Jewell Heights / Hoffman Heights

Jewell Heights/Hoffman Heights is made up mostly of single family homes, apartment buildings, and small businesses. This area has been run down for many years now, although there is some hope for it to change. In the last few years, two of Colorado's best hospitals have moved in across from the neighborhood on the northern side. These new, large hospitals have been followed by coffee shops, restaurants, and a few businesses, mostly catering to the staff of these two large hospitals and the visitors they draw. While there hasn't been much change to the neighborhood itself, I still have hope for the area. This stretch of Colfax has been known for drugs and crime for many years, but the hospitals are very nice looking and certainly bring a new air to their surroundings.

Within the neighborhood many of the homes are run down looking and in need of repair. The apartments are depressing to look at and seem as if they have been there for decades, with little change. There are a few restaurants and businesses in Hoffman Heights, the little shopping area just off of Peoria Street. Many of them cater to the different demographics of the area, such as Hispanic and Asian.

The schools in this neighborhood are notoriously poor, and consistently receive poor ratings. The students score well below average on state testing standards and located just southeast of Aurora Central High School is an alternative type of high school for girls who have had a baby. The facility is meant to take care of the child (the baby) while helping the mother to finish high school. This is unfortunately a sign of the area.

There are some nice parks within the neighborhood itself and it is also very close, within walking distance, of Del Mar Park. Del Mar Park is a large park with some nice big older trees. It also has an outdoor swimming pool and often during the summertime you can see large groups of people come here to play pick up games of soccer.

There is a grocery store and fast food across Peoria on the corner of 6th. There is also a lot of shopping and dining options within 10-15 minutes drive from here. However, depending on what time of day you're trying to leave, it can be tricky. This neighborhood is surrounded by busy streets or the highway on all sides. Colfax Avenue, Peoria Street, and 6th Avenue can all get really backed up with traffic. That's nothing compared to the highway in this area though. They have been working on new exit ramps and widening this area, most likely for the hospitals, but it is still under construction and seems like it has been forever. While you can tell they are making progress, it is seems as if it will still be years before they are finished. Traveling on this part of the highway during rush hour can take forever in the stop and go traffic.

Overall, this isn't an area I would recommend for families. With the higher crime rate, ease of finding illicit drugs, heavy traffic, and poor schools it just isn't a good mix.