhood home in the Highlands.

Highlands — bound by West 38th on the north, Interstate 25 on the east, South Platte River on the southeast, Speer Boulevard and West 29th on the south, and Sheridan on the west — is one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods.

While the neighborhood itself may be old, it’s now home to some of the hippest places to settle down. The area is overflowing with art galleries, breweries, restaurants, historic districts, and all-new housing with both renovated old homes and a slew of new condos and townhouses popping up like dandelions out of the ground overnight.

“When you look at the current atmosphere of the Highlands, there is no doubt that it is one of the most transformed neighborhoods in Denver,” Lynn says. “It’s hard to imagine that 40 years ago, my family was fleeing the neighborhood that so many families are flocking to now.”

Although the first steps to revitalizing this once-undesirable neighborhood began in the 1990s, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that the popularity began to gain traction. In 2003, Paul Tamburello — who is sometimes referred to as the father of Lower Highlands, or LoHi — and then-partner Stephanie Garcia teamed up on the redevelopment of the old Olinger Mortuary complex, transforming it into two restaurants, Vita and Lola, and Little Man ice-cream shop.

Suddenly, the Highlands was open for redevelopment. And the trend of businesses striking up restaurants and retail stores began to rise. Soon came the renovation of historic homes and the new projects of luxury homes just a skip over the interstate from Downtown Denver.

Today, walkability to local shops, bars, and good eats keeps the Highlands at the top of everyone’s mind even as nearly every neighborhood in Denver continues to transform. This, alongside the sense of community, the improving schools, and easily accessible transportation continue to make this one of the best neighborhoods in Denver.

“Had you told me in my pre-teen years that my neighborhood would one day be one of Denver’s best, I would have never believed you,” Lynn says as she sips on a chai tea at her local Starbucks in Lone Tree. “It’s a prime example of how much Denver has improved, and a good indication of how the city will continue to grow.”

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