ENGLEWOOD, Colo. When Denver7 sat down with neighbors in Englewood, we quickly heard that the quirky, community-oriented neighborhoods are what have kept generations of families there.

One of the first people in Englewood who spoke with Denver7's Danielle Kreutter as a part of this Your Voice series was Tracy Lawson.

"It was a great place to grow up," she said. "It just ended up being a good place to stay."

She is a third-generation Englewood resident. For others, the move to Englewood was intentional.

"I lived in Cherry Creek, Denver," Danya DeWolfe said. "I kind of just like the sense of community. There was a lot of little local spots and everybody seems really friendly."

Kevin Timken lived in Denver before moving to Englewood.

"We were getting older, and we said, let's move somewhere that's more walkable," he said. "It wasn't as walkable over there."

For Nathan Hoag, Englewood fit his community mission when he chose to move here about a decade ago.

"Neighborhood identities didn't really exist [in Denver] in the way that they did in Englewood," he said. "Places like Littleton felt a little more, like, suburban, a little bit more sprawled and monolithic, so everything kind of seemed a little bit the same. Englewood had diversity and it had variety."

Close enough to the big city while small enough to have it's own district personality, throughout Denver7's conversations with neighbors one topic kept coming up: community.

"I love the fact that it's still neighborly," Lawson said.

Emily Shea, another Englewood resident, pointed to the city's summer block parties. Englewood hosts Neighborhood Nights at various local parks throughout the summer where residents can enjoy free music, booths and food trucks.

Watch Danielle Kreutter's report in the player below:

"They've just really made an investment in making this a community," she said.

The city also offers up grant funds for neighbors who want to throw their own block parties or movie nights with their neighbors.

"Englewood has a $500 grant money to throw a block party, so we did it," Timken said. "We had a great time. We had about 50 people show up."

Timken said after his kids grew up, they were looking to downsize on their move to Englewood.

"I had a big house over by Obervatory Park; it was getting to be a pain to take care of," he said.

He now lives in one of the newer side-by-side homes/duplexes that are popping up on single family lots across the city.

One of the two newer builds on single family lots are often listed for more than a million dollars.

"There's still homes that I think are probably pretty affordable down here in this area, but it's changing," Pete Siple, who moved back to Englewood when he retired, said. "Some of those are getting scraped off, and duplexes go in."

"What do you think about that?" asked Denver7's Danielle Kreutter.

"That's what I live in now, so I do like it," he replied. "It brings people in and it'll bring the value of everybody's properties up."

Some longtime residents are on the fence about the changing neighborhoods.

"It is progress, and yet at the same time the quaint little places are going away," Lawson said.

"When new builds can pop up that are actually affordable and actually work for families, that can be a great thing too," Hoag said.

Neighbors also pointed to the number of small, locally owned businesses that are central to the city.

"We know we got a bunch of people that got our back," Jim Norris, co-owner of Mutiny Comics and Coffee, said.

A few years back, they closed up shop at their longtime Denver location and opened up in Englewood.

Denver7's Danielle Kreutter asked Norris about his experience with the City of Englewood.

"Oh my God, the polar opposite, the polar opposite," Norris said. "They've come down the let us know about grants that are available, y'know their commitment to small local businesses in this area is strong."

Access to the outdoors while still being a close drive to downtown Denver was another proud point of residents.

"The main attraction is to get to the Platte River Trail," Siple said.

Parents or not, residents are proud of their local parks.

"All the parks seem like they've gotten great makeovers," Shea said. "They did a fantastic job with [Bates Logan Park], it feels like you're on a movie set or something."

As the city changes, residents have noticed some growing pains.

"You go down on Hampden and that is almost a ghost town down there in the commercial area," Timken said. "[The city's] priorities aren't for getting money to flow into Englewood."

Siple had a different answer on what concerns him in the community.

"I would say it was the homeless issue," he said. "You don't really see it like here, but on the bike down by the Platte River, it's all over."

Affordability also was a concern expressed by neighbors.

"It was much more affordable a few years ago," DeWolfe said.

People who spoke with Denver7 said they are eager to see how the community takes on those challenges and what the future of the city could look like.

"I'm hesitant to talk about how great it is, because I don't want it to get completely overrun with people, but this place is wonderful, and I'm so glad that I get to live here," Hoag said.

Denver7 will be following up with city officials about some of the topics brought up during our conversations with neighbors and will be publishing follow up reports. Stay tuned.

Denver7 | Your Voice

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. As a spring storm rolls in, advocates helping to end homelessness are mobilizing to make sure those who are most vulnerable stay safe.

Cold rainy days like Tuesday can be especially tough for people like John Maki.

"I usually try to find something overhead, an awning," Maki said. "You sit on rocks, then you get thrown out. You sit on a curbside, they chase you."

