DENVER — Businesses and residents along Broadway in Denver are fed up — From lack of cleanliness to an uptick in homeless individuals, people tell Denver7 they want change.
Now, there's hope things could improve. The South Platte River Committee of the Denver City Council approved a public hearing Wednesday for a new General Improvement District (GID).
In a presentation to the committee, the proposed district boundaries shared were 6th Ave. to N. Broadway, properties on the western edge of Lincoln Boulevard, Interstate 25 to S. Broadway and properties fronting the west side of Broadway.
The improvements GID will focus on include safety and security, enhanced cleaning, branding, marketing and programming and pedestrian, street and landscaping improvements.
Denver7 spoke to business owners and residents in February and they shared some tough stories — kids seeing drug use, cars getting keyed and trash sprayed across their parking lot.
One resident, Caroline Garcia, said she and her child set alarms before bed.
“It's pretty dismaying sometimes that we have really rallied and been very open and transparent about what it is that we need, the support that we need, and still maintaining a very clear agenda of sympathy,” Garcia said.
Business owners along Broadway have also installed gates in front of their doors. President of the Broadway Merchants Association Luke Johnson said he’s been speaking with people since 2020 about their needs, and he brought some of those to the Denver City Council committee on Tuesday.
“Cleanliness, safety and events were the things that I heard from people at every single meeting, and I can’t fix any of those things without an improvement district. I’m just a volunteer with no money. So this is the first step,” Johnson said.
The committee approved a public hearing for a new GID on Aug. 4.
After that, they’ll vote on whether or not to approve the ordinance and create the district, advisory board and work to approve budgets.
