The Inside Scoop

Hippies make merry, socies associate, artists imagine, politicians deal and gays loosen up in what is THE hippest part of Downtown Denver called Capitol Hill. Its inhabitants scurry about the hood, hittin' shows and performances at the many music venues and theaters. An artistic air fills the area from the hordes of art galleries and museums and street performers show their stuff to the masses who attend communal cultural events. Gays and lesbians are able to coexist among the open-minded friends at natty nightclubs and brotherly bars, adding a famously fabulous style to the central colony of Capitol Hill...

Savory flavors tempt and tantalize the passerby from out of the culinary mosaic of international cuisine and American grills. Freedom-lovin' souls and sun-relishin' slackers take it all in while jovial jocks and liberated lasses run a muck in Cheesman Park, a pseudo Central Park on mini proportions. Memorable mansions, that chronicle Denver's past, neighbor admirable and abstract apartment buildings. Stake your claim on a Denver Studio here in the well-rounded, well-to-do wonderland of Capitol Hill.

Entertainment, Theater & Music

Leave the seriousness to the politicians at the Capitol! Your Denver Studio is surrounded by the most popular of venues, art and museums in the city. Into the music scene? Throw your hands up and get down with live performances at the Bluebird, The Fillmore, or Ogden Theaters where national acts regularly make up-close-and-personal appearances. Art museums, with newly renovated Denver Art Museum as the shining star, and galleries riddle Capitol Hill to reveal works from the thought-provoking and eccentric to the soulful and uplifting. Keep your eyes peeled while on the street, you may spot a vivid communal mural sweepin' the side of a brick building. Broadway productions visit the Buell Theater and the ballet twinkles its toes over in the Denver Performing Arts Center...

Outside, there are plenty of happenins throughout the year to enliven, mingle and just take in the fresh air. The People's Fair takes over the avenues with cool creations, street music and carnival activities. Cheesman Park, rimmed by high loft and condominium towers and high shading trees, provides a aesthetic arena for symphony & orchestral concerts and PrideFest in June, celebrating the hood's gay neighbors... in socialite style, for sure.

Nightlife

A tough contender with LoDo for nightlife, Capitol Hill has hot spots for flirtin' and frolickin'. This hood's bustlin' after dark with peeps hustlin' down the streets to their party destinations or rock shows. Dj's spin it up inside The Church on Lincoln, a historic nightclub of stone and stained glass. Top jazz clubs, like Dazzle Supper Club, allow for some cool gettin' down while singers belt out the blues and jam away with piano and saxes. Show your support for our alternative brothas and sistas in the many gay clubs and pubs like the aptly-named Broadways, a neighborhood hangout on Broadway, of course ...

Capitol Hill is the place for after-hour parties at post-2am clubs, so grab a Red Bull and stay up 'til the break of dawn dancin'. Not only does The Church keep the beats bumpin', but 2AM on Broadway gives you techno and house for settlin' up on the overnight offerings. Or head on over to one of the gay clubs to wind up and industrialize to music like that of The Triangle. Point is that you're not alone, everyone here is up for the all-night festivities or hangin' at late night restaurants.

Area Restaurants

French, Asian, Latin and American-regional menus are available at cozy cafes, hearty breakfast joints and sensually airy dining houses around the corner from your Denver Studio. Grab a bite to eat after wearin' yourself out at late-night restaurants, where other party-goers await relaxing booths and diner stools to chat and recap the evening's haps. Racine's, near Sherman & 7th, is the popular gay-friendly diner to stuff your face or reunite with the gang. Late-night sushi is obtainable at the Opal, a rare and exotic restaurant on 9th Avenue...

For romancin' the stoners, upscale establishments are all around. Longtime Denver fave Potager, on Ogden, is a quaint little place where they serve seasonal dishes in their garden patio. Enjoy dinner during Dazzle Supper Club's jazz sounds or surround yourself with passion at a Californian coastal cafe like Mizuna. Suffer from death by chocolate or ooh and aah over delectable desserts and sweets screamin' your name from award-winning confectioners and bakeries. Swoon over the culinary creations of Capitol Hill, where the spice of life thrives.

Parks & Recs

Rollerblade and pedal around the trails and streets or hit up a cultural event in the spacious Cheesman Park. Dudes and dudettes, you'll find it's easy to get peeps up for some volleyball on the grass, chill to watch the mix of fun-living folk or sit in the shade and read that latest Tom Clancy novel... Absorb some rays on your blanket in the sun or acquire zen at nearby Botanical Gardens where, at the butterfly pavilion, you'll feel like you're hikin' in a rainforest with the misty air...

History buffs will ogle over the Greek and neoclassical design of Civic Center Park and its government institutions and monoliths across Lincoln and Broadway. Others can take a tour of the historical mansions to experience how peeps, back in the day, lived while Denver was just beginnin' to boom. The “unsinkable” Molly Brown's digs are available to peruse, or during the summer, escape the heat and investigate our Governor's Mansion neighboring Governor's Park.

The Commute

Should you feel the need to bolt from the politicians and punks of Capitol Hill, freedom is easily found. On the verge of Downtown, buses help professionals and nomads connect to the light rail hub there, allowing you to zoom to DIA, Littleton, or Wheatridge among other burbs. The major arteries that are Broadway, Downing Street, 6th and Colfax carry the traffic flow around to the frontiers of outer Downtown as well as giving you a clear shot to I-25. Let one of those crazed taxi drivers do the work when leaving the night behind or stressin' over the day's work at the office.

