Communications Team Blog : 5.21.24
Neighborhood Spotlight: Westwood
If you walked through the Westwood neighborhood in the 1940s, you would be surrounded by large swaths of prairie land, farmhouses with horses and chickens and rural dirt roads - far from the urban populus it has become since the 1950s. Conchita Gonzales, a lifelong resident of the Westwood neighborhood, told us
“We were in the country, it was all country. A lot of people had their horses…. we had a lot of chickens and rabbits that we raised and my neighbor across the street, she had a goat and we would have fresh goat milk.”
Conchita’s family purchased land in Westwood during the Great Depression - families flocked to the inexpensive and mostly-undeveloped land in Westwood during this time. The neighborhood had originated when P.T. Barnum of “The Barnum & Bailey Circus” had bought and platted 760 acres of undeveloped land for $11,000 in 1882. Building lots were sold for $1 down and 50 cents per week until the property was paid off. Conchita’s family, along with many others, were drawn to not the proximity to central Denver - an opportunity to stay within Denver at a cost they could afford.
Westwood has changed a lot since the day of dirt roads and horses. Westwood is now an urban center of culture, art and music - bustling with activity and wafts of freshly cooked local food. In the past few years, Westwood was named a Colorado Creative District, and much of Westwood has become a focal point for development. (5280) But one thing seems to be left unchanged - the supportive, tight-knit community. Conchita remembered her time growing up in Westwood, her neighbors and friends in Westwood fondly -
“We were very, very close.” She told us. “[We were] a very bonded neighborhood.”
ECM has been lucky enough to experience this bonded neighborhood experience first-hand - both because our office is located in the Westwood neighborhood, and through workdays in which we get to work with and for neighbors, experience the support they have for their community and see the deep roots that so many have in Westwood.
Our “Go: Westwood” work day each year is our biggest and busiest, filled with the wonderful chaos of hundreds of volunteers and supporters joining together to make an impact on an entire community in one day. This year’s Go: Westwood day was no different. Despite a snowy forecast and cold April day, nearly 300 volunteers showed up to clean up 21 alleys and two neighborhood schools! A large portion of these volunteers were Westwood residents who wanted to invest in their own neighborhoods. Some volunteers had been to every Westwood cleanup day, while some had heard about the event the day before - we even had a couple grandmothers of other volunteers get pulled into the clean up activities! College alumni groups and local high school and college teams from all around Denver came to join forces in our effort to tidy up Westwood alleys. Across languages and generations, alleys and schoolyards were filled with laughter, catching up and neighbors coming out to say hello and thank you. At the end of the day, volunteers returned back to our base covered in snow, asking how else they could help. We are so grateful for the grit, attitudes and persistence of our volunteers that make our program a success!
In a time when our world feels more and more digital and often disconnected, experiences like our work day in the Westwood neighborhood remind us of the value of saying hi to a neighbor we’ve never met, sharing a story of a family home or offering even a few minutes of help to someone who needs a hand. Although so much has changed since the dirt streets and farmland that Conchita remembers, Westwood is still filled with supportive neighbors, a vibrant culture, and still a few backyard chickens!