ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — When Denver7| Your Voice first visited Englewood, neighbors shared what makes the city so special.
Denver7 | Your Voice
Your Voice Englewood: Community-centric neighborhoods are heart of growing city
Residents also shared some concerns over affordability as the city just south of Denver continues to grow.
"There's still homes that I think are probably pretty affordable down here in this area, but it's changing. Some of those are getting scraped off, and duplexes go in," Englewood resident Pete Siple told Denver7.
Others worried that the city may not be meeting the moment when it comes to expanding commercial businesses.
"You go down on Hampden, and that is almost a ghost town down there in the commercial area. It's been like that too long," Kevin Timken, who also lives in Englewood, said.
Timken said he's concerned about how the city is being funded, he wondered where the sales tax is coming in from if there are so many empty store fronts.
"I think they're not paying attention to the finances that are going on there," Timken said.
When Denver7 took those concerns to the city, Englewood leaders acknowledged that buildings on Hampden around City Center are vacant, but said it's intentional.
"The amount of online shopping, obviously, in everyone's lives has become much more of a factor, and so the amount of retail space that's in demand right now is just not as much as it used to be," Englewood Director of Community Development Brad Power said.
Power said some of the buildings are sitting empty on purpose, as part of a future plan to revamp the entire City Center area in partnership with a developer who owns the nearby properties.
"The owner of those places have the opportunity to redevelop them at a time that they want to do it. So now, they're not tied to long term leases," Power said of the empty businesses.
But what about the sales tax that funds the city?
"The area of fairly significant growth for Englewood sales tax are those online sales," Power said.
In 2025, Englewood collected more than $14 million from online sales tax alone. A decade earlier, the city collected around $4 million.
Denver7 also followed up on concerns over housing affordability.
"It was much more affordable a few years ago," Power agreed. "We've caught up in terms of our housing prices and everything else related to the competition."
"Are there affordability requirements in the city? Would there be an effort to make sure new builds, there are some affordable options?" Denver7's South Metro Reporter Danielle Kreutter asked.
"We don't have any requirements right now for those types of duplex houses that are going up. Those aren't income restricted," Power said.
Englewood recently started public outreach for their 20-year housing plan.
The city hopes to collect input and ideas to bring to Englewood City Council by the end of this year. Between now, then and the next 20 years, city leaders hope to continue hearing how neighbors want their community to look.
"A city's never finished, they're always undergoing evolution and change," Power said.
