Highlands (LoHi), Denver, CO
What Highlands / LoHi is actually like
William Larimer, Jr. -- who had founded Denver City just months earlier -- claimed the Highland townsite in December 1858, and the Highland town company formed in 1859 with plans to bridge the South Platte to Denver. Incorporated as a city in 1885, Highland voted to be annexed into Denver in 1896. The name comes straight from its topography: the Rocky Mountain News once described "the highlands of Highland, on the opposite side of the river." An early landmark still worth knowing: John and Mary Elitch opened Elitch's Zoological Gardens and Grand Pavilion Theatre here on May 1, 1890; the amusement park later moved downtown, but the Historic Elitch Theatre still stands at 38th & Tennyson as one of Denver's oldest buildings.
"LoHi" (Lower Highland) is the eastern, river-facing slice of the broader Highland neighborhood, and it's the part that's boomed hardest -- dense infill rowhouses and new-construction condos alongside surviving 1880s-90s worker cottages, with restaurants and bars concentrated along 32nd Avenue and Tennyson Street. There's no light rail station inside the neighborhood itself, but pedestrian bridges across the South Platte put Union Station within a 20-25 minute walk, which is a big part of why it draws young professionals willing to trade a rail stop for genuine walkability.
Home values in Highlands / LoHi
Redfin's LoHi-specific figure put the median sale price at $1,022,500, up 13.6% year-over-year (as of March 2024 -- the most recent figure available; a separate Zillow home-value index exists for the broader Highland neighborhood but could not be independently re-confirmed in this research pass).
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LoHi has no light rail station of its own, but it's one of Denver's most walkable close-in neighborhoods regardless -- the pedestrian bridges across the South Platte put Union Station within a genuine walk, and 32nd Avenue/Tennyson Street form a compact, bikeable commercial spine. Reaching light rail itself (41st & Fox, or Ball Arena–Elitch Gardens) means about a mile on foot or a short drive.
Highlands / LoHi FAQ
Is LoHi the same as "the Highlands"?
Not exactly -- LoHi (Lower Highland) is the eastern, river-facing slice of the larger historic Highland neighborhood; "the Highlands" is often used more loosely to include West Highland, Sunnyside, Jefferson Park, and Berkeley too.
Can I get downtown without driving?
There's no light rail station inside the neighborhood itself, but Union Station is a walkable 20-25 minutes via the pedestrian bridges, and nearby stations (41st & Fox; Ball Arena–Elitch Gardens) connect into the rail network.
What's the housing mix?
Late-1800s worker cottages and Victorians alongside dense new-construction condos and rowhouses.
Where does the name "Elitch" come from?
John and Mary Elitch opened Elitch's Zoological Gardens here in 1890; the historic 1890 theatre building still stands at 38th & Tennyson.
Nearby alternatives*
Downtown Denver / Union Station
About 1–1.5 miles across the South Platte via pedestrian bridges -- trades LoHi's worker-cottage streets for Union Station's tower-and-loft density and direct rail access to every RTD line.
RiNo / Five Points
A comparable close-in, walkable arts-and-food district north of downtown, on the A Line -- a lower typical home value (about $575,000 per Zillow) and a different history rooted in Denver's historic jazz-era Black cultural district.
Golden
A 25-30 minute drive west along the W Line's full length to its terminus -- trades LoHi's dense infill for a small, historic foothills town built around Colorado School of Mines and the Coors Brewery, with a meaningfully higher typical value (about $866,000).
*We're not ranking these — every neighborhood has real trade-offs, and which ones matter is up to you.