Englewood

Englewood is its own city in western Arapahoe County. Denver borders it to the north, Sheridan and Bow Mar to the west, Cherry Hills Village and Greenwood Village to the east, and Littleton to the south. Hampden Avenue and Broadway cross near the middle and split the core of town into four quarters.

Orchards, a gravity trolley and a mall that's gone

Gold turned up near the mouth of what's now Little Dry Creek in 1858, and Englewood incorporated on May 9, 1903. Before that, a horse pulled a car up Broadway from Hampden to a hilltop development called Cherrelyn, then stepped aboard and rode back down by gravity. The last car, restored, stands inside the Englewood Civic Center with a life-size horse in back.

Most of the city was built out by 1960. In 1965 Englewood sold its City Park for Cinderella City, which opened in 1968 as the largest mall west of the Mississippi. The mall was torn down, and the Civic Center and a light rail station took its place.

The houses, quarter by quarter

The northwest quarter is the oldest, with downtown and housing from the 1910s. The southwest has newer houses and most of the city's industrial buildings. The southeast is almost all residential, and the northeast holds the hospital district around Swedish Medical Center and Craig Hospital. For the oldest houses, start in the northwest blocks off Broadway.

Arapahoe Acres is 124 houses between East Bates and East Dartmouth Avenues and South Marion and South Franklin Streets, built from 1949 to 1957, most of them designed by Edward Hawkins. They're modernist, with natural stone, wood sunscreens and lots of glass, set at angles to each other for privacy on streets laid out to look toward the mountains. Lots run from 5,000 square feet to half an acre. In 1998 it became the first post-World War II subdivision listed as a National Register Historic District. The houses were designed as a set, so find out what's original before you plan changes. If you want a newer house, look in the southeast quarter.

The Gothic block of South Broadway

The Gothic Theatre at 3263 S. Broadway opened as a movie house in 1925 and was rebuilt from foundation to roof in 1998 by owners who kept the historic interior. AEG has run it as a concert hall since 2013, and it has touring bands booked into November. Lady Justice Brewing moved into the brewhouse right behind the Gothic, on South Acoma Street, in early 2024 and made 5280's 2024 list of the best breweries in Denver's suburbs. Up the street at 3483 S. Broadway, Mutiny Comics & Coffee came over from Baker in October 2024 with used books, comics, records, coffee and shows in the basement, and 5280 put it on its list of new Englewood businesses worth a visit.

CityCenter's next round

The old mall site still holds the Civic Center, with the library and the Museum of Outdoor Arts. The city has handed parts of CityCenter east of Inca Street to New Englewood, LLC, whose concepts show new housing, local retail, a hotel and more park space. A master plan is due later this year, with Phase 1 design expected in early 2027. If you're looking near CityCenter, follow that plan, since it will decide what goes up next door.

Parks, the river and the train

Belleview Park, in the southwest, is the largest park in town, with a small reservoir, the Pirates Cove water park (opened in 2004) and the Englewood Farm & Train on its grounds.

Englewood station sits at the US 85 and US 285 interchange, with 910 parking spaces. Since June 7, 2026, the C Line has run between Littleton-Mineral and Union Station through Englewood while the D Line is suspended for downtown rail reconstruction. RTD plans to retire the D Line after the rebuild and keep the C Line on this route. The city's free bert shuttle, once called the Englewood Trolley, loops 19 stops between CityCenter, downtown and the hospitals, Monday through Saturday.