Everyone we met on Colfax in five hours on the street. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
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Everyone we met on Colfax in five hours on the street. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
This week, as part of our extensive coverage of Colfax Avenue, a handful of us camped out in front of Lawrence and Larimer on East Colfax at Steele Street and spent five hours interviewing everyone who would speak to us on the record.
All day, people told uswhat the street means and feels like to them. The resulting material produced a mosaic of faces and opinions.
I might also add that you can hear many of these voices on our podcast this week. You might like listening and looking at the same time for this one:
The people we met on Colfax:
"It's history, its eccentric, it's urban, we love it. It's where we live." -Tara Emrick, right, with Bryan Kono and their son, Kahlil, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"The idea that Colfax is somehow an unsafe, unsavory place to be -- I think it's antiquated. I think it's really evolved a great deal." -Brooke Galardi, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"It's beyond words. I've had some tremendous, deeply spiritual experiences here. I've lived here for 47 years. Anything can happen here." -William, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"Everything is great. I love being here." -Tegen Fitawek, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"It definitely has gotten a lot fancier. There's a lot more places to go and restaurants and people actually want to go places on Colfax." -Lakshmi Cohen, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"I think a lot of people think Colfax is nothing but a bunch of drunks, but you can get drunks on any street...I've lived on and off this street for a long time and I think Colfax is very safe." -Paul Bray, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"Most people say it was a lot scarier, kind of sketchy, and now I feel it's a lot more welcoming and cute and fun." -Kery Allen, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"I've called it before, 'the most democratic street in the city' ...It's a confluence of people of all shapes, sizes, income levels...There's people I say, 'Hi,' to that I otherwise wouldn't." -David Sachs, editor of Denver Streetsblog, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"It's a place to gather my thoughts, gather with friends ... The diversity of people makes it authentic." - Andy Denson, right, with Zoe Brou on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"Colfax is about diversity. Colfax is about people, culture, art, music ... It's a lifestyle that you have to be ready and prepared for. Let's keep Colfax dope." -John Chapman IV, owner of Lawrence & Larimer, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"It's diverse. I like the differing storefronts. You see clothing, restaurants, breweries ... and it's all kind of changing." -Kirby Benjamin, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"I love the fact that this avenue has all the things you could walk to." -Ricardo Rivera, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"I really like it a lot ... It's easy, it's fun, it's upbeat. It makes me feel a little younger than I am." -Gary Weiss, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"It's changed a lot; it's a lot more hipster now than it was. When I was growing up it was just a dirty, dingy place that I really wasn't supposed to go on." -Acacia Downs, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"This is known as a pretty hectic street ... Some things will never change." -Ivory Tolbert, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"The 15 bus scares me a little bit, but everything about Denver seems to be awesome and I think my dreams might come true here." -Laura, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"Colfax is the greatest street in Denver... It's our main street ... It's got probably the best traffic and the best demographics in the city." -David Kilroy, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"It seems like everyone I know, from all different pockets of Denver, intersect on Colfax ... It just seems to go on forever." -Gabrielle Lessans, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"It kind of feels gritty and authentic, which I like .. .less corporate, more kind of home-owned." -Benjamin D'Innocenzo, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
"It's gentrifying, but there's old things here too ... There's always people out on it, and I like that a lot." - Vicki Gundrum, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Sean Weyers, who stopped for a quick portrait on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
And here's a few of the lovely individuals who helped make this possible
Podcaster extraordinaire Paul Karolyi on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Denverite's engagement specialist, Stephanie Snyder, on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Denverite Editor-in-Chief Dave Burdick on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Denverite's camera jockey, Kevin Beaty, getting down on Colfax. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Kevin is a multimedia artist who flung himself into the world of journalism. He likes using a camera and microphone to tell stories about workers, the environment, social justice and fascinating humans.