Denver7's South Metro Reporter Danielle Kreutter sat with Maki while he enjoyed a no-cost lunch inside CAFE 180 in Englewood.

"It's a nice environment. The food is I say it's better than any place," he said.

CAFE 180 has been a long time resource for those experiencing homelessness and for community members wanting to help the cause.

"Our founder started CAFE 180 because she had a heart for food and bringing people together, and a belief that all people deserve really good, nourishing food," said Sarah Lesyinski, CAFE 180's executive director.

Over the years, the mission has remained the same, but the type of work has looked a little different depending on what the community needed.

Initially, the model was that if someone couldn't afford a meal, they could work in the kitchen to pay it off.

"About a year and a half ago, we had to kind of regroup," Lesyinksi explained.

Watch Danielle Kreutter's report in the player below:

The dining room closed to free meals and they instead used their kitchen to cook meals for large distribution events with community partners that offered several types of resources to those looking for help.

"Now we're seeing the need is expanding even more, so we decided to do both," Lesyinski said.

She described the scene at CAFE 180 on Tuesday slower than a typical day, since a lot of their regular customers were offered resources ahead of the snow storm.

"We're so grateful for a partner called HAAT Force is just up the street from us that does motel vouchers," she said.

Even so, there was a steady stream of customers all during lunch hour.

"As you can see in the restaurant, there is a lot of need," Lesyinski said.

The business model for CAFE 180 now is whoever can pay for their own meal does so, and 100% of the proceeds from that meal help cover the cost of someone's meal who can't afford it.

"It's a good thing they reopened," Maki said.

The work is possible due to donations and teams of volunteers.

"It's an opportunity to give back and really help the community," said Scott Reeh, a CAFE 180 kitchen volunteer.

For those who can now have a meal, indoors, with dignity, it can mean the end to hunger and the beginning of hope.

"It reminds you that you're actually maybe going to recover from all this homelessness," Maki said.

CAFE 180 is located at 3315 S. Broadway in Englewood.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. While neighboring communities have implemented mandatory water restrictions after a warm and dry winter in Colorado, Englewood is the lone community in the south metro area that has not.

Englewood Utilities is the agency that provides water to the Arapahoe County city.

"We've looked at our water supply, the way our water does make it to the city of Englewood, our usage from our community, and we've determined that right now, we're at the step of voluntary restrictions," said Pieter Van Ry, director of South Platte Renew and Englewood Utilities.

The city said leaders have never once had to implement mandatory water restrictions.

Part of the reason is that while some communities rely solely on snowpack and mountain reservoirs, Englewood gets the majority of its water from the Platte River.

"Our water rights are pretty, pretty strong here in Englewood. And the second thing is, I think we've seen fairly effective voluntary water restrictions," said Englewood Mayor Pro Tem Joe Anderson.

Watch Danielle Kreutter's report in the player below:

Recently, the Englewood City Council updated the city's code in the event that mandatory water restrictions are ever needed. There are no ways to enforce those restrictions and penalize violations, including fines.

At this point, there is no indication that Englewood will make water restrictions mandatory any time soon.

"For us and with the citizens of Englewood, that's going to be a fairly high bar to clear, since we haven't ever done it before, and it's a really data-driven decision," said Anderson. "We've had this discussion come up before, and have looked at the historical data. It does seem that when we ask the citizens to restrict their water use, it's been effective to keep the water use down enough."

Now that the city code has changed, they will be monitoring conditions going into the summer.

"I think some of the [municipalities] that have enacted mandatory restrictions are looking at their usage and their portfolio specific to their community. I think when we look at our community, we do have a good water supply. Much like all the other communities on the Front Range, we're concerned because of the low snow pack, and we'll be paying attention to it month over month through the course of the summer and into the fall," said Van Ry.

City officials said that while the situation for Englewood residents is stable, the voluntary restrictions are meant to help their neighbors.

"That is just solidarity with Front Range, with the other cities in the Front Range, recognizing that this is a water issue that affects everybody, and we want to just make sure that citizens are aware of the concerns that the drought brings and try to address it from a voluntary perspective," said Anderson.

Englewood's voluntary restrictions include a maximum of three days a week for watering.

Odd addresses are asked to water on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while even addresses are asked to water on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

They're asking residents to only water before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m. to reduce evaporation. Residents should also water only when absolutely necessary, not when it's raining or when there are high winds.

"We are asking our community to voluntarily conserve, because that will help everybody on the Front Range. We all rely on the same mountain runoff system in order to supply our communities. So we're all in this together, and we want to be able to make sure that we're doing our part as a community as well," said Van Ry.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Back in 2024, Englewood voters approved a $41.5 million bond to help improve parks.

WATCH: Denver7's Danielle Kreutter follows up to see if projects are finishing on time and on budget

In total, 10 different projects were identified. General Obligation Bonds require 85% of the work to be completed in three years.

