Neighborhood Spotlight: Villa Park

Villa Park
According to the Piton Foundation, Villa Park is about 80% Latino, 15% white, and 5% other ethnicities. The neighborhood also has a large immigrant community with more than 35% of residents born in another country. The population is mostly lower middle class with an average income of about $40,500, more than $15,000 a year less than the city of Denver's average yearly income. Around 24% of Villa Park's population is below the poverty line. Crime rates are close to Denver averages except for somewhat higher rates of burglary.

 

History

In 1871, developers bought more than 1,000 acres of land in the area that now includes the Villa Park and Barnum neighborhoods. Original plans called for a subdivision with artificial lakes, ravines and beautiful landscape design by Frederick Law Olmstead, the man who designed Central Park in New York City. The plan never came to fruition and the land was sold to Judge Hiram Bond who operated a cattle brokerage there until 1891. At that time it was sold by Bond to Helen Barnum Hurd Buchtel, the daughter of circus owner Phineas Barnum, whose family was active in Denver real estate. Because of unfavorable geography, Villa Park was slow to develop and only had about 66 buildings in the area by the 1900 census. Single-unit construction continued slowly into the 1950s when most of the neighborhood had been fully developed. In the 1960s and 70s, more multi-unit building construction occurred in Villa Park, primarily in the western side of the neighborhood.

Today

The Villa Park neighborhood consists chiefly of single-family homes with some apartment buildings and several apartment complexes. Commercial development exists primarily on the major thoroughfares of Sheridan and Federal Boulevards with smaller commercial areas along 6th and 10th Avenues and Knox Court. In early 2013, the west corridor of the FasTracks is expected to be completed next to Lakewood Gulch. The west corridor project will provide light rail service to the neighborhood with stops at Knox Court, Perry Street and Sheridan Boulevard.

Source: Wikipedia

More Info: The Piton Foundation - Villa Park