Glendale

Glendale is its own home rule city, in an exclave of Arapahoe County with Denver on every side. It covers about 0.57 square miles on Denver's southeast side. Colorado Boulevard is its commercial strip, Cherry Creek runs through it, and Denver's Washington Virginia Vale neighborhood sits along its eastern edge. Many addresses here still read "Denver."

Dairy farms, then a city of its own

The Territorial Road ran down the Cherry Creek valley in 1859, past the Four Mile House stage stop and through what's now Glendale. Independent dairies were common here from the late 1880s, and the name took hold in 1902 when William Baumert called his operation the Glendale Farm Dairy. Residents worried about being annexed by a larger city filed incorporation papers on January 8, 1952. Glendale adopted home rule in 1972.

That independence still matters when you buy. You're dealing with Glendale's own city government, not Denver's, and the school district is Cherry Creek School District 5 rather than Denver Public Schools.

Almost all multi-family

Almost all of the housing here is multi-family, and more than 40% of the 3,106 housing units counted in 2020 went up in the 1970s. Glendale is the most densely populated municipality in Colorado, and much of its limited space goes to commercial development, including office and residential high-rises. If you want a detached house with a yard, you'll be looking across the line in Denver. In Glendale, expect to buy a condo, so ask early for the association's budget, reserve study and meeting minutes. In a 1970s building, find out how the association has paid for roofs, boilers and elevators so far, and what it expects to replace next.

Infinity Park and the creek

Infinity Park opened in 2007 around a rugby stadium, the first municipally owned, rugby-specific stadium in the country. The Glendale Merlins and Denver Barbarians play there, and the Rugbytown Sevens tournament fills it each August. The complex also has an event center and the Glendale Sports Center, which the Metropolitan YMCA of Denver runs.

The Cherry Creek Trail passes through town, with Creekside Park beside it. Northwest it reaches Confluence Park downtown, and southeast it ends at Cherry Creek State Park, about 40 miles in all. Just outside the city limits, in Denver's Washington Virginia Vale, Four Mile Historic Park covers 12 acres around the Four Mile House, begun in 1859 and Denver's oldest standing structure.

Colorado Boulevard and two old standbys

Most errands happen on South Colorado Boulevard, where Whole Foods, Home Depot and Barnes & Noble line the strip. There's a Super Target on Virginia Avenue and a King Soopers on Leetsdale Drive.

For a sit-down meal, the Bull & Bush at 4700 Cherry Creek Drive South has been a Glendale standby since 1971, brews its beer on site and serves brunch on weekends. Sam's No. 3, a Denver diner in business since 1927, has its second location at 435 South Cherry Street, and its 16-page menu is known for green-chile-smothered breakfast burritos.

The entertainment district

Glendale has planned an entertainment district for more than a decade. The latest version is a roughly $150 million, 10-acre project anchored by an Alamo Drafthouse, bordered by Cherry Street and Virginia Avenue. Site work began in July 2024, and no opening date has been confirmed. If you're looking at a condo near Cherry and Virginia, expect construction nearby for a while and ask the city what's approved.

Getting around

Colorado Boulevard, Leetsdale Drive, Alameda Avenue and Cherry Creek Drive South all run through town. Light rail is at Colorado station, in Denver at Colorado Center, where the E Line stops. The H Line normally stops there too, but RTD has suspended it for the Downtown Rail Reconstruction Project and runs the T Line in its place. The Cherry Creek Trail is the off-street way downtown.