University

University is the South Denver neighborhood that holds the University of Denver's main campus. It runs from I-25 on the north down to the Englewood city line, with Downing Street as its west edge and University Boulevard as its east edge. University Park, the neighborhood just east of University Boulevard, has its own page.

Potato fields and a town without saloons

In the 1880s this was farm ground well outside Denver, much of it planted in potatoes. Rufus "Potato" Clark, a farmer who had quit drinking, gave the university 80 acres on two conditions: lay the land out as a tree-lined grid, and never make or sell alcohol there. He also helped organize the town of South Denver, incorporated in 1886 so it could enforce its own laws against saloons, dance halls and gambling, and was elected its treasurer. Voters agreed to join Denver in 1894.

The university had its own reason to leave downtown. Elizabeth Iliff Warren's 1884 gift to start a theology program was conditional on moving the campus off a site she found unsavory, and University Hall, a Richardsonian Romanesque building finished in 1890, anchors the campus that followed.

The campus at the center

The main campus covers 125 acres and is a designated arboretum, with more than 2,100 trees. Evans Memorial Chapel, a small church John Evans built downtown in the late 1870s in memory of his daughter, was moved here in the early 1960s and now sits near the middle of campus.

Two big venues are open to the public. The Newman Center for the Performing Arts opened in 2002, and its main concert hall seats just under 1,000 for opera, dance and other performances. Magness Arena, inside the Ritchie Center, seats 6,000 and regularly sells out. If you're looking at a house within a couple of blocks of the arena, drive past it on a game night before you decide.

The housing mix

The housing here covers a wide range: apartments and townhomes, plus bungalows and Craftsman-style houses. That mix means a townhome and a detached house can land on the same shortlist, so decide early whether you want a yard to maintain.

Clark's dry rule still shows up in paperwork. Some older deeds carry his ban on making or selling liquor, so read yours.

Evans Avenue, where Chipotle started

Most of the eating and coffee is along East Evans Avenue. The first Chipotle opened on July 13, 1993, in a former Dolly Madison ice cream shop at 1644 E. Evans, near the corner of Gilpin, and it's still open. Down the street, Jerusalem has been at 1890 E. Evans since Said and Urayb Wahdan opened it in 1978, serving falafel, shawarma and lamb shanks until 3 a.m. Kaladi Coffee Roasters, at 1730 E. Evans, is a long-standing coffee stop on 5280's 2026 University list.

DeBoer Park and the Harvard Gulch trail

DeBoer Park sits on the East Harvard Gulch Trail. Its bridge was found to have critical structural problems in 2023, and Denver Parks and Recreation finished a replacement in March 2026. The bridge is in the Harvard Gulch floodplain, so if a house you like backs up to the gulch, ask for its flood zone before you make an offer.

Light rail at Buchtel

I-25 runs along the north edge. University of Denver Station, at Buchtel Boulevard and High Street across from the Ritchie Center, opened in November 2006 and has 540 parking spaces. The E and T Lines stop there. The H Line did too until RTD suspended it in June 2026.