Larimer Square

This one block of Larimer Street between 14th and 15th is where Denver was platted, and it survived the 1960s wrecking ball only because Dana Crawford bought up the Victorian storefronts in 1965 and talked the city into making it Denver's first historic district in 1971. Today it is a canopy of string lights over a full block of restaurants, bars, Comedy Works in the Granite Building basement, and independent shops. Asana Partners bought the block in 2020 and refinanced it for $125 million in July 2026. Street artist Pat Milbery finished a 391-foot mural down the length of the roadway on May 29, 2026; the shoe boutique Scarpaletto is returning in fall 2026 after four years on 16th Street; and a new independent bookstore, Little Blue Pigeon, was announced in March. Weekend evenings it is packed; weekday mornings it is close to empty.

Why go. If you have one evening in Denver, dinner and a walk here is the default for a reason.

Come at dusk when the lights come on and the street fills; the Writer Square and Larimer Square garages on Lawrence are the easy parking, and the best people-watching is a patio table on the north side.