A restaurant housed in a former mortuary. A 28-foot-tall-cream-can ice-cream store. A graceful bridge arching from Central to Platte Street. A food hall with seven shipping-containers, restaurants and jaw-dropping city views. What’s not to like?

Lower Highland, or the hipper, abbreviated LoHi, is as an uber-trendy destination and jumping-off point between Denver’s downtown core and the more verdant neighborhoods west of I-25 and the South Platte River.

LoHi isn’t an officially designated Denver neighborhood, rather it’s a sub-neighborhood encompassed by the larger Highland neighborhood, which is bounded by Federal Boulevard to the west, 38^th Avenue to the north, Speer Boulevard and 29^th Avenue to the southwest and the South Platte River to the southeast. Slide the western perimeter of Highland east to Zuni Street and you get the area folks now call LoHi.

Formerly home to classic Italian restaurants like Pagliacci’s and Patsy’s (remember, Northsiders?), the once-sleepy, in-need-of-paint area now bristles with energy and arguably more restaurants per capita than any place in the city.

What changed? In 2006, the beautiful Highland Bridge—stretching 323 feet over I-25—connected pedestrians and cyclists from Platte Street to Central Street, completing a direct foot-and-bike path from the 16^th Street Mall to Highland. Suddenly it was possible to walk downtown to work, catch a ball game, see a play and more. Conversely, downtown workers could easily amble northwest for a drink or meal.

Suddenly, LoHi lit up. Paul Tamburello’s iconic cream-can ice cream shop, Little Man, opened in 2008 and serves some of the best ice cream you’ve ever had in your life from a giant milk can. Restauranteur Justin Cucci opened a fabulous restaurant, Root Down, in an old gas station in 2009 on LoHi’s 33^rd Avenue, then upcycled the shuttered Olinger mortuary building into the creative Linger (by dropping the “O” in the funeral home’s name and vintage neon sign) on 30^th Avenue. Then came the German-style brewery Prost and the Ale House in 2013, Postino Wine Bar and the innovative food hall Avanti, shipping containers and all, in 2015, The Bindery with its dazzling city vistas in 2017 and so on and so on.

On weekends LoHi teems with people heading to dinner, waiting for ice cream or walking home from a night downtown. This high-energy vibe has attracted urbanites who want what LoHi dishes out, great food, terrific people watching and jazz with your salted caramel PB cup ice cream.

For those wanting more-sleepy-less-vibey, lean toward LoHi’s western edges. No matter where you land in this walkable nabe, there’s a homestyle for you whether you want historic, vintage or ultra-modern manses, condos or townhomes.

Lower Highland Highlights
Location: Just northwest of downtown Denver via a 10-minute walk
Housing stock: 19^th-21^st century options for single family and multi
Public schools: Denver Public Schools
Public high school: North High School
Nearest hospital: Denver Health Medical Care
Nearby parks: Commons Park, Confluence Park, City of Cuernavaca Park
Fun fact: When Bill Cody, aka Buffalo Bill, died in January of 1917 his body was held at Olinger’s Mortuary until June of that year upon which he was buried on Lookout Mountain.