Robert McDermott has lived on one of Denver’s strangest blocks for 14 years.
The block includes just six houses, sandwiched between the northbound Interstate 25 ramp in front and both the I-25 viaduct and fast-moving Broadway in the back.
The front porches face the ramp. Beyond that are the nice homes, quiet streets and walkable neighborhoods of West Wash Park. The backyards face the highway. The sound of cars is constant.
“Actually you get used to it, and actually I like it,” McDermott said about the block. “There's nobody in front of me and there's nobody behind me, and you can see the sky.”
Yet McDermott has known for years he would likely have to move one day. For nearly two decades, this little block of six homes was slated to be demolished under eminent domain as part of a construction project rebuilding roads around I-25 and Broadway to accommodate more traffic.
“I kind of worried about it a lot, because I didn't want to move,” said McDermott, who has lived in south Denver for some 40 years. “I don't know what I was going to do. I was thinking about moving on the Western Slope. It's cheaper over there in some spots.”
That all changed last week, when Denver did something unusual: The city walked away from a portion of the plan, saving six homes from demolition and agreeing to a number of other changes community members have been requesting for years.
