Known as "Wash Park", the area of Washington Park is nestled between I-25 (to the south), Cherry Creek Drive / East Alameda (to the north), University Boulevard (at the east end), and Downing Street (at the west). It's also been tapped by experts, agents, and buyers as a reliable buy in what has otherwise proven an unsettling market. This desirable pocket of Denver is a great demonstration that a close-up view of the market is usually the more accurate one. When considering markets, use a microscope, not a telescope; national data is unhelpful to the individual home buyer, especially in Colorado, where certain Front Range neighborhoods are famous for bucking wider US trends.

There was a price hike in the Washington Park neighborhood from '06 to '07; about nine percent, with park-side houses taking top dollar. Those streets are South Downing, Louisiana Avenue, South Franklin, and East Virginia Avenue. Off-Washington, the pricier streets are Corona and Ogden.

This longtime best-loved and best-bet neighborhood enjoys a long-standing reputation of good neighbors and good deals. It's got charm, good schools, accessibility to Downtown, and a 165-acre park of, not coincidentally, the same name.

From its incorporation in 1861 to the 21st century, Denver's come a long way, baby. And now that environmental considerations are topping the list of things that make a city great, Denver continues to deliver on its reputation of going the distance. And it's not just the clean water and wilderness areas that make it a Rockies gem.

Construction
In a demonstration of one Denver citizen's commitment to the environment and historic preservation, developer Evan Makovsky will spend almost $1 million to replace 76 windows with energy-efficient ones in the historic Fontius building along the 16th Street Mall. Currently, Denver has 17 LEED-certified buildings, with 73 more in the certification process. That includes Aardex's Signature Center in the Denver West Office Park, perhaps the greenest private office building in the country. The EPA building in LoDo has been awarded LEED Gold level certification, meaning it has been built and designed to be one of the nation's most environmentally friendly buildings. And when the Westfield Development Company finishes its office tower at 1800 Larimer Street, it may be the most energy-efficient building downtown, with state-of-the-art under-floor air delivery and other heating and cooling features. Other notable green building sites on the docket for Denver include the Denver Justice Center, the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Denver.

Transportation
With a tax-funded plan in place to build more light-rail lines to augment the two well-used systems that criss-cross the metro area, Denver leads the nation in terms of new rail projects in dollars per capita. Despite highly-publicized opposition, the public overwhelmingly voted for light rail even before the phrase "carbon footprint" existed. The former Mile High Stadium, demolished in 2002 to make way for the construction of Invesco Field, still lives on in the form of steel reused in tracks for the metro area's T-REX light rail expansion.

Green Homes
Which neighborhood is a good candidate for "green" building? Well, any neighborhood, really, but in particular, it's notable that: Bicycle lanes have been installed along 18th, 19th, Wynkoop, Lawrence, Arapahoe, and Glenarm Streets downtown. In 2005, the pedestrian-bicycle bridge over the Platte River at 3rd Avenue was completed, easing safe travel along the Platte River Trail. In 2006, a ped-bike bridge over I-25 connects North Denver's Highlands neighborhood and downtown Denver. Nearly 30 percent of what used to be Stapelton International Airport are dedicated to parks and open space--over 4,700 acres. Nearby shopping, Energy Star® certified homes, access to public transportation, and other features have made the Stapleton residential development a model for smart growth.

When we see the mountains from our homes and offices, and consider our weekends on the ski slopes or wide open outdoors, it's no wonder Denver is such a green city. Enjoy.

Does Downtown Denver have multiple personalities? Maybe, in a good way. Or you could say that this urban community consisting of eleven distinct neighborhoods is the city that keeps reinventing itself. For the true city slicker, there are high-rises, lofts, and condos, where window boxes are the most you'll have to water. And for the urbanite who takes pride in a stretch of manicured lawn, there are plenty of charming turn-of-the-century homes on tree-lined streets. And it's also the place where the new-new and the Old West make friends. So here are some highlights from a sampling of downtown Denver's finest.

Ballpark--Where you'll find funky warehouses near a major league baseball field, the city's best flea and farmer's markets, and the gambit of homes. Because Ballpark's rail yard history makes it ideal for classic loft conversions, most of the original warehouses have been stripped and updated into converted lofts. New construction and apartments are in abundance, and many more are planned here, guaranteeing continued growth and development.

Capitol Hill--The neighborhood that offers the city's widest range in housing types and price ranges. Think high-rise apartments and single-family homes, apartments in historic mansions, and lofts in renovated commercial buildings. Commercial buildings have been transformed into mixed-use housing projects, and vacant lots have given rise to new construction housing developments.

