I hate the term RiNo. Blegh

I have always talked about buying one of the old warehouses and making it a live/work space. Looks like it's about to be re-developed. It is kind of a ghost town. They need to throw a park in there though.

An industrial evolution

'Brighton Boulevard appears primed for transformation into a residential area close to downtown In the shadow of skyscrapers, Central Foreign Auto Parts, 3403 Brighton Blvd., offers a different face of Denver in the area north of downtown. (Post / Jerry Cleveland)

Not much has changed since Larry Burgess bought his first building on Brighton Boulevard in 1978. Run-down houses are squashed between industrial buildings, a testament to the area's long history of housing working families near their jobs. Over the years, Burgess has purchased another 18 buildings that were occupied by a tortilla factory, a machine shop, an automotive repair shop and a bar. A retired naval officer and former Lockheed Martin engineer, Burgess originally didn't have a plan for the properties. He viewed them as an investment.

"That first building, I bought so I'd have an extra $300 a month in my pocket when I turned 60," he said. Now 64, Burgess has landed in the middle of what could be Denver's next big redevelopment corridor. The city has identified it as a natural place to grow because of its proximity to downtown and access to the South Platte River.

"In some ways, it has always been the back door into downtown," said Steve Gordon, development program manager for the city and county of Denver. "Now it has the potential to be the front door into downtown, except that the street is not attractive.

It doesn't give people a good impression of Denver." Largely cut off from downtown by the river and the railroads, the River North area evolved as its own community. Since the River North Plan was completed in 2003, the 241-unit Jefferson at City-Gate has opened and is 94 percent leased. (Post / Jerry Cleveland) with its own businesses providing goods and services to the area's residents. Over time, industrial operations replaced stores and schools.'