Monday, June 11, 2007

Wash Park Weekend

Washington Park ( or Wash Park as it is affectionately known around here) is the only Denver neighborhood cool enough to get me thinking about giving up my Boulder digs. The quaint shops on Gaylord street inevitably lure me in with promises of unique trinkets. Exhausted from shopping, we nearly always stay to dine at Wash Park Grille, then head over the to the central park where the kids go wild on the wooden play structure and beg us for pedal boat and surrey rides. Sometimes, we acquiesce but usually, we don't - content to bask in the sunlight and chat it up with other gruppy parents.

So, why not move to Wash Park? Three words: Denver Public Schools (DPS). Home prices are reasonable by Colorado standards and I could find it quite easy to live here but the schools are seriously lacking in funding (Denver property taxes are very low) and are under enrolled,which means quite a few schools do not meet state educational targets and DPS has had to close some schools. We've had the same issue in Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) and I attribute the phenomenon in BVSD and DPS to two things: an increase in childless by choice parents and white flight.

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