I was biking around doing some errands in southeast Denver, and while crossing Colorado Boulevard a few times I noticed how depressed some of the blocks and parcels have become in recent months.

Some retail clusters appear vibrant and healthy, such as the Whole Foods / Home Depot block at Kentucky. Super Target does brisk business, and has the bonus of the Shotgun Willies strip club and Romantix Adult Novelty Store in the parking lot.

Funny how two businesses that many consider unsavory maintain one of the cleanest looking blocks on the street, right down to the bus stop benches. It’s a contrast considering some of the other derelict looking structures. Like these…

This deep sea blue building used to house an eyeglass store, but has been sitting empty for about three years.

This building used to be the Cherry Creek Hotel and was abandoned about eight months ago if I recall correctly. It’s been sitting empty, but in recent weeks some scaffolding has been erected.

For some reason, with all the vacant buildings, there’s NEW construction at Colorado and Ohio, in front of the Whole Foods store. As mentioned this must be a popular corner to set up shop.

Here’s Circuit City’s husk of a store…

I’m curious how many red Circuit City shirts are buried in the bottom of this donation bin, located in the Circuit City parking lot.

Eyeglass World is now gone, (in front of Circuit City,) with the below signing instructing customers to go to the nearest alternate location, only 70 miles away.

This multi level strip mall, at Florida, seems to be hanging in there with a few reputable tenants.

The Belcaro Motel appears great with its tidy parking lot and vintage sign. Kudos to the owners of this place for maintaining a great appearance, which must be difficult on this busy commercial corridor.

I didn’t make it as far south as Crown Burger, but if you’re planning to do business on Colorado Boulevard it’s a good place for lunch. Meanwhile if you are a retailer planning on trucking in one of your pre-fab chain stores may I implore you to please bulldoze a previous standing vacant store first. Myself and my community would appreciate it!

Caleb Cross, Denver, Colorado