Curtis Park--Super accessible, it's the oldest residential neighborhood in the city. You'll find single story duplexes next door to recently renovated grand Victorian mansions. Denver's flat-roofed row homes stand proudly beside classic, two-story Denver Square brick houses, and Denver's ubiquitous Queen Anne-style homes with second floor porches.

Central Platte Valley--Denver's new frontier neighborhood between the river and I-25. Made famous by Jack Kerouac when he wrote about the rail yards of Denver in "On the Road" in the 1940s, you'll find red-bricked buildings with ground floor retail and restaurants and residential lofts above. Riverfront Park is the largest planned community in the neighborhood, consisting of condos, lofts, penthouses, townhomes and Brownstones. WaterTower Lofts, Jack Kerouac Lofts in Prospect Place, and several other historic warehouses in the Prospect area northeast of 20th, make themselves useful here.

Golden Triangle--A mixed-use neighborhood located in the middle of it all, between Speer Boulevard, Colfax Avenue and Lincoln Street. Just to the south of Downtown, you'll find both luxurious, modern, and architecturally eccentric choices. Find funky row homes and classic Denver bungalows, and modern high-end condominiums and lofts. It's where the art culture shakes hands with home and hearth.

Highland--It may be over the hill (from downtown) but its citizens aren't. It's the place to be for younger couples and families wanting to own homes close to Downtown. Check out row houses, duplexes, apartments above retail shops, grand Victorian and Queen Anne mansions, and post-WW II era single family detached houses. You'll also find some lofts, condos, studios and small offices in the form of warehouse renovations.

Lower Downtown--Nearly lost forever when many of its historic buildings were demolished in the '70s and '80s, Lo Do is home to million dollar lofts and apartments built above historic buildings, with retail and entertainment below. But the neighborhood also has some new loft buildings, and new construction residential projects are becoming more common as fewer vacant buildings are available for renovation.

Uptown--East of downtown, Uptown is up-and-coming. Denver Squares, Victorians, bungalows, Queen Anne-style houses with second-story porches and much more are Uptown's staples. And it's a little roomier, with more single family homes on tree-lined boulevards that separate sidewalks from the street.

If you're raring to become a part of Colorado's whirring center of culture, commerce, and community, the news is good. Generally speaking, Denver's affordable, with entry level homes starting in the mid $100s. In fact, while home prices in the Denver area slid by 5 percent in January, it's the seventh best-performing city out of 20 nationwide, which is why home buyers and realtors alike are proclaiming that it's a good time to buy in Denver.

It's a rite of spring and early summer in our transient society: from coast to coast, for-sale signs crop up like wildflowers on the lawns of subdivisions. Yard sales in which "everything must go" proliferate. Kids finish another year of school, and await the new school culture and friends they'll encounter in the fall. And it's during the spring home shopping season when a certain kind of homebuyer is more likely to get out into the nicer weather and maybe plans to use his tax refund to fund a down payment. And although parts of Florida, Colorado, California, and other regions of the country don't follow the traditional sale season, historic data from the National Association of REALTORs indicate that April through July outpace the balance of the year in sales.

That means that there is more home inventory and variety then; it also means that all the other fair weather home shoppers are out and about looking at the same properties. The days may be getting longer, but it's no time to dally. It's to those home buyers with a chunk of tax money and are hankering to play horseshoes or Frisbee somewhere other than the kitchen that we highlight some of Denver's popular "Park" neighborhoods.

Washington Park is great, but it isn't the only game in town.  There are the Hilltop and Crestmoor neighborhoods that border Cranmer Park, a popular park with zippy access to the rest of the metro area, but with a quiet, intimate atmosphere. Platt Park, with the shops and restaurants on Pearl Street nearby, is a neighborhood with something for families and socialites alike. It's between the triumvirate of Cheeseman Park, Congress Park, and Denver City Park that you'll find some of Denver's most charming and popular neighborhoods.

The good news is that the Internet has added a nonseasonal dimension to homebuying. Virtual tours, accompanied by a wealth of neighborhood, zip code, school and property value data, can speed along the Denver home searching, browsing, and decision-making processes well before other prospective homebuyers hit town. And that leaves more time for a bike ride, picnic, or barefoot walk in the green, green grass of Denver. Enjoy.

A host of new market indicators were published last week, and....drum roll please...

The Denver Metro real estate market is still flat as a pancake!