Shopping

If you're searchin' for up-to-the-minute threads for a night on the town, eye-catching jewelry for bling-blingin' or old school vinyl to scratch, you can find 'em around the corner from any Capitol Hill Denver Studio. Fashionation, located on 13th, and Imi Jimi on Broadway will entice patrons,male or female, on every rack with the newest street attire, shoes and accessories. Investigate new & used book stores, comic shops and music & record shops for time-passin' necessities. Kilgore Used Books & Comics will detract attention from the outside world with fantasy, drama and non-fiction paperworks, while Wax Trax Records and Beatport are popular hangs for dj's and music connoisseurs alike. Spruce up the pad with original décor from the art galleries, furniture stores and antique malls among Capitol Hill's side streets and bordering avenues...

Shopaholics may fare better at nearby LoDo, where 16th Street Mall boasts clothing store and jewelry & accessory chains but Larimer Square presents local, small-time vendors and boutiques. Cruise to Cherry Creek down south for other big-time fashions and department stores, all in an upscale environment. Showing your face and spending your time around Capitol Hill may require the utmost originality, taste and mixture of these offerings.

Going Green

Here in Capitol Hill, many of the multi-unit buildings offer pickups of recyclable products through Waste Management, which contracts with Denver Recycles locally, often for a small fee but sometimes at no cost. The City of Denver’s Climate Action Agenda, which has the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 10 percent by 2012, is spreading green practices with more support than ever. Greenprint Denver is an awesome resource and community newsletter for residents all over to help out and get their questions answered regarding recycling programs, sustainability, and reducing greenhouse emissions. So get with the program and join the other Denverites who desire to counteract the unnecessary litter and cloudy haze that may, if not already, stain our beautiful city.

Schools

When it's time for schoolin' the kiddies in Downtown Denver isn't your typical day in history class, as there be many educational choices from preschools/early childhood education up to universities & colleges. In the metro area, Denver Public Schools provides scores of schools to pick from – for as long as there's space, your offspring can attend ANY school and DPS employs a lottery system if too many applications are received for one in particular. Public schools close by include Moore Elementary, Morey Middle School and East High, one of the 4 original high schools in Denver...

The six charter schools in these areas teach pupils ranging from toddlers all the way to high school ages, but follow their own rules of attendance. Other options include a few Montessories and some specialized academies that offer highly-gifted and talented programs close to the Denver Studio you're thinking of purchasing. CEC Middle College and the Denver Center for International Studies help prepare students for college and the business world with exemplary classes and activities...

Do your share to uphold Capitol Hill's upstanding ratio of college degree holding nesters (51%, compared to Denver's average of 39%) and get yourself some higher learning by attending one of the great colleges and universities right here surrounding our Denver Lofts. University of Colorado Denver, Metro State College of Denver and Community College of Denver are here to help and edumacate! Visit the Tivoli Student Union, a division of the Auraria Higher Education Center, for programs, services and assistance with such improvement steps. If you'd like to get some wicked art or design skills then the Art Institute of Colorado is right down the road.

Sports

It may not be your typical or most celebrated sports arena, but Cheesman Park accommodates beach sports galore like volleyball, hackey sack and frisbee on its abundant lawn. Should the lazier folk prefer to spectate, they can do so from a bar stool or comfy booth in one of MANY sports bars in Capitol Hill, such as Brandon's Pub inside the monumental Beauvallon building. Partake in one of the best happy hours in the hood at Park Tavern & Restaurant or try Govnr's Park on for size for the indoor sports of foosball, pool and poker during the plethora of games that show on their wall-lined TVs...

Nearby Downtown presents the best of the best! At the Pepsi Center, catch the Denver Nuggets OR the Avalanche in an intense battle against those non-contenders from out-of-state. Hit Coors Field to watch the Rockies slam rivals like the Dodgers or Giants. Best of all, enter Invesco Field and witness the crushing power of our very own Broncos against, say, the Faiders... oh, we mean, Raiders. Bring it on, 'cause Denver sports fans are known to be among the most loyal of all the nation!

Medical & Health Care

Luckily, if the battlin' brutes of Invesco and Pepsi Center push their luck too much or your homie has a brush with death by a volleyball to the head at Cheesman, they're close to emergency care and respite, as Capitol Hill is often associated with the hospital district, just a jaunt north of this village. Three major health care systems give medical aide here in Downtown Denver - HealthOne, Denver Health, and Exempla...

HealthOne Systems have the LoDo Internal Medicine Clinic (doubles as the AfterOurs Urgent Care for late night help) on Wazee and the full-fledged Presbyterian/St Luke's Medical Center on East 19th Avenue. Denver Health Medical Center awaits near 8th & Delaware, Exempla St. Joseph's Hospital is ready to mend on Franklin and the University of Colorado provides advanced yet comprehensive care at their hospital on West 13th Avenue. Alternative medicine is available at Healing Arts on 16th Street, who combines eastern and western medicine in cooperation with many of the above facilities...

Maintain the bod by hitting any of the local gyms, yoga sessions, or even put your pride on the shelf and be a young man at the YMCA of Metro Denver. Get trained by a professional at Capitol Hill Fitness Gym or calm the hell down with the help of Karuna Yoga & Wellness Center on 13th Avenue.