University Park

Tree-lined blocks shade pricey new builds and mid-century brick Tudors and bungalows—almost exclusively single-family—in this well-established neighborhood just east of the University of Denver (DU). The neighborhood gathering place is Observatory Park, site of DU’s Chamberlin Observatory, a Romanesque structure that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

University Park’s wide streets and grassy lawns make it a pleasant place to walk, and there’s easy access to I-25 and, for bikers, the 2.4-mile East Harvard Gulch Trail, which cuts through the spacious Robert H. McWilliams Park (known to locals as Dinosaur Park because of a purple dino in the playground).