Here's the data for the Denver metro market:

• Case/Schiller Index for June 2007: home prices down 1.0% from a year ago, but up 1.6% in 2007.
• Office of Federal Housing for June 2007: home prices up 0.76% from a year ago and up 0.22% from last quarter.
• National Association of REALTORs for June 2007:  Denver's median home price of $255,200 unchanged from a year ago.

So it appears that home prices in the Denver area are within plus or minus 1% from a year ago as of the end of June.

Unfortunately, this is the most recent data available, and the effects of the Liquidity Crisis, aka Credit Crunch, which reached a crescendo in the news in the middle of August, are not reflected in the data.

No question, the Liquidity Crisis was not a positive for the Denver real estate market, and Q3 data will probably show the impact in the form of lower transactional volume. However, I believe that home prices will continue to remain flat, with no more than a 1 or 2% reduction in Q3 and Q4 2007.  Why?  Because the fundamentals that drive demand - jobs, incomes, and interest rates - remain very positive in Denver.

• Unemployment remains very low at 3.9%
• Interest rate on a 30 year fixed loan around 6.25%

Stay posted....we'll see if my predictions are accurate.

You've seen the headlines about the so-called "Bubble Markets" bursting. Home price appreciation rates and sales volume are down in markets such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Tampa, according to the recent home sales report released by the National Association of REALTORs (NAR) for Q2 2007.

However, the Denver market is fairing much better than the bubble markets. In fact, since Denver never experienced a "bubble" of rapidly increasing home prices fueled by speculative buyers, there just simply isn't a bubble to burst.

Denver's market is a classic "flat" market. In fact, according to the NAR report, Denver's median home price at the end of Q2 2006 was $255,200, and a year later at the end of Q2 2007, the median price remains exactly the same, $255,200. A market cannot get much flatter than that!

The number of homes that have sold in the Denver area has remained relatively flat from last year as well, increasing by a modest 2.68% through the end of July according to Metrolist, the Multiple Listing Service for the Denver Metro Area.

It is interesting to note that Denver could now be considered a bargain for housing when compared to other cities in the West that experienced a large run-up in home prices in the last 5 years.

For example, in January of 2002, the S&P/Case-Schiller Home Price Index for Phoenix was 111.6 and 121.3 for Denver. Five years later in January of 2007,the S&P index for Phoenix had skyrocketed to 220.2, whereas Denver had only moderately increased to 135.9, making Phoenix a much more expensive city to call home.

This leads me to believe that Denver, and Colorado in general, offer a relative bargain for today's home buyers, especially when you factor in the high quality of life the state has to offer.

Exposition, Mississippi, South Steele and University are the streets that have hemmed in Bonnie Brae, the name of the neighborhood that means "Pleasant Hill" in Gaelic, since the 1920s. Among its curvy streets, reminiscent of the Scottish villages that inspired them, is a circular central park, and an atmosphere as charming as its real estate.

Born in the roaring '20s, Bonnie Brae enjoyed an initial growth spurt, followed by some stunted growth until the mid-'30s, when the development of Ellipse Park gave home builders and buyers their second wind. The neighborhood is a living, 3-D hieroglyphic of Denver's own coming of age story, with some of the most interesting architecture in the city, including some well-known examples of International and Art Moderne styles, as well as Cape Cod, English Tudor, and ranch-style homes.

Today, Bonnie Brae is an old neighborhood with new blood. The Bonnie Brae Tavern on South University, open since 1934, is just a brisk walk from a sushi bar. The strip is a popular stop for tourists, University of Denver students, and locals; the median age in Bonnie Brae is 37, making for a comfortable social scene for just about everyone.

But if Bonnie Brae is one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in Denver for what's in it, what's around it seals the deal. What's around it? Just about everything. The Cherry Creek Mall and Washington Park are just a quick drive or bike ride away, as is the Denver Country Club and the amenities that scale the distance between parks and recreation and fine dining. The median home price in Bonnie Brae is in the mid- to upper-700s, a steal compared to sister neighborhoods Country Club and Polo Club. Its proximity to Colorado Boulevard makes reaching I-25 a breeze--without the fishbowl effect that too often accompanies neighborhoods with lickety-split access to major highways. And get a load of the views.

Take a spin by COhomefinder and then one through Bonnie Brae, making sure to take your time, enjoy the strip with an ice cream sundae, a bistro lunch, or a picnic in the park, and soak up the pleasantries of Denver's queen of the hill.