Indian Creek

I used to live just north of Indian Creek neighborhood, and would drive past every morning on Quebec on my way to work. It's a rather unremarkable patch with some unused open areas, apartment buildings, storage units, and some small convenience stores. The main attraction to this area is that rents are extremely low here, but that's about it. Southeast Denver isn't the most interesting area to live in anyway, and Indian Creek doesn't add to the charms.

This area feels like about what it is--a sort of limbo between Denver and Aurora. It's about half an hour to either downtown or the Greenwood Village/Tech Center area, longer during periods of bad traffic. The handiest nice neighborhood for shopping or dining is Lowry, which is a few minutes' drive from Indian Creek.

Most of the housing out here is bland 70s and 80s architecture. There are mostly apartment buildings. The northern corner has some heavy traffic, but there is also a surprising amount of unused space out here, just fields of stubble mainly. The nicest nearby park space is actually Fairmount Cemetery. That might sound surprising, but it's an interesting place, and the Highline Canal path runs right through it.

This area really isn't too exciting. It's fairly safe, and cheap, as I mentioned. If you're looking to save on rental or even condo purchase costs, and don't mind being a bit away from the action, then it's not a bad area.

Indian Creek is a strange neighborhood. For one thing, it’s so small that it doesn’t usually appear as a neighborhood in its own right on any local maps, and for another, it feels more like one large subdivision. Homes were constructed in the 1980s and feature the stone/brick and pastel vinyl siding construction typical of a couple of decades ago. The neighborhood’s housing is split between single-family homes, townhomes, and condos. Prices on homes have fallen during the recession, so it is much less costly to own here than it was decades ago. “Close to” is a much-used phrase here, especially by those advertising homes in the area, and this is especially important to know for those considering homes in the area. Whether it’s close to Cherry Creek or the Tech Center depends on your definition of “close.” It is not close to downtown unless you consider 30-45 minutes in rush hour traffic to be close. It is close, however, to Leetsdale Road in Washington-Virginia Vale, and all the interesting markets scattered along it (see my review of that neighborhood for more information). It is also close to not one, but two great bike and pedestrian trails: the Highline Canal, which winds northeast from Indian Creek, and the Cherry Creek bike path, which heads towards downtown. There are no restaurants, bars, stores, or grocery shops within the neighborhood’s bounds, so if you are looking for action, you will not find it here. What you will find is a very safe, very quiet neighborhood, “close to” the southeastern suburbs and the generally pleasant lifestyle there.