More than a year since the bond measure was approved, Denver7 is checking in on the progress and budget of the projects.

Cushing Park was the first to see improvements. There's now a new playground and two new fenced in dog parks that opened back in December.

The project was initially budgeted for $600,000 and the final total ended up being $601,486.

"[The team] worked really hard to set some budgets in place, and so that was the first project, and they said $600,000 and we about met it," said Gina Olberding, Capital Project Manager for the City of Englewood.

That project was completed in about six months.

The next project is underway at Emerson Park and is nearing completion.

"We told the community that we would be done with this project before their Fourth of July party," said Olberding.

The Emerson Park improvements include adding a new playground, a walkway, planters, more trees and a pergola and picnic table.

This project was also budgeted for $600,000 and at around 95% completion, the city has spent $581,936 so far.

"There were a couple things we didn't expect. We had to do some asphalt repair, so that did cost us a little bit more, but all said this project won't be over budget by, more than probably .5%. A very small portion," she said.

Up next is Rotolo Park.

"Rotolo Park will get a brand, brand new restroom, a custom restroom and ADA accessible path to the playground," Olberding said.

That project is budgeted for $755,000. The city reports that project is still in the very early stages but can say they have $525,322 expensed so far.

"We are going to work our hardest to stay within that budget, because that's what we told the taxpayers we would do," said Olberding.

She notes that will become even more important leading up to the more challenging projects.

"The Englewood rec center will be getting renovation, and that's, in my opinion, one of the most tricky projects, because you have an aging building built in 1985. When you tear down walls at a building, you just don't know what you're going to get. So as far as the budget goes, I think we have to allow ourselves a little flexibility there," said Olberding.

Future projects also include renovations to Pirate's Cove Water Park, Belleview Park including to the train and petting zoo, and other improvements at local parks.

For more details on each of the 10 projects, click here.

LITTLETON, Colo. Littleton-based, zero-waste pet food company, Goobr, has created a way to get dog food to pet owners without using traditional plastic pet food bags.

"We're the first. We actually have patented technology on vending bulk dry goods, especially in a solar-powered capacity," said CEO of Goobr, Tage Harding.

He took over the relatively new business in November 2025.

Denver7's Danielle Kreutter reports on the company's efforts to provide a more sustainable alternative for your furry friends in the video player below:

"I've always been in the pet industry, and love dogs, but I really wanted to make an impact in other ways as well," Harding said.

Typical dog food bags are made out of a type of plastic that can't go into a standard residential recycling bin.

"Plastic bags come from oil, so anytime that you're able to reduce that amount of any plastic that we're generating, we're reducing our overall dependence on oil, as well as the climate impacts," said Jim Lamancusa, CEO of The Pet Sustainability Coalition, PSC.

The Colorado-based nonprofit works with the pet food industry on sustainability initiatives.

"The last time that we did an industry wide survey was in 2019. At that point in time, it was 300 million pounds of pet food packaging goes into the landfill each year," said Lamancusa. He notes after the increase in pet ownership seen in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, it's possible that number could be even higher.

Goobr has eliminated the need for any dog food bags, at all. Customers can bring their own container to the Goobr vending machine located right next to the Belleview Station Dog Park. The machine also vends reusable bags for that purpose.

Customers use a touch screen to select a flavor (chicken or lamb), review feeding instructions or nutritional information, and the machine will dispense as much food as the customer wants.

"We try to use upcycled ingredients in our food as well. We use all parts of the protein that you think of. It's actually better for dogs to eat organs and sometimes bone meal," said Harding. He added that the company worked with General Mills scientists to formulate the AAFCO-certified recipes.

The PSC said what is inside pet food bags can often have an even bigger impact than the packaging.

"We try to educate our members to find the most environmentally-friendly protein source, which is typically using the whole animal. There's been a bit of a worrying trend in the industry towards what's being labeled as 'Human Grade' pet food, which is basically pet food that competes with the human supply chain," said Lamancusa. "We shouldn't be using whole chicken breasts and whole steaks to feed our pets, there's the other half of the animal that is actually more nutritious for the pet to eat."

Right now, Goobr food is made from a White Label manufacturer based in Colorado and delivered with electric vehicles in stainless steel containers. Harding said as the business expands, he's hoping to open up their own food-making facility in Littleton.

"This business makes an impact in so many different ways, with healthier food, a healthier planet, and happier customers," he said.

Goobr offers free delivery of their kibble and fresh food options. The vending machine is available 24/7. The food is stored in stainless steel silos in a climate-controlled environment run by solar panels.

For the kibble recipes, customers are charged $60 a month for an unlimited amount of food for one dog.

The vending machine can be found in the parking lot right next to the Belleview Station Dog